Tell Me What You Hate About Me

39: Monarch

As Dominic and I stopped by my dorm just before heading out to meet Butterfly, Sierra and Jack were already in there. I let go of Dominic's hand before either one of them could see, but luckily they were too busy huddled by Sierra's laptop to notice.

"What are you two up to?" I asked as I grabbed my bag.

Sierra had told me that there was maybe something going on between them, but I didn't see it. What did they even have in common besides that they were the first two to suspect that there was something more going on with the talisman than just being an everyday artifact?

"We're watching this documentary on this little girl who might have killed her whole family in the seventies, but no one has been able to definitively prove that she did it so far. I love Halloween so much. Everything cryptid, murdery, and cool is trending on Netflix," Sierra said.

I hesitated. Why would anyone want to watch that? "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

Maybe one day there would be a documentary on Netflix about the talisman and me. It probably wouldn't be that interesting, though.

"It's definitely not something I would normally watch, but it's kind of interesting. I really think she did it," Jack said.

"Look, if a little girl kills her whole family and covers it up that well, she deserves to get away with it. She earned it," Dominic said.

I looked over at him. What was wrong with me that I kind of liked him a little? "Okay, Captain Edgy. Why don't we head out and see if Butterfly can help me fix you?"

"Wait. Before you go, can I talk to you, Lindsay?" Jack said and got up from his spot next to Sierra.

I followed him out into the hallway. We hadn't really spoken one-on-one since the incident in Harvey's garage besides to get him up to speed on what really happened, so there were plenty of directions this conversation could go.

"It's obvious you care about him," Jack said. Wow, how insightful.

Why wouldn't I care that I just erased someone's memory and made his life even more difficult than it already was? How big of a bitch did everyone think I was?

"I just want to fix everything, Jack. And I'm done screwing around with this talisman. It needs to go before I can hurt anyone else. I know I've said it before, but I really mean it this time," I said.

"So that's it? You're quitting because it's too difficult? Again?" Jack asked.

I shook my head. "It's not too difficult. It would just be better for everyone if it was someone else's problem."

"And whose problem should it be?"

"That's not my problem."

"Yes, it is. A lot of things are your problem, and you can't run from them anymore."

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm obviously trying to fix the situation with the memories. How the hell is that running from my problems?"

"That's the most immediate problem. There are ninety others going on, like school, your family, and that's not even considering what you're gonna do if you can't undo—"

I interrupted him before he could even put that possibility out in the open right where the talisman could hear. "Some problems are too big to fix, even with a talisman. You just have to wait those out and deal with the consequences later."

He didn't reply to that right away, and before he could formulate a response, I changed the subject. "What about you? Don't you have a new but good problem?"