My instincts tell me to run, to step out of this extremely painful moment in time, but if I leave now, she’ll find me later on, only to pick up where she left off. I have to face this, face her and get this over with once and for all. It’s to kill or be killed and I am not about to die! I drop my bag. Straightening my back and folding my arms in front of my chest, assuming a more relaxed position, I glare at Madison. "You want to talk about the truth, Madison?", I spit out, venom lacing my words. I can tell from the widening of her eyes that she didn’t expect this from me, and taking advantage of her temporary loss of speech, I continue to aim and fire. "Let’s Madison! Let’s talk about the truth! How about I go first?", I hiss at her.

She opens her mouth to speak, but I won’t let her. I’m on a roll now and I’m not shutting up until I’ve spilled my guts. "The truth is, Madison, that YES, Ashley did break my heart. YES, Ashley ran back to Aiden and YES, I hurt like hell over it! But you know what, Madison, no matter how much it hurts right now, no matter how much longer it may hurt, I KNOW that one day I will look back on this with a smile on my face and longing in my eyes, ’cause you know what, MADISON, she may not love me now, but when she kissed me for the first time and all the times after that, when we made love, her hands touching MY body, nearly making my heart explode from wanting her, needing her, I know she loved me then, that she wanted and needed me too and that’s all I need to know! People change, feelings change, but no one, and certainly not you, you stuck up, selfcentered piece of garbage, will ever take that feeling away from me! It’s called love, Madison, but you wouldn’t know about that, would you? ‘Cause the one person you want, the one person you need, doesn’t want you! Is that enough truth for ya?!"

I’ve begun to shout, but I don’t care. I don’t care about all the gobsmacked faces surrounding this little scene. Nothing can stop me now. I’ve been holding this in long enough and it feels good to let it all out, cleansing even. Madison is more than a little shocked, but seems to recover quickly when she fires back, "Please tell me you’re not talking about Aiden, Carlin, ’cause beyond great sex, there really isn’t a lot to love about him". She’s mocking me by sounding bored, that irritating little smirk back in place and I can’t help but smile back, a fullblown, wide smile, knowing I have her exactly where I want her.

"Yes, well …", I start sweetly, "I’m not talking about Aiden, Madison, I’m talking about Ashley! Did you really think I didn’t get it? You can’t be that stupid, Duarte! I may come across as innocent and naive to the lot of you, but I wasn’t born yesterday. It was never Ashley you were jealous of, it was Aiden! You wanted Aiden so he wouldn’t be able to be with Ashley and when I came into the picture, it was me you were jealous of. I was the one touching her. I was the one kissing her and I was the one she took to bed and you hated me for it. Well, you can stop hating me now, Madison, ’cause I’m no longer living your dream. Hell, I’m not even living MY dream anymore!" And with that, I grab my bag and storm off, passing a shellshocked and highly embarrassed Madison, not wanting to be around her or anyone else any longer.

The crowd parts for me like the Red Sea did for Moses, but I’m too angry too see the funny in it. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, but I don’t want anyone to see them. I hug myself, my eyes cast downwards, therefore failing to see Ashley standing off to the side, her eyes filled with pride, yet brimming with tears, Aiden’s arm around her shoulders in comfort …