me?” The hurt is all over her face. It stabs at my chest and
tears open wounds that I thought had closed up a long time
ago.
“Why should I trust you?” I wish I could stop and think
this through rationally, but I can’t. “We hardly know each
other. You don’t have a good track record for being honest
when it comes to that.”
Steph makes an injured noise, but she looks more
shocked than she does hurt at the moment. “I can’t believe
you’d say that. I trust you! I don’t have to know you for years
to trust you and believe in you. If this was the other way
around, I wouldn’t think that you were going to bail on me. I
would never say that you’d want to go back to hiding who you
were. I’d be proud of you. I’d stand up for you. I’ve never
given you any reason to believe that I’d do anything different!
I have no idea why you’re acting like this! I don’t understand
it at all! Really, I don’t.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not in that position.
You’re the one with all the power.” I’ve pressed on Steph’s
most sensitive button. The one thing I know that has haunted
her and hurt her in the past. Her family’s money. She shakes
her head sadly instead of blowing up at me.
“It’s always about the money. The stupid, stupid
money. I know what you’re thinking. That my parents would
cut me off and I’d have to change my mind. Don’t you realize
that I have my own bank account? I’ve had my own money
since before college. Since I turned eighteen. I own my own
house. It’s my name on the title. I have my own things. I work
for a living. I am my own person. Even if that wasn’t true, I
can’t believe you’d think that I’d choose money over you! I’ve