Status Updates From The Truth According to Ember

“I wish you had come to talk to me about it. I’m a grown man, and I don’t need protecting. We are supposed to be partners and face these things together. You never should have been put in a compromising situation. It makes me so angry that you went through all that alone, pushing me away. We could have kept our relationship on the down-low and figured out how to stop Kyle together.”

“Our people have long memories; no one means anything bad by it. I love you, but you have an avoidance problem.”

“I feel sorry for you, Kyle. Even with your fancy education, your money, and your connections, no one genuinely likes you. Even though I haven’t graduated from community college—yet—when I finally get to where I am headed, it’s going to mean something to everyone around me. I will be something. You will just fade away, blending into the sea of mediocre men who have come before you.”

“Stop picking on me and everything I do wrong. You just avoid everything. Sure, you can do math, but when life gets hard, you shut down and pretend it’s not happening.”