Page 121 of A Ballad of Betrayal and Beauty

Dusty is standing in the middle of the room, her hands clasped around that framed picture of the four of us. Her knuckles are white and her face is pale and streaked with tears. What the fuck?

“Dusty?”

I cross the room and place my hands on her shoulders when something uncomfortable clunks into place. It wasn’t me who said her name. I look back over my shoulder where Key is standing—his face wrought with a dozen different emotions—and something knocks around in my brain like a loose puzzle piece. No . . . it can’t be. That’s impossible.

Theyknoweach other.

An eternity seems to pass as the three of us stand around looking at one another. No one seems to want to speak first. Perhaps no one can. I certainly can’t, even though there’s a million questions circulating in my head. Finally, Key takes a step forward.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” he asks bitterly.

I see Dusty shudder, her skin pebbling beneath my shirt. She looks terrified.

“Key, this is Dusty,” I get out. “My girlfriend.”

Her eyes flick to me, wide and horrified.

“No,” Key says. “No. Absolutely not. I’m fucking hallucinating. Tell me that isn’t Dusty Connors.”

“Key,” she whispers, her voice breaking.

But he shakes his head. “No, no?—”

“Will someone explain to me what the fuck is going on?” I say.

“Are you here to hurt me again?” Key yells across the room. “You couldn’t stomp on my heart enough, huh?”

She shakes her head, tears trickling down her cheeks.

It’s as if I’m watching a tennis match. My head whips back and forth, not daring to miss a thing. “Someone please?—”

Key steps forward until he’s only feet away. “In all the years I knew you”—his voice is calm, lethal—“I never thought you were a vindictive bitch. But this? This is fucking next level.”

My palms make contact with his chest and he stumbles back. He looks at me, his eyes stunned. “Don’t call her that!” I yell.

Key’s face twists. “So you found me here and decided to trick my best friend into loving you to get back at me. Is that it?”

She flinches as he shouts, stepping back, and I instinctively step in front of her. Key looks crazed, and it worries me.

“What more could you possibly take from me?” he shouts at her.

“N-nothing,” she whispers.

But Key is crying now too, and I’m reminded of that day all those years ago at Samson Academy.

“All I ever did was love you,” he chokes out, and my stomach swoops violently. “All I did was love you too much.”

Everything suddenly makes sense. And my world that was just moments ago full of bright lights and music, is now dark and silent.

“The songs,” I whisper. “They’re about you.”

She’s sobbing now. “I didn’t—I didn’t know you were . . . friends. I s-swear.”

My ears are ringing. “You loved her,” I say, the truth of it like a tidal wave.

“She was my entire fucking world!” Key cries, suddenly turning and walking away. “We were supposed to run away together,” he continues. “We were going to get married. Have a baby.”

My breath halts in my chest. “What?”

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