- 3 hours ago
Lost in the Twin Game
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I fold. Avery's yours for tonight.
00:03You're willing to give her up?
00:05Since you like her, I'll gladly step aside.
00:09Although, we've been together for almost a year.
00:12If you think she's secondhand, no need. I'll take her.
00:19Fine. Then enjoy yourself tonight, brother.
00:24As soon as Liam left, the room immediately came alive again.
00:28Logan, are you serious?
00:30You chased Avery for three months, went all soft for her, and you're already bored?
00:32It's not even been a year.
00:35A bet's a bet. And besides, she's just a girl.
00:38So Avery wasn't anything special to you after all.
00:44At first, she was. Hard to get. A bit high and mighty.
00:48But now, she's no different from the others.
00:53Still the same. Behaves like a damn dog in front of me.
00:56Hey, Logan. Next time, can I have a turn with her?
01:02But Logan, what if Liam actually gets to her? What then?
01:08He won't.
01:08They say he didn't even touch a girl back at military school. Ice-cold type.
01:12That's not necessarily true, though.
01:14He did look at Avery a few times when she wore that dress showing her legs.
01:17He just hates girls who try too hard to show off.
01:20Bet on it then, Logan. You in?
01:22Don't forget, Avery is obsessed with me. She'd rather die than let another guy touch her.
01:27If you really want to bet, you better be ready to lose everything.
01:30Logan stood up and walked out.
01:32A pretty cheerleader was already waiting outside the door.
01:35He shoved her against the hallway wall and kissed her. Hard.
01:38No one noticed that I, the subject of the twins' bet, had already heard everything.
01:44If he could openly bet me away to another guy, then I meant absolutely nothing to him.
01:50And if I was stupid enough to make a scene and embarrass him in front of everyone, I'd be the
01:56one paying the price.
01:57Everyone knows Logan's family had endowed the athletic center of our school.
02:02His name was on the donor wall in the main hallway, in letters bigger than most people's futures.
02:07That's why he could break rules, get into fights, and cause trouble at school without ever getting expelled.
02:14Someone told me there had been a ballet dancer before me.
02:17Logan had chased her for months before she finally said yes.
02:21He spoiled her.
02:23Let her get away with things no one else could.
02:25For a while, everyone thought that she'd gotten the notorious bad boy to settle down.
02:32But less than six months later, he got bored and messed up with other girls.
02:38The ballet girl slashed the tire of Logan's motorcycle, making a scene in front of half the school.
02:48A few days later, she fell during rehearsal.
02:51She lived, but she was paralyzed from the waist down.
02:55Her whole life, finished.
02:58She withdrew from Stonebridge High before the semester was over.
03:02Officially, she'd transferred to a performing arts academy in another state.
03:07Unofficially, nobody wanted to talk about it.
03:10Back when Logan was chasing me, someone told me that he had been quietly looking into my scholarship.
03:16If he wanted to, he could make my life at this school a living hell.
03:20I had said yes to him because I was afraid of saying no.
03:24I had stayed with him for a year, keeping my head down.
03:27And now he'd put me in a card game.
03:30I went back to the guest room and lay down on the couch, pulling the blanket over myself.
03:35The door opened, footsteps across the room.
03:38And then the smell, clean and unfamiliar, not Logan.
03:42You should sleep in an actual bed.
03:48Finally, I've been waiting forever, Logan.
03:52Have you been waiting long?
03:54Hmm, my head is killing me.
03:57You'll feel better once you get something in your stomach.
04:00I'm tired.
04:00Take me somewhere.
04:02You smell different tonight?
04:03Do I?
04:04Yeah, it's better though.
04:06Actually better.
04:08A lot.
04:09Glad you like it.
04:12Two days earlier, I hadn't known Liam Hayes existed.
04:16Logan never talked about him.
04:17In fact, he seemed almost wary of him.
04:20Mrs. Patterson introduced Liam in AP Lit.
04:23Transfer student.
04:24Previously enrolled in Vermont.
04:26Joining us for senior year.
04:27The rumors spread fast.
04:29He'd been kicked out of multiple schools.
04:32He'd hospitalized two guys in a fight.
04:34And had no marks on him afterward.
04:36He'd been at a military academy before Vermont.
04:39He had a 4.0.
04:41And no one at his previous schools would say much about him.
04:43Which people interpreted as either very good or very bad.
04:47At dinner, I sat next to Logan.
04:49Liam sat alone at another table.
04:51Near the end, his eyes moved to me.
04:54Just for a second.
04:55He didn't talk to anyone before leaving.
04:58I had no idea why he would agree to something as ridiculous as Logan's bet.
05:02But one thing became clear the moment I heard that bet.
05:05If I wanted to walk away from this game those rich guys were playing without getting hurt,
05:09Liam might be my only way out.
05:11I had just stepped out of the bathroom when Liam pulled me into his arms from behind.
05:28You're unusually impatient tonight, Logan.
05:33Change how you call me.
05:36Then what do you want me to call you?
05:40What do you usually call me?
05:43Your name, Mr. Hayes.
05:45And I've called you Baby.
05:49Then tonight call me Sir.
05:53Sir?
06:20Say it again.
06:22Say it again.
06:27Logan.
06:28No, not that.
06:32Sir?
06:34Sir?
06:38Don't stop, Avery.
06:40Don't stop.
06:41Sir?
06:43Sir?
06:47The next day I opened my eyes to full daylight.
06:51Every part of me ached.
06:52The kind of all over soreness that goes bone deep.
06:55The room was empty.
06:57Liam was gone.
06:58I didn't know when he'd left.
07:00Through the glass I could see the back lawn below.
07:03And Logan standing in it.
07:04I picked out a dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline.
07:07Revealing the marks on purpose.
07:13Hey.
07:14What's wrong?
07:20Can you go get me some medicine from the infirmary?
07:22What for?
07:23What hurts?
07:24Last night you were really rough.
07:26I didn't realize until the shower.
07:28There was...
07:28It bled a little.
07:29It really hurts.
07:32Say that again.
07:33What bled?
07:34Last night.
07:35It was a lot.
07:36You were...
07:36I'm really sore.
07:37Like, everywhere.
07:39You were so different last night though.
07:40Like, really different.
07:41Better.
07:42I don't know what got into you, but I really liked it.
07:44I even cried.
07:45I begged you to stop and you didn't.
07:46You were so mean about it.
07:48But also, I kind of didn't want you to.
07:51I'll go get something.
07:52Stay here.
07:54He was gone 40 minutes.
07:55I'd gotten takeout from the cafeteria and was eating in my dorm room.
07:59I was halfway through when I noticed someone outside.
08:01I saw Liam coming up the path.
08:03The two of them weren't actually that hard to tell apart.
08:06Liam was slightly taller than Logan.
08:08Broader through the shoulders.
08:09More solidly built.
08:10And the jacket he had on today was the same cut as Logan's.
08:13From a distance, the similarity was close enough.
08:16Hey, Logan.
08:16Logan, did you bring it?
08:25What medication?
08:27Stop pretending.
08:29I told you.
08:29Last night you hurt me.
08:30And I need...
08:34I just remembered I should see how bad it is first.
08:36So I can tell the pharmacist what to get.
08:39You don't need to be embarrassed.
08:41It's not as if I haven't already...
08:43I'm not talking to you.
08:47Okay, I'll stop.
08:48I mean it.
08:50What exactly are you two doing?
08:55His face went through several things in a row.
08:58All of them controlled.
08:59None of them good.
09:00Liam, Avery, what exactly are you two doing?
09:04Liam?
09:05Logan, I got the wrong person.
09:06You weren't wearing your glasses today.
09:08I thought you were him.
09:11Avery, you're hopeless.
09:12You can't even tell your own boyfriend apart.
09:14I'm sorry.
09:15Liam, I'm so sorry.
09:16I really did mix you up.
09:18It's not your fault.
09:19Twins get confused all the time.
09:20Logan, you shouldn't have snapped at her.
09:22Whose fault is it she's so dense?
09:24You share a bed with someone for a year and can't recognize them?
09:26She's only met me once.
09:27Mixing us up is normal.
09:28Fine, I'll apologize to her.
09:32Go back to the room.
09:33Let me see where you're hurt.
09:34I'll put the ointment on for you.
09:36If I had it right, Logan had spent last night with another girl.
09:40And now, he wanted to put his hands on me.
09:43A wave of nausea rose up.
09:45Sudden and violent.
09:46I forced it down.
09:48Hard.
09:49Take it off.
09:50Lie down.
09:52Logan, why are you being so harsh with me today?
09:54In our year together, maybe to keep me fooled.
09:56Maybe out of some sliver of something real.
09:58Logan had always been gentle.
10:00Are you still mad that I mistook your brother for you?
10:03No.
10:03You're overthinking it.
10:04I'm just worried about your injury.
10:06Is it still bleeding?
10:07Let me see.
10:08The truth is, when Logan first chased me, I kept saying no.
10:12I only said yes in the end because I was afraid.
10:14Someone had made a point of telling me about the girl before me, the dancer.
10:18Avery, be careful.
10:19Don't really set him off.
10:20I heard he's been digging into your family.
10:22People like Logan, we couldn't afford to cross him in 10 lifetimes.
10:25I was afraid of dying.
10:26I was more afraid of living through something worse than death.
10:29So I accepted him.
10:31And for a whole year, I'd kept my head down, careful with every step.
10:34And Logan had been good to me, devoted even, so much that sometimes I let myself dream impossible
10:40things.
10:40I lost my grip on reality.
10:42But I never imagined that lowering myself this far would buy me nothing but being handed
10:47off to another man like a chip on a table.
10:49My head was a tangled mess.
10:50Logan pressed me down to sit, then crouched in front of me.
10:53He looked down, took hold of my slim calf.
10:55You must have worked me up last night.
10:58Otherwise, why would I have been so rough?
11:00And parted my legs.
11:01He laughed softly and glanced up at me, then slowly began to lift the hem of my dress.
11:06I turned my face away and bit down on the inside of my lip, swallowing the sickness
11:09churning in my stomach.
11:11Just as he was about to pull away the last thin layer of fabric.
11:14Logan!
11:15Come to the study, now!
11:17Liam's voice, from the hallway, heavy with warning, and a thread of barely leashed anger
11:21underneath.
11:22Logan muttered something that might have been a curse, but he stood up at once.
11:26Put it on yourself.
11:27I'll go deal with him.
11:28I took it and watched him leave the room.
11:30Only then, like a prisoner granted a stay, did I let out a long, ragged breath.
11:34My phone buzzed beside me.
11:35I picked it up.
11:36A text from an unknown number.
11:38This is Liam.
11:39Save my number.
11:41I stared at the small words on the screen for a long moment before I typed back.
11:45Okay.
11:47Liam didn't reply.
11:48And Logan didn't come back to the room.
11:51He called me from the campus instead.
11:53Something had gone wrong at his father's sportswear subsidiary.
11:56The one his family had set up.
11:58And he had to fly out for a few days.
12:00I could hear the strain in his voice.
12:02It sounded like more than a small problem.
12:05For me, at least, it bought a little room to breathe.
12:09The next morning, I got ready to head back to school.
12:11I'd barely come down the stairs when I ran into Liam again.
12:14This time, he was wearing his glasses.
12:16Nothing at all like the man who had kissed me so gently that night.
12:20I greeted him the way I had the very first time.
12:23Morning.
12:23Heading back to school?
12:26Yeah.
12:27It's on my way.
12:28I'll drive you.
12:29I started to refuse, but he went on.
12:31Logan's gone.
12:32As his brother looking after you is the least I can do.
12:35Eat something first.
12:36I forced down a few bites and set my fork aside.
12:39Liam said nothing, just turned and walked out.
12:43I shouldered my bag and followed.
12:49When the car doors shut, he reached up and pressed the button raising the privacy partition.
12:55Liam?
12:56Nerves flickered through me.
12:58He took off his glasses and set them in the storage box.
13:01How's the injury?
13:03Better.
13:04A little better.
13:05My face went scarlet in an instant.
13:08If it's healed, use this.
13:12No, no, I don't need it.
13:15Logan already put medicine on it for me.
13:17There was nothing on Liam's face, which somehow made him more frightening.
13:21Take it.
13:22This one works better.
13:23Really, I don't need it.
13:26Logan was already upset that I mixed you two up.
13:29If he found out I took your ointment too, he'd yell at me for sure.
13:33Liam looked at me steadily and slowly lowered his hand.
13:39You care about him that much?
13:41I pressed my lips together.
13:43He's my first boyfriend.
13:45He's always been so, so good to me.
13:49Letting a sweetness I didn't feel rise into my eyes.
13:51I really love him.
13:53Liam let out something that might have been a low laugh.
13:56Or maybe I imagined it.
13:57He didn't look at me again, just leaned back.
13:59Gaze fixed calmly ahead.
14:00He didn't say another word the whole drive.
14:02When we reached the school parking lot, I thanked him quietly.
14:05Thank you for today.
14:06I'll go in now.
14:07Liam nodded faintly.
14:10Avery.
14:11I turned without thinking, straight into those clear, dark eyes.
14:15This ointment is the best there is for scars.
14:18Use it on the one on your calf.
14:19How do you know I have a scar on my calf?
14:21He didn't answer.
14:22He just placed the tube in my hand.
14:25I sat frozen for a second, then opened the door and got out.
14:28Liam got out after me, not looking at me once as he headed for the school building.
14:32I stood there a while before I took out my phone and answered Logan's text.
14:35I miss you too.
14:36Are you really not back for another ten days?
14:39About that long.
14:40But I'll wrap it up and come home as fast as I can.
14:43Okay.
14:43I'll wait for you.
14:45Time crawled forward.
14:46Those ten days without Logan were strangely peaceful.
14:49Liam never came near me once.
14:51That night started to feel like some absurd dream.
14:54Sometimes I even wondered, had it really been Liam?
14:56A person like that?
14:57So far above everyone.
14:59Untouchable.
14:59Why would he play such a vile game with his own brother?
15:02Friday afternoon, Logan texted to say he was going back to campus that night and told me
15:06to wait for him.
15:07Stonebridge had a handful of senior residence suites.
15:10Small private rooms in the old dorm wing.
15:12The kind the legacy family's kids always ended up with.
15:14Logan's was one of them.
15:16I let myself in, showered, and lay on the couch scrolling my phone, waiting.
15:20And somewhere in the waiting I fell asleep.
15:22I don't know how long.
15:23The sound of the door woke me.
15:25I sat up, bleary, and saw a tall figure walking toward me against the light.
15:29With him came that cold scent from that night.
15:31He came closer.
15:32No glasses.
15:33Exactly like that night.
15:34I reached out, asking to be held.
15:42Why are you back so late?
15:44I'm so tired from waiting.
15:46His breath seemed to catch.
15:48Then the arms around me tightened all at once, hard enough that I hissed.
15:56You're hurting me again.
15:58I only just healed.
16:00Don't you dare be rough with me tonight, Logan.
16:09Liam caught my chin.
16:10I couldn't fight his grip.
16:14What did you call me?
16:15So I had no choice but to turn and face him.
16:18His scalding breath rushed across my nose.
16:20My lashes trembled.
16:21And then he kissed me.
16:23Soft at first.
16:25Do you miss me?
16:26But the gentleness gave way fast to a sudden storm.
16:30I answered, blurred.
16:32Miss who?
16:33Say it clearly.
16:34I miss Logan.
16:35He bit down hard on my lip.
16:37The pain made my tears spill over.
16:39I glared at him, wounded.
16:40But before the name could leave my mouth,
16:42he stopped it with a kiss deeper and more reckless than before.
16:45And when I was fully pinned beneath him, claimed by him.
16:48Only then did he take my face in his hands and brush the tears from the corners of my eyes
16:53with his thumb.
16:55I couldn't stop sobbing.
16:58Avery, I'll ask one more time.
17:01What do you call me?
17:03Sorry, sir.
17:04Do you like it when I treat you this way?
17:07I cried so hard I choked, wanting to shake my head.
17:10But he kissed me until I couldn't move.
17:12All I could do was nod, whimpering.
17:13Only then did his kiss gentle again.
17:16Now from now on, I'll treat you like this every day, alright?
17:19You'll hurt me.
17:20It hurts like that.
17:22You were never this rough with me before.
17:24He pressed me to his chest.
17:27Did I hurt you tonight?
17:28Then did it feel good?
17:30I bit my lip, cheeks burning.
17:32The body doesn't lie.
17:33I couldn't deny it.
17:34Liam had given me a pleasure Logan never had.
17:36Maybe it was the forbidden thrill.
17:38Or maybe I'd never liked Logan that much to begin with.
17:40It felt good.
17:41Something dark and hungry flared in his sated eyes.
17:44He flipped me beneath him again.
17:46From now on, only do this with me, alright?
17:49I laughed under my breath.
17:51What are you talking about?
17:53Of course only with you, Logan.
17:55Don't say the name.
17:56His voice dropped hard.
17:58I blinked up.
17:59What's wrong with you?
18:00You're being so strange.
18:01But Liam only let go of my hands and gently covered my eyes.
18:06Avery, I love hearing you call me sir.
18:09Every time you do, it does something to me.
18:12Call me that from now on.
18:14Always.
18:15And my fingers brushed an old scar at the web of his thumb.
18:18Something flickered across my mind, fast as a spark.
18:21But I couldn't catch it.
18:22After a long moment, I answered low.
18:24Okay, sir.
18:27Liam got the dorm wing to himself, a word to the right people, and the floor cleared out
18:32for the weekend.
18:33He stayed with me openly.
18:35Meals in the half-empty dining hall, slow walks across the quad after dark, and at night,
18:41the endless, insatiable tangling.
18:43On the third night, he signed us both out and drove off campus, down to the marina at the
18:49edge of town.
18:50We ate fresh-caught fish at one of the dockside places, built out over the water.
18:55I drank a lot of the wine, and by the time we left, I couldn't walk straight.
19:00Liam carried me back to the car on his back.
19:03His fingers grazed the old scar on my calf.
19:06And he asked, naturally,
19:09How did you hurt your leg so badly?
19:12When I was little, there was this awful kid.
19:14So mean.
19:17His family was loaded.
19:19All the other kids circled around him, sucking up to him.
19:22Not me.
19:23The more I ignored him, the more he wouldn't leave me alone.
19:29But I wasn't some idle little rich boy with nothing to do.
19:33I had to help my parents run their food stall, look after my little brother, change his diapers,
19:40feed him.
19:41He kept pestering me until I'd had it, so I got in a fight with him.
19:45I was small.
19:47Couldn't beat a boy, obviously.
19:51He shoved me down, and I cracked my leg open on the edge of a planter.
19:55Blood everywhere.
19:57He didn't get off easy either, though.
20:01I grabbed his hand and bit him as hard as I could.
20:04Sank my teeth right in.
20:05My whole mouth was full of blood.
20:07He had no spine at all, just blod, screaming.
20:12He wasn't really bad, though.
20:14Just kind of spoiled.
20:17Afterward, he even brought me medicine.
20:19Tried to cheer me up.
20:21Said the scar was shaped like a flower petal.
20:24That it was actually pretty.
20:28And after that?
20:29Don't remember.
20:30He left pretty soon, I think.
20:32Picked up by his parents, probably.
20:35Back then I had work that never ended.
20:38Who'd remember stuff like that?
20:44I heard Liam say my name.
20:48Avery.
20:49He seemed to say something after it, but I didn't catch it.
20:53The day Logan actually came back, Liam set up a dinner.
20:57Liam reserved a private dining room and put the three of us at the same table.
21:01I asked him, on purpose.
21:04Liam, Logan's been back a few days already.
21:07Why are you only doing this dinner today?
21:09Liam looked at me for a long time without answering.
21:12I shrank back and ran off to find Logan.
21:15I didn't look back, but I could feel it the whole time.
21:18Liam's gaze following me.
21:20At dinner that night, Logan's mood was foul.
21:23Maybe the trip hadn't gone well.
21:25When he reached for his third drink, I lightly pressed my hand over his glass.
21:29Sir, drink less.
21:31Your stomach's bad.
21:32The words weren't even finished before two pairs of eyes snapped to my face.
21:37Liam always had impeccable manners.
21:39Even here he wore a full blazer, sitting straight-backed.
21:42But now his knife clinked clumsily against the porcelain plate.
21:46Logan's brow furrowed too.
21:48What did you just call me?
21:53Sir.
21:55Why?
21:55Avery!
21:57Logan.
21:58Who the hell are you calling Sir?
22:00What the fuck have you been doing behind my back?
22:05You said it yourself.
22:07You said you liked it when I called you that.
22:09Bullshit!
22:10When did I ever say...
22:18You said it with your own mouth.
22:20You said you liked me calling you Sir.
22:22You told me to call you that lately.
22:25Liam slowly set down his knife and fork.
22:27He rose.
22:28The pressure rolling off him chilled the room.
22:31My crying dropped away.
22:32An unspeakable terror crawled up my spine.
22:35Maybe Liam's polished surface had fooled me.
22:38He was, in fact, far more frightening than Logan.
22:41I started to shake and couldn't stop.
22:44Liam's gaze landed on me for only two short seconds, but my whole back went damp with sweat.
22:50Don't bully a girl.
22:52Come with me.
22:53We'll talk.
22:57When the door shut behind them, my phone lit with a text.
23:00From Liam.
23:02From Liam.
23:02Four words.
23:03Don't be afraid.
23:04I'm here.
23:04I looked at those words, wiped my eyes, and slowly lowered myself into a chair.
23:10Then I covered my face and laughed at myself.
23:13Did Liam think I didn't know?
23:15Or that I wouldn't remember?
23:16The day he transferred in.
23:18At the welcome reception the trustees threw.
23:21Someone had congratulated him on his coming engagement.
23:24Some arrangement with another old money family.
23:27He hadn't denied it.
23:28And a man about to be engaged, playing a game like this with his own twin, it was just one
23:33last thrill before it was all settled.
23:35Or some indulgence of an ugly little appetite hidden beneath that flawless face.
23:41But what had I done to deserve it?
23:43Why should I be a plaything passed between the two of them?
23:49They'd ended up in an empty classroom in the academic wing.
23:52The corridor outside, dark and deserted.
23:56Don't you think you've taken this too far?
23:58Born of the same mother.
24:00Twins.
24:01And yet from childhood, Logan had fallen short of him in everything.
24:06Liam, brilliant in ways ordinary people weren't, had won the affection of every elder in the Hayes family.
24:14And with it, in time, the inheritance.
24:17Logan was left to be a spendthrift wastrel.
24:20Countless people envied him.
24:22And none of them knew how often he envied Liam.
24:26Hated Liam.
24:26And yet, because of a shadow that went back as far as he could remember, feared him down to the
24:33bone, the contradiction gnawed at him, robbed him of sleep.
24:37If I remember right, you were the one who lost her to me that night.
24:43But you don't touch girls.
24:44You've got no interest in them at all.
24:46I thought you'd never lay a hand on her.
24:48I thought you'd find her dirty.
24:51Logan wouldn't admit the rest.
24:53That night, handing Avery over had been mostly about one thing.
24:59Humiliating Liam, a girl Logan had grown tired of, and Liam wanted her in secret.
25:05Did Liam think he couldn't see it?
25:07The first time Liam laid eyes on Avery, his expression had changed.
25:1218 years as brothers.
25:14And that was the first time Logan had ever seen Liam's gaze catch and hold on a girl.
25:20He'd even looked at Avery's legs.
25:22Twice.
25:23So Logan had hatched the absurd idea.
25:26Use a girlfriend he was sick of, to humiliate the brother who'd always stood over him.
25:31It would feel good.
25:33A thrill.
25:34What he never expected was that Liam, a man with an absurd, obsessive aversion to mess, would actually touch her.
25:42And he never expected that the night Liam took her away, he himself would lie awake the whole night through,
25:50restless.
25:51The cheerleader girl he'd taken away that night.
25:54He'd been certain he'd do something with her.
25:57But in the end, he'd pushed her away.
25:59His whole mind had been somewhere else.
26:02Was Liam kissing Avery?
26:04Touching her?
26:05The way I would.
26:07How would she react?
26:08Could she tell it wasn't me?
26:10Would she yield to him as sweetly, as obediently, as she does beneath me?
26:16The thought tormented him to distraction.
26:18He'd gone back to the dorm at first light.
26:22When someone told him Liam had left at six, the same as always, he'd been flooded with relief.
26:28But then he saw Avery come down the stairs covered in marks.
26:32Shy and sweet.
26:34Complaining that he'd been too rough and hurt her.
26:37And in that instant, he could have killed.
26:40He'd had many girls.
26:41Leaving them.
26:43Passing them off.
26:44He'd never felt a flicker of reluctance.
26:47He'd assumed Avery was the same.
26:49And in that moment, he finally understood.
26:53She wasn't.
26:54From the very start, she had never been like the others.
26:58He'd forgotten.
26:59Avery was the only girl he'd fallen for at first sight.
27:03And then chased in earnest.
27:05And he'd badly underestimated how much she weighed in his own heart.
27:10Find her dirty?
27:12Liam suddenly rose and crossed to Logan.
27:15It was perhaps the first real crack in his composure all day.
27:19The first time a man so sparing with words said this much at once.
27:23I don't know why you talk about your own girlfriend that way.
27:26And I don't agree that a girl who's had a boyfriend who's had sex is somehow dirty.
27:34Say one more thing like that about her.
27:35Go on.
27:36Try.
27:42Liam.
27:45You set me up on purpose.
27:46That night you did it deliberately.
27:49Baited me into bedding.
27:50Because you wanted her.
27:52Because you wanted to take her from me.
27:53If you were truly in earnest about her, no one could take her.
27:57So I'll say this one last time, Logan.
27:59The opening was yours to give.
28:02You put her in my hands.
28:06So what?
28:06You think she'll be with you willingly?
28:08She's poor, badly born, but she's stubborn to the core and proud to the bone.
28:11If she finds out you disguised yourself as me to play her, what do you think she'll do?
28:13She'll hate me, and she'll hate you just as much.
28:17So what?
28:20If I hadn't taken your bet that night, hadn't taken her away,
28:23would you have gambled her off to a third man?
28:27I wouldn't have-
28:27You would have!
28:29Other people may not know it, but you do.
28:32You'd had enough of her, grown tired of her.
28:34There was a younger, prettier girl already waiting to spend the night with you.
28:38Say it yourself, Logan.
28:39Isn't that right?
28:40Logan ground his jaw, breath heaving.
28:43And yet, somehow, he couldn't get out a single word in his own defense.
28:51You'd better worry about getting yourself through this first.
28:55That mess with father's sportswear line, the one the boosters front the money for.
29:00If you can't put a convincing story behind it, you can forget about keeping your spot here at all.
29:08It was you again?
29:09Logan came to it late, then jolted with the realization.
29:13How convenient.
29:15Liam barely transferred in, and suddenly, every project with Logan's name on it was falling apart at once.
29:22Every step laid out in advance.
29:24For night after night of stolen pleasure, he turned on his own brother, and set even the family's interests aside
29:32to do it.
29:34What if it was?
29:36If you had a shrirk of skill or nerve, you wouldn't be at everyone's mercy at every turn.
29:45Do you tell her the truth yourself, or do I?
29:48Why?
29:49Why our whole lives did you have to be one step above me in everything?
29:53You had it good off at that school in another state?
29:55Why did you suddenly have to come back here?
29:57You've got girls lining up for you.
29:59You've got a fiancé who's the most sought-after girl in our whole circle.
30:01Why did you have to come and fight me for Avery?
30:06Standing a step above you all our lives.
30:08That was just each of us playing the hand we had.
30:11You think a single thing you own is something I'd want?
30:15Then what about Avery?
30:17Liam was about to answer.
30:18The study door was suddenly shoved open hard.
30:25I stood there, outside the classroom, numb, trembling like a leaf in the wind.
30:30My face was bloodless, streaked all over with tears.
30:33A friend had dragged me into the theatre society.
30:36I'd picked up a little about acting.
30:38It was all coming in handy now.
30:40Avery.
30:42I stared at him blankly.
30:44Then I slowly moved my gaze to Logan's face and held it there, not blinking, just letting the tears run
30:50straight down.
30:51A man's guilt toward a woman is a weapon that never misses.
30:56The opening would vanish in a blink, and right now was the perfect moment.
31:01Logan.
31:04Don't come near me.
31:05Avery, let me explain.
31:06Logan, you're my first man, my first love.
31:09You know how much I cared about you, how much I loved you.
31:11I could accept that your heart changed, that you stopped loving me, but I can't accept that you gave me
31:15away.
31:16This past year with you, I was so happy.
31:18So happy.
31:20No one had ever been as good to me as you were.
31:22And it turns out it was all just a dream I had.
31:25Avery, it's not like that.
31:27Let me explain, I can explain.
31:30Logan, I'm awake now.
31:32I'll never dream again.
31:34As the last word landed, I suddenly spun and ran for the second floor balcony.
31:40Below the balcony was a small garden.
31:42The gardener had just turned the soil yesterday.
31:45I'd take only the lightest injury.
31:47But the sight of a girl throwing herself off a balcony would be devastating.
31:51And I'd bet right.
31:53As Liam and Logan came chasing after me,
31:56I went over the railing without an instant's hesitation.
31:59As though I'd made up my mind to die.
32:02I heard them screaming my name behind me.
32:04I couldn't tell whose voice it was.
32:06In the brief plunge downward, I smiled, mocking.
32:11The whole campus fell into chaos.
32:14Liam, who was so far above everyone,
32:16who never appeared in public with a single crease in his shirt,
32:19now had mud caked on his trousers.
32:22And didn't notice at all.
32:23He reached out as if to hold me, then didn't dare touch.
32:27I lay curled on the dirt.
32:29My foot bent at a sickening, swollen angle.
32:32Avery, don't be afraid.
32:34The nurse is coming.
32:42Footsteps came pounding up the path,
32:44then closed in fast.
32:45The school's night nurse, kit in hand.
32:49I'm not going to the infirmary.
32:51Don't help me.
32:54I don't want to see you ever again, Logan.
32:59Avery.
33:05And I don't want to see you ever again, either, Liam.
33:09Once two people have known each other's bodies,
33:11the boy will always carry some thin softness toward the girl.
33:14That sliver of softness was exactly what I wanted.
33:17Let the nurse look at you first, Avery.
33:19Be good.
33:20Not until you promise me.
33:22Or I won't let her touch me.
33:24This is not the time to be stubborn.
33:28Get her onto the stretcher.
33:29Don't move, Avery.
33:32But I wouldn't listen.
33:34At the break in the bone,
33:35the torn skin had split open and was bleeding.
33:38The blood ran slowly down over the old scar on my calf,
33:41staining red that faded.
33:43Faded flower.
33:44Liam's pupils contracted all at once.
33:47In an instant, the color drained from his whole face.
33:50Stop moving.
33:51Stop moving.
33:55I promise you.
33:58Neither Logan nor I will ever appear in front of you again.
34:03Sir, we trust you this way.
34:06That day at the campus,
34:07Liam had made that promise in front of many people.
34:10So through all my days in the infirmary,
34:12neither he nor Logan appeared even once.
34:15When I was finally cleared to leave,
34:17the Hayes family lawyer came to see me.
34:19A mild, well-mannered man.
34:21Miss Carter,
34:22Liam says that whatever you need,
34:24you have only to ask.
34:26Anything within his power.
34:29I want a sum of money.
34:30And I want to transfer,
34:32finish school somewhere far from here.
34:34My family was bad.
34:35Two older sisters above me,
34:37a younger brother below.
34:39My father was diagnosed with a serious illness.
34:42Both my sisters had dropped out early to work.
34:44And neither was doing well.
34:46I wanted to give my family a little money.
34:49Enough, at least,
34:50to make their lives somewhat easier.
34:51The money's long been arranged.
34:53As for the transfer,
34:55whichever school,
34:56whichever city you'd like,
34:57it can be done.
34:59Please give Liam my thanks.
35:06Miss Carter,
35:08is there nothing you'd like to say to Liam?
35:10I looked down at my own thin wrist,
35:13slender enough that it seemed a light snap would break it.
35:16Like an ordinary girl like me.
35:18In their eyes,
35:19nothing more than a plaything to be traded away at a whim.
35:22Maybe Liam really did like me.
35:24Maybe there was some sliver of true feeling.
35:27But true feeling set against money and standing
35:29weighs nothing at all.
35:31There is...
35:36Please tell Liam.
35:38I hope the rest of his life is safe and smooth.
35:41Miss Carter?
35:43Nothing else?
35:44But I had already lain back down.
35:46He couldn't linger
35:47and could only turn and leave.
35:56When I walked out of the infirmary for the last time,
35:59I saw Liam.
36:00He was standing under the row of oaks at the edge of the quad.
36:03He was a gentleman about it.
36:04He kept his promise and didn't come toward me.
36:07Didn't disturb me.
36:09And I...
36:09I didn't look back either.
36:12Liam sank down against the tree trunk and closed his eyes.
36:15It was as if he'd returned to that night.
36:18He had known about Logan's bet in advance.
36:20That was why, so unlike himself,
36:22he'd gone to that absurd party.
36:24So unlike himself,
36:25he'd gambled with his brother that once.
36:27He couldn't stand by and watch Avery.
36:29The truth was,
36:30that night he hadn't meant to do anything to Avery.
36:32But she had put her arms around him.
36:34She had said he smelled good.
36:36And he hadn't been able to stop himself.
36:37He'd lowered his head and kissed her.
36:39And she hadn't resisted in the slightest.
36:41She'd even answered him, sweet and pliant.
36:43In that instant,
36:44his selfishness,
36:45his greed,
36:46had won out.
36:47He'd thought,
36:47basely,
36:48then let me have her once,
36:50under Logan's name.
36:51But some things,
36:52some people,
36:53you cannot touch.
36:54After the first time,
36:55you want a second.
36:56You want it without end.
36:57When he heard Logan say he'd take her back to the room,
37:00the last thread in him broke clean through.
37:02He'd thought,
37:03then let me fall all the way.
37:04Even if,
37:05in the end,
37:06she sentences me to death.
37:07But he had never imagined she would sever herself from them both in a way so absolute.
37:11She said she never wanted to see him again.
37:13Liam suddenly opened his eyes.
37:15He looked down at the old scar at the web of his thumb.
37:18The year she had bitten him,
37:19savage,
37:20blood everywhere.
37:21She had said the same thing then.
37:24My second year at college in the city,
37:26I ran into one of Logan's old friends from Stonebridge on the street.
37:30Avery,
37:30long time no see.
37:31What are you doing here?
37:32Come on,
37:32let's eat.
37:33No refusing.
37:33Speaking of which,
37:34I've been thinking about Logan lately.
37:35Do you remember him?
37:36His brother originally planned to send him to a boarding school across the whole country,
37:39but somehow he ended up staying at Stonebridge.
37:41Honestly,
37:41he studied a lot.
37:42He actually businessed his dad left for him now.
37:44He took it seriously after everything that happened.
37:46And another thing,
37:47he hasn't dated one ever since.
37:48There was a party once.
37:49Someone happened to bring up your name and the look on his face.
37:52The truth is,
37:53at first I hadn't liked Logan much.
37:55Maybe it was a prejudice I'd brought in from the start.
37:57Toward boys born to that kind of money and standing,
38:00I'd always kept my guard up.
38:01Later,
38:01he was truly good to me.
38:03I was young.
38:04When a golden boy like that lowers himself in front of you,
38:06of course your heart stirs.
38:08But before I could do anything foolish,
38:10reality woke me up.
38:12Though,
38:13he and his brother Liam seem to be on pretty bad terms now.
38:16Liam was supposed to get engaged this year too,
38:18I think.
38:18That fell through.
38:19And the girl everyone said he was promised to,
38:22she's gone and gotten engaged to someone else.
38:24I've got class.
38:24Let's do this another time when there's a champ.
38:27Avery,
38:27is there really no chance for you and Logan?
38:29You know,
38:29Logan really was a bit reckless back then.
38:31But from what I know,
38:31you two just had him understanding.
38:32He honestly never slept with that girl.
38:33Could we please not bring him up again?
38:35Alright.
38:36Thanks for dinner.
38:36Goodbye then.
38:37Hey,
38:37no need to be polite with me.
38:38Avery,
38:38come back to town and visit sometime.
38:40Everyone misses you.
38:41We'll see.
38:42A black car drove past me.
38:43My step caught just for a moment.
38:45But the car didn't pause an instant.
38:47It sped on ahead.
38:48I looked down,
38:49smiled,
38:50shook my head,
38:50and kept walking.
38:52Waiting at the crosswalk,
38:53the wind picked up.
38:55Hey,
38:55Avery.
38:56I turned without thinking,
38:57and looked straight into a pair of deep,
38:59dark eyes.
39:01Liam stood at the intersection,
39:03his black car parked behind him.
39:05Avery.
39:06He wasn't wearing glasses,
39:07thinner than two years ago,
39:09the line of his jaw sharper.
39:11What are you doing here?
39:13Passing through.
39:14Passing through.
39:15This is a college town.
39:16It's at least four hours from your city.
39:19He didn't answer,
39:20just kept looking at me,
39:22his gaze heavy.
39:23Let me drive you back to campus.
39:25No.
39:28All right.
39:32Avery.
39:33His footsteps followed,
39:35matching my pace,
39:36a few feet behind.
39:37What do you want from me, Liam?
39:41I want to talk to you.
39:43We have nothing to talk about.
39:44You promised.
39:46Both of you.
39:47I know what I promised.
39:48Then why are you here?
39:49For a second,
39:50he said nothing.
39:51Then he reached into his pocket,
39:53and took out a business card.
39:54If you change your mind.
39:55I looked at the card.
39:56White.
39:57Embossed letters.
39:59His name and a phone number.
40:00I took it and turned it over.
40:02Then I tore it in half.
40:04Then, in half again.
40:06I let the pieces fall to the sidewalk.
40:08Don't come back.
40:09I turned and walked away.
40:11This time, he didn't follow.
40:13I made it two blocks before I stopped.
40:15I leaned against a wall and pressed my palms to my eyes.
40:18My hands were shaking.
40:20When I got back to my dorm, something fell out of the pocket.
40:23A white card.
40:25The same business card.
40:26He must have slipped it in while I was tearing the other one.
40:29I hadn't felt a thing.
40:31I stared at it for a long moment.
40:33Then I opened my desk drawer, put it inside, and closed it.
40:37I flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
40:39Two years of quiet.
40:41Of nothing.
40:42I thought I'd built a safe life here.
40:44And Liam had found me in three days.
40:47I didn't call him.
40:48I went to class, as usual.
40:50I studied.
40:51I ate at the dining hall with my roommate.
40:54Everything normal.
40:55But lying on my dorm bed, my thoughts suddenly drifted back.
40:58At the marina, after too much wine, I'd told Liam exactly how I got the scar on my calf.
41:05Back then, I hadn't thought much of it.
41:07It was just an old childhood story.
41:09But now, lying alone in my dorm room, I found myself remembering it again.
41:14The memory felt sharper now than it had in years.
41:17When I was little, there had been a boy whose family was richer than anyone else in the neighborhood.
41:22He was spoiled, stubborn, and always surrounded by other kids trying to impress him.
41:27For some reason, he loved bothering me.
41:30Maybe it was because I never paid attention to him.
41:32The more I ignored him, the more determined he became.
41:36One afternoon, he followed me around for nearly an hour, refusing to leave me alone.
41:41Eventually, I lost my temper and shoved him.
41:43He shoved me back.
41:45We ended up fighting beside a row of concrete planters.
41:48I was smaller than he was and stood no chance.
41:51He pushed me hard enough that I lost my balance and slammed into the edge of a planter.
41:55The pain came instantly.
41:57I looked down and saw blood pouring down my calf.
42:00I remember sitting on the ground, crying while he stood there looking horrified.
42:04Then, because I was furious and hurt and eight years old,
42:08I grabbed his hand and bit him as hard as I could.
42:10He screamed.
42:12There was blood on his hand and blood on my leg.
42:15Both of us were crying by the time adults came running over.
42:18A few days later, he showed up carrying medicine.
42:21I thought he had come to laugh at me.
42:23Instead, he crouched beside me and stared at the bandage on my leg.
42:27It doesn't look that bad.
42:30It looks like a flower petal.
42:33The day I jumped from the balcony, the blood ran over that same scar.
42:38Liam's face went white the moment he saw it.
42:40I climbed down from the bed and opened the storage box beneath my desk.
42:44Inside were old notebooks.
42:46Photographs.
42:46After several minutes of searching, I found it.
42:49That year, there was a large photograph.
42:51Mr. and Mrs. Hayes.
42:52Logan.
42:53And Liam.
42:53My eyes fixed on Liam's right hand.
42:56At the web between his thumb and index finger.
42:58A scar.
42:59The boy who had called my scar a flower petal.
43:02The boy I had bitten until his hand bled.
43:04What if it had been Liam all along?
43:07Liam's version of that year starts the summer before.
43:10He saw me first at a scholarship dinner.
43:12He attended as a trustee representative.
43:14I stood on stage, accepting an award.
43:17Wearing a dress that didn't fit quite right.
43:19I looked nervous, but I spoke clearly.
43:22Thanked the donors.
43:23And walked off without looking back.
43:24He didn't think much of it.
43:26Not then.
43:26Keep an eye on your brother.
43:29Logan's getting sloppy.
43:30Drinking too much.
43:32Chasing girls.
43:33The family name needs protecting.
43:34Liam arrived in September.
43:36At the private welcome reception, someone pointed out Logan's girlfriend.
43:40He saw how Logan talked to me.
43:41Casual.
43:42Dismissive.
43:44Your brother's putting his girl on the table tonight?
43:46You coming?
43:47The night of the bet, he knew about it before it happened.
43:50Liam came.
43:51He told himself he was there to stop it.
43:53To take me out of that room and tell me the truth.
43:55Then I hugged him.
43:56Called him Logan and told him he smelled good.
43:58He couldn't stop himself.
43:59He kissed me.
44:00And I kissed him back.
44:02At that moment, he didn't want to be the good one anymore.
44:04He wanted to be the one I chose.
44:06So he kept up the lie, night after night.
44:09He told himself it was temporary.
44:11That he'd confess when the time was right.
44:13Then I jumped off the balcony.
44:14And he realized the time would never be right.
44:17The lawyer went in the next morning.
44:18Liam had written the check himself.
44:20Added three zeros to what the lawyer suggested.
44:22The lawyer came back and said, she wants to go far away.
44:26He didn't ask the lawyer to pass on a message.
44:28But the lawyer asked her anyway.
44:30Please tell Liam.
44:31I hope the rest of his life is safe and smooth.
44:34Liam went to his room and stayed there for two days.
44:38I didn't call.
44:39I waited a week.
44:40Then two.
44:41Then I found myself standing outside the coffee shop where I'd seen him walk in three days in a row.
44:46He wasn't there by accident.
44:47He was there because he knew this was where I came on Thursday afternoons.
44:51I pushed the door open.
44:54I walked up to his table and sat down across from him.
44:57Tell me everything.
44:59From the beginning.
45:00The night of the bet.
45:02He told me everything.
45:03He came to stop the bet.
45:05But he kissed me instead.
45:06He kept pretending because he wanted more.
45:08He remembered the fight.
45:09He knew I was the girl who bit him.
45:13Two years.
45:14You had two years to tell me you knew who I was.
45:16It matters.
45:16I didn't think it mattered.
45:19Don't come back here again, Liam.
45:20I will.
45:21I'll come back.
45:22Every day if I have to.
45:23I waited two years because you asked me to.
45:26I'll wait two more.
45:27But I'll be here.
45:28I walked halfway down the block and stopped.
45:30I leaned against a wall and closed my eyes.
45:32Liam was the boy.
45:33The one who said my scar looked like a flower petal.
45:36The one I bit.
45:37The one who brought me medicine.
45:38The one who watched me fall and didn't catch me.
45:40I walked back to my dorm and opened the drawer, looking at the card.
45:43Then I heard someone call my name again.
45:45I looked out the window.
45:46For a moment, I thought it was Liam again.
45:48But I knew it was Logan.
45:51Avery, I know.
45:52I just...
45:53Someone told me Liam came to see you.
45:54I thought if he was breaking the promise lately, how things like it to work.
45:57You shouldn't be here.
45:58That's not how promises work.
45:59No.
46:00I know.
46:00Two years ago, I was...
46:01I know that's not enough to say.
46:03But I wanted you to hear it from me.
46:04Not through someone else.
46:05I don't need an apology, Logan.
46:07What do you need?
46:08I need you to leave.
46:09Both of you.
46:09I built something here.
46:11Small.
46:11Quiet.
46:11Mine.
46:12And you two show up in the same week and act like I'm still the girl from two years ago.
46:15I'm not.
46:15I don't want to be.
46:16I know you won't hate Liam either.
46:17But I don't want either of you.
46:19Not anymore.
46:19Not the way you want me.
46:20The boy I'd been afraid of for a year.
46:22The boy who'd thrown me into a card game like I was nothing.
46:25Who'd stood by and let his brother touch me.
46:27Claim me.
46:28Ruin me.
46:29Is there anything I can do?
46:31You can go home.
46:31Take care of your family's business.
46:33Stop gambling girls away.
46:36Okay.
46:37I meant what I said.
46:39About you being the only one.
46:40Then he got into a car and drove away.
46:42A week passed.
46:43Then two.
46:44On the third Thursday, I walked into the coffee shop.
46:47Liam was sitting at the same table.
46:49He looked up when I came in.
46:50I walked over and sat down across from him.
46:52Two years.
46:53You said you'd wait two years?
46:56Yes.
46:56Then start counting.
46:57Then start counting.
Comments