“You make me wish I liked women!” Elaina shouts, the words spitting out of her mouth before she is sure they even make sense. Her feet carry her closer to the front door, through the kitchen, but his voice stops her and makes her turn around.

“Do you?” Derek replies. His voice is bellowing, shaking the house with every syllable.

“Maybe now I do,” Elaina shoots back, even knowing it’s a lie. While he is loud, her tone is full of a colder kind of anger—the kind that cuts deep.

Derek looks taken aback when he hears her words. “So what? We’re done now? Is that it?”

Even when he asks questions, they seem more like demands. Elaina throws up her hands in frustration. Why must she always have the answers?

“I don’t know!” she exclaims, slamming her keys against the counter. “You lied to me.”

“To protect you!” Derek immediately protests, sounding all too defensive for Elaina’s liking.

“Did you hook up with Sarah to protect me, too?” snaps Elaina as she finally breaks. Derek looks like he’s been hit by a truck, his eyes wide and face slackened in shock. A hollow chuckle escapes Elaina’s lips as she turns back away and marches to the door.

“That’s what I thought,” she says, hand on tbe knob. She twists it and the door opens with a creak. “And yes, we _are_ done. This is it.”

**_Maybe I am into girls. Maybe I’ll go find Sarah._******

****

The door slams shut behind her.