3: 3

3

I pushed the door open and walked out.

Behind me I heard Finn call my name, but he didn't come after me.

Then, from inside, I caught the sound of Finn and Mildred talking.

"Finn, your girlfriend just up and left like that. Is she upset or something?"

"No. She's just the introverted type."

"Oh. She walked out just like that and you're not going after her?"

Finn gave a cold snort.

"She's just being dramatic. If I indulge her now, she'll be walking all over me once she marries in."

He turned to look at Mildred.

"Since when do you worry this much about me?"

"I don't worry about you at all! I'm just afraid you'll set off your caveman streak and offend her. Don't come crying to me when she runs off."

Finn laughed.

"You think everyone's as hard to please as you?"

The two of them went back and forth, and somehow turned an awkward silence into an easy, lively little chat.

I let out a bitter laugh, pulled out my phone, and opened my chat with my best friend, Lucille Fox.

Her message from ten minutes ago was still sitting there.

"You there yet? How's it going, how's it going?"

"Is his family nice to you? What's his mom's attitude like?"

I stared at the screen for a long time.

In the end I typed: "That little childhood sweetheart of his is here too. I called it off."

The first time I found out Finn had a childhood sweetheart,

Lucille had warned me, dead serious.

"Violet, I'm telling you right now, a man with a childhood sweetheart is a man you don't touch!"

"That thing is like athlete's foot. You can treat the symptoms all you want, but you never cure it. Even if you peel off the skin, the smell stays."

Now I thought she'd had a point.

For three days straight, I didn't answer a single one of Finn's messages.

I certainly didn't move into his apartment.

On the fourth day, Finn finally couldn't sit still and came to my door to apologize.

"What happened that day really was my fault."

"You've always wanted to go camping, right?"

"Give me a chance. Let it make up for it, okay?"

Over those few days I hadn't been able to let go of what Finn and I had, either.

Apart from the childhood sweetheart, we got along well in every other way, and we were close to talking about marriage.

I wasn't willing to throw away six years over one Mildred Hansen.

So I agreed to go camping.

"I'll go pack my things."

"Be there on time to pick me up tomorrow."

Finn thumped his chest and swore he wouldn't be late.

But the next day, camping gear in my arms, I still ended up waiting downstairs for half an hour.

The second I rolled the window down, I saw Mildred sitting in the passenger seat with a bright smile.

She waved at me.

"Hey, sis! Get in quick, it's hot out there!"

I stood at the curb holding the camping case, staring at that beaming face in the passenger window, and slowly curled my fingers into my palm.

Finn frowned at me.

"Violet, what are you standing there for? Put the case in the trunk, let's get going."

"Finn," I looked at him, "why is she here?"

The smile on his face froze for a beat, then he explained it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Millie happened to be free. Said she was bored home alone and wanted to tag along. I figured the more the merrier..."

"The merrier?"

I lifted my eyes. "I agreed to come camping because you said it was to make things up to me."

"I know."

Finn went on, "But Millie said she wanted to spend more time with you, worried there was some rift between you two. She's the one making the effort to smooth things over, isn't she? See how considerate she is."

I glanced down at the neatly folded blanket and the snacks packed in my camping case, and felt like an idiot.

Because we were going camping, I'd made a special trip to the store to buy the beef jerky Finn loved.

I'd spent a whole night reading up on camping tips.

I'd booked a small tent, one for two people.

Somewhere in me there had still been a sliver of hope that this time we could finally talk things out properly.

And instead, there was Mildred sitting in the passenger seat.

"Sis!"

Mildred hopped down from the car too, blinking at me all innocent.

"Are you upset? I really just wanted to hang out with you two, I promise I won't get in the way!"

"If you think I'm a bother, I'll leave right now."

She turned as if to walk off.

Finn grabbed her arm at once. "Hey, don't go, you're already here."

He turned back to me, his eyes pleading.

"Violet, just let her come along. I won't feel right sending her home by herself."

With him saying all that, I gave a self-mocking little laugh.

"So can I even say no?"

"Let's go."

I was about to open the passenger door when Mildred suddenly stopped me.

"Sis, I get carsick easily, I can only sit up front."

She pointed at the seat cushion in the passenger seat.

"See, my cushion's already there and everything."

Finn spoke up. "It's just one seat. Finn, you take the back."

I pressed my lips together and obediently went to the back seat.

Once the car got moving, Mildred reclined the passenger seat a little.

She half-lay against the seatback, one foot tucked up under her, chatting on and off with Finn.

"Finn, remember? When we were kids and went camping, my dad put the tent poles in backwards and the whole thing collapsed in the middle of the night. The two of us squeezed into one sleeping bag until morning."

Finn laughed. "You've got some nerve bringing that up. You were so scared you cried, wiped your snot all over me."

"I did not wipe snot all over you! Stop making things up!"

"Ask your mom. When you got home and she washed your clothes, weren't they covered in snot stains?"

The two of them burst out laughing.

In the rearview mirror, Finn's eyes curved into little crescents, a kind of easy, wide-open joy I'd never seen before.

When we reached the site, I stayed put to pitch the tent while Finn and Mildred carried the gear from the car.

Then Mildred twisted her ankle by accident.

Finn rushed over at once, all worry. "Does it hurt a lot? Here, let me rub it."

I watched him gently ease off her shoe and set her foot carefully on his lap, kneading it.

I just stood there, watching with no expression at all.

"You two enjoy yourselves. I'm heading off."

"Violet, are you throwing a tantrum again?"

Finn's voice came, sharp with irritation.

I shrugged.

"With the two of you being so lovey-dovey, I'm the one who looks like a clueless third wheel."

"Maybe I should just go and leave the two of you to your little private world."

Finn's face went dark in an instant.

"Violet, that's enough! Why do you have to be so snide?"

"Millie twisted her ankle, she can't walk, all I did was help her up. Can you not be jealous over every little thing?"

4: 4

4

Mildred curled into her boyfriend's arms, blinking those big, watery eyes.

"Don't be mad, Vi. I really just twisted my ankle, and that's the only reason Finn rubbed it. We've been like this since we were kids. It doesn't mean anything."

"You twisted your ankle, so he rubbed your foot, and you were hanging off his whole body. And that doesn't mean anything?"

I looked down and let out a sarcastic little laugh.

"Then someday when I twist my ankle and let some other man rub it, you won't mind either, right? Since it doesn't mean anything."

Finn suddenly sneered.

"Go ahead and try."

"Violet, don't just talk tough. Don't say things you don't mean."

"You've been with me three years, and I've never once seen another man near you."

"If you can actually produce another man, then I'll be impressed."

Finn threw the words down coldly and carried the ankle-nursing Mildred off to the tent.

I stood frozen where I was, silent for a moment, then dialed my sworn enemy.

"Didn't you say you've always wanted to chase me?"

"Then come here now and take me away."

"You come, and I'll break up with Finn."

A hoarse, agitated voice came through the line.

"I'm on my way!"

A rush of hurried footsteps followed, and faint background noise carried through too.

"Mr. Weiss, are we canceling the international conference?"

"Push it back."

I hung up and lifted my eyes toward the tent.

Finn, three years together, and you never saw another man around me.

That's because I have restraint, not because no one wanted me.

But now, Finn, this was your last chance, and you didn't value it.

You've been eliminated.

After hanging up, I couldn't stand the sight of the two of them being cozy, so I walked toward the lake.

I sat by the water for a while, and figuring Winston Weiss was about due to arrive, I turned to go pack up my things.

I'd only taken two steps when a rush of hurried footsteps came from behind me.

A force slammed hard into my back.

Caught off guard, I stumbled forward a few steps, my feet hit the slick mud at the water's edge, and I went straight down.

A loud splash.

The freezing lake water swallowed me whole in an instant.

"Help—help me."

I choked down a big mouthful of water, salty and bitter, and thrashed my way back to the surface.

I looked up and saw Mildred standing on the bank.

She held my bag in her hand, that innocent, guileless smile on her face.

"Oh no, Vi, I didn't mean to. I just wanted to grab your bag for you, and my foot slipped."

She said she hadn't meant to, but the smugness in her eyes was practically overflowing.

I gritted my teeth and pushed myself up on the rocks at the water's edge.

My clothes and pants were soaked through, clinging and outlining every curve of my body.

I'd only made it halfway up when a flash of white light went off on the bank.

"What are you doing?!"

I instinctively covered my dripping body.

Mildred just held up her phone, snapping several shots in a row, giggling the whole time.

"Vi, you look hilarious like this, like a soggy little drowned dog!"

"I have to capture this precious moment and send it to Finn."

She took two steps back and snapped several more at me.

"Don't be mad, Vi. I'm just joking around."

"I'll say it one more time. Turn off the phone!"

"No."

She shook her head, grinning. "Not unless you agree to forgive Finn. He went home that night so heartbroken, didn't sleep all night. See how much he likes you? Just forgive him, okay?"

I stared at her face and thought I'd never seen anyone so disgusting.

"So you threw my things in the lake, shoved me into the water, and took photos of me looking pathetic, all so I'd forgive Finn?"

I wiped the water off my face, my voice cold and furious.

"Is something wrong with your head?"

The smile on Mildred's face finally faded a little, displeasure flickering in her eyes.

"Vi, how can you curse at me like that?"

"What's wrong with cursing at you?" I stepped forward. "When you shoved me into the lake, did it ever cross your mind that I'd curse at you?"

"I already told you it was an accident!"

"Say that again?"

She bit her lip, her eyes reddening, looking like she was one second from crying.

But this time, I wasn't going to hold back.

I lifted my hand, grabbed her arm, and with the other hand snatched the phone right out of her grip.

She shrieked: "What are you doing!"

I ignored her, looked down and scrolled through the album, deleted every one of those photos, then cleared out the recently deleted folder too.

Once it was clean, I tossed the phone back into her arms and said flatly: "Take another photo of me, and I'll throw your phone in the lake."

Mildred clutched the phone, her face cycling through green and white, her chest heaving with rage.

"You—you're going too far!"

She stamped her foot and turned to shout toward Finn. "Finn! Your girlfriend's bullying me!"

Finn heard her and came running. He saw me soaked through and froze for two seconds: "What happened to you?"

"Ask her."

Finn looked to Mildred again, and she instantly put on that pitiful, wronged expression, eyes red.

"I just wanted to grab Vi's bag for her, and my foot slipped and knocked her in."

"I already apologized, but she still cursed at me and grabbed my phone—"

Finn held back his anger and looked at me.

"Violet, she already said it wasn't on purpose. Do you have to? Look how badly you scared her."

I stood there, soaked to the skin, and when the cold wind hit me my teeth started to chatter.

When you're speechless to the very limit, you really do laugh out loud.

"Finn, your girlfriend got pushed into a lake, she's soaked through, her phone's ruined, and you don't ask me a single word about whether I'm cold. You just turn around and comfort the person who pushed me. Do you really not get it, or are you playing dumb?"

Then the little childhood sweetheart said she wanted to take a few photos of me looking pathetic and wet.

"I just want to have something on Vi, so she won't dare run her mouth or bully me so easily anymore."

Finn agreed.

"Violet, don't blame me. You brought this on yourself."

They were about to pin me down and shove me back into the lake.

Just then, the roar of an engine came from the distance.

"Let go of Violet!"