Page 116 of Still Love You

"I need you to go." She walks to the door, holding it open. "And don't come back."

"Willow." I meet her at the door. "Of course I'm coming back. I love you. I'm going to be here for you."

"I don't want you here. I don't even want to be friends with you anymore."

I stare at her, shocked that she's saying this. Just minutes ago, she was hugging me, clinging to me like she didn't want me to leave. And now she's kicking me out? Ending our friendship?

"I know you don't mean that," I tell her. "You're just mad. Mad at your parents. Mad at me. Mad at the situation. And I totally understand. But we can get through this. I promise."

"You lied to me, Silas. You've never lied to me, not even about something small. And this whole time you knew this huge secret and you wouldn't even tell me!"

"Because your parents—"

"Stop! I don't want to hear it." She looks at me with hate in her eyes. She's never looked at me that way. "I don't want your excuses. I trusted you. I get why my parents lied. I don't agree with it but I get it. They're just being parents, trying to protect their child. But you're my best friend. You always have been. And best friends tell each other the truth, even if the person doesn't want to hear it."

I'm getting angry now, because Willow kept the truth from me for years.

"Have you always told me the truth?" I look her in the eye.

She glances down. "Yes."

"So when you said you didn't love me anymore when you broke off our engagement, was that the truth? Because just last week, you told me you never stopped loving me. So which is it?"

I see her lip quiver and hear her shaky breaths, but she doesn't answer.

"Which is it, Willow? Do you love me? Or was that just a lie?"

She keeps her head down, but I see the tears drip from her face as she whispers, "Please. Just go."

I walk out the door and she closes it and locks it behind me. I stand there a moment and hear her sobbing as her body slides against the door onto the floor.

My chest is burning, aching, desperate to help her. I want to hold her and tell her everything will be okay, but that would be a lie, and I'm done lying to her. Besides, right now, she doesn't want to see me. I thought she was just saying that, but when I saw how she looked at me, that look I'd never seen before, I knew I needed to give her time alone.

Willow is right. I've never lied to her. I've always told her everything, even things I knew would embarrass her, like if she had food in her teeth or toilet paper stuck to her shoe. We have the type of relationship where we can tell each other anything. And so I've always been open with her. Never held back. Until now.

I never should've agreed to keep this from her. She had a right to know. This affects her education, her life, her future. Her parents were wrong not to tell her, and wrong to ask me to keep this a secret. I love her parents, but right now, I'm really pissed at them.

I go to the living room and sit down on the couch. Despite Willow's request, I'm not leaving. Not until her parents get home. She might need me. Or maybe she won't. Either way, I'm not leaving.

I get my phone out and call her dad.

"Hi, Silas," he answers. "Aren't you supposed to be at class?"

"It ended an hour ago. I'm at your house right now. When I got here, I found Willow in the office." I pause. "She knows."

"I don't understand. I had everything locked up."

"She broke the file cabinet open."

"Why would she do that? Did she suspect something? Did you say something to her?"

"No. I didn't say anything."

But now he has me wondering why she did it. Why would she break open the file cabinet? She had to have known something was up. But how did she know?

"Where is she now?"

"Still in the office. I tried to talk to her but she kicked me out. She doesn't want to talk to anyone. She told me to leave, but I'm going to stay here until you guys get home."

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