The Missing Piece

by Kiersten Modglin

I saw how you lied to everyone, including yourself, about what had happened to you. It was like nothing had ever happened, like that night never existed. I watched you for months, saw how you pushed your friends away as if you didn’t know them. You don’t think I noticed that all of the mirrors in your house were gone? That all the pictures stopped after that night? I asked you about Derek, and you pretended like he was just some guy. I saw you with your old friends; I saw how you acted like you didn’t know them at all. He told me all about you, Jaicey. I knew everything about you. You could pretend that nothing had happened, that you’d never been the girl you were, but I knew better. The lighthouse was the final test. When you pretended not to recognize it, I knew I had you. You were so easy, just like he said you’d be. Didn’t you learn your lesson not to trust people the first time?” I was stupid—so stupid. I couldn’t believe how idiotic I had let myself become. I reached up to my neck, tracing my fingers along each of the four scars he had given me. “Did you really think that someone like me, someone normal, could love a scarred face like yours? Did you really think it could all be normal? That I hadn’t noticed how deformed you are?