Dear Lily,

Please forgive me. You know I didn’t mean it, any of it. I swear. You’re so beautiful, I can’t stand seeing you hurting. Please, Lily, can we just go back to how it was before?

“I can’t even look at his name!” Lily wailed. She reread the letter. “He loves me? He loves me? What an idiot! I hate him! I hate him! How could he even say he loves me?”

“What’s this?” Anna tipped the envelope over. Out fell a yellow petal A rose petal. Lily’s favorite.

Lily held it in her palm and began to cry. “Maybe…” she said, softly, “maybe he really didn’t mean it. I mean, I think he’s trying to make up! Maybe…”

“No, Lily! He’s a jerk! He raped you! That’s not okay!”

Suddenly, the memories of, was it just last night?, flooded at her. The hurt, the pain.

“You’re right,” she whispered through her tears. “You’re right.” Her sleeve fell back, exposing the fresh red cuts.

“Oh, Lil. Is that what he did to you?”

She shook her head. “No, Anna,” She said. “I did those ones. I think…I deserve to hurt.”