Count My Lies

by Sophie Stava

The thing is, I’m not a nurse. I never have been. What I am is a liar.

won’t let Allison ruin my evening. She’s taken enough from me as it is. I pack up what happened and put it back in its box. I unhinge the attic door and hoist it up, slide it back into the shadowy darkness, out of sight, out of reach. Everything is fine. Everything is fine, I repeat to myself, over and over until it is true.

Even if I’d wanted to, which I don’t—I’d rather fuck a cactus—I’d