“Why not? Tell me. You owe me this!” She looks at me, square in the eye. Taking aim. And then she pulls the trigger. “Because I hated you.” The wind, the noise it all just goes quiet for a second, and I’m left with a dull ringing in my ear, like a after a show, like a after a heart monitor goes to flatline. “Hated me? Why?” “Because you made me stay.”

“Why not? Tell me. You owe me this!” She looks at me, square in the eye. Taking aim. And then she pulls the trigger. “Because I hated you.” The wind, the noise it all just goes quiet for a second, and I’m left with a dull ringing in my ear, like a after a show, like a after a heart monitor goes to flatline. “Hated me? Why?” “Because you made me stay.”

— Gayle Forman