Page 113 of Dirty Politics

“Oh, my god,” Liv said. She slumped into a chair. “It’s going to pass.”

“It says here that sources are saying they have close to seventy-five votes now,” Ben said, holding up his phone. “Talk about reaching across the aisle. When was the last time Congress passed a bill with this much support?”

Steph shrugged.

Liv clicked her phone open and started scrolling.

“Your name is everywhere online,” Steph said. “Everyone’s talking about how you made this happen.”

“Really?”

“They are saying you have changed activism forever.”

“I can’t believe this,” she said.

“Believe it,” Ben said. “You did it.”

“He was never going to kill the bill,” Liv said, her hands covering her mouth. “Oh, my god, the things I said to him...”

“You didn’t know.”

“He couldn’t tell me,” Liv said. “Of course, he couldn’t tell me. This was one of the biggest secrets in the world.”

“In the history of the world,” Steph said.

“There was no way you could have known,” Ben said.

“Text him or call him,” Steph said. “What are you waiting for?”

“Oh, god,” Liv said, fiddling with her phone. “I blocked his number. He couldn’t have contacted me if he wanted.”

“Ben, how do I unblock him?” she said, handing her phone over to Ben. “I’m sure his phone is off anyway. They’ll be starting to vote soon.”

Liv paced the room; she desperately wanted to go to the Capitol.

“I’m going for a run,” she said. “I can’t stay here any longer.”

She dressed quickly and set out on her usual path around the National Mall. She ran faster than normal since she was exploding with extra energy. Her mind replayed the last fight they’d had. God, she wished she could take all of that back.

What had she called him? A psychopath who used sex to distract her from his evil plan. She cringed as it replayed in her mind.

When she rounded the corner at the Jefferson Monument where she’d crashed into Will months ago, she stopped short. Could it be?

“Hey,” she said, running over to the bench in front of the water.

“Hey,” he answered. He was sitting on the bench, looking out at the water.

“Don’t you have a vote to get to?” she said.

“It starts in an hour,” he said. “I wanted to get away for a moment.”

He looked at his watch. “I should probably head back.”

“Will...”

He looked up at her.

“Liv, I need to go.”

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