All of You by Jenni Wilder

happened,” Lincoln begged my sister. I scoffed quietly. How
could he not know what happened? I had seen the way Mackenzie
pushed against him. Maybe Lincoln was not as smart as I thought he
was.
    “You don’t know what happened?? Are you or
are you not dating Mackenzie McKay?”
    “What?! No!” Lincoln said adamantly.
    There was a pause, and I leaned closer to the
door. I didn’t want to miss any of this.
    “Why would Jillian tell me you were? Tell me
what happened,” Rebecca demanded.
    I heard Lincoln let out a frustrated groan.
“I told you I don’t even know. I thought things were going really
well. Jillian and I were teasing each other all day. We had kissed
and it seemed like she finally accepted that this was a date. We
were laughing and joking and the next thing I know she’s left me
standing alone again and she won’t answer her damn phone.” Lincoln
sounded mad.
    “Well, wait. Where does Mackenzie come into
this?” I heard Rebecca ask.
    “Is that what she’s upset about?” Lincoln
asked.
    “Of course she’s upset about that! Are you an
idiot?! The woman you’re dating interrupts your date with Jillian.
Can you see how she would be upset by that?”
    “I’M NOT DATING MACKENZIE! Dammit, please
just let me talk to Jillian,” Lincoln begged, but Rebecca
resisted.
    “Why would Jillian say you were?”
    Lincoln let out another large sigh.
“Mackenzie and I went on a few dates a couple of months ago. I
thought she was a good person, and I fell into her trap. It didn’t
take long before I figured out she was selling my personal details
to the media. She only wanted me to help her get famous,” Lincoln
said sadly. “I thought she had given up—we haven’t talked in
months. But apparently not. She came up to me at the
festival—Jillian was standing right next to me. She called me a
freak show and then acted like we still had something going on.
She’s insane.”
    My heart was pounding fast. I wanted to
believe him, but there were too many reasons to doubt him. What if
Mackenzie put him up to this to harass me even more?
    “Is that the truth?” I heard Rebecca ask
Lincoln.
    “Yes!” Lincoln exclaimed.
    There was another pause before Rebecca spoke.
“Mackenzie wasn’t calling you a freak show. She was calling Jillian
a freak show.”
    “Why would she call Jillian that? Do they
know each other?” Lincoln asked, confused and I held my breath. I
silently implored Rebecca not to say anything.
    Rebecca sighed. “It’s not my story to tell,
Lincoln. You’ll have to ask Jillian.”
    I heard Lincoln’s frustrated sigh. “I would
if I could, but you WON’T LET ME TALK TO HER!”
    “Lincoln! Calm down! I’ll go talk to her,
okay? I’ll see if she’ll talk to you.” Rebecca relented.
    “Tell her—tell her I’m sorry. Please just ask
her to talk to me,” Lincoln begged and I heard Rebecca’s footsteps
on the stairs. I closed my bedroom door quietly and backed into my
room with my arms crossed over my chest in a self-protective
manner. Rebecca knocked on the door.
    “Jillian? Are you awake?” Rebecca asked. Her
voice was muffled through the door.
    “Yeah. Come in.”
    “Oh, you’re up,” Rebecca said as she turned
on the light and saw me standing. I nodded in reply. “Lincoln’s
here.”
    “I know.” I admitted. “I was listening.”
    “You were?” Rebecca asked, and I nodded
again. “Well?”
    “What do you think?”
    Rebecca sighed. “I don’t think he’s dating
Mackenzie.”
    “But what if… what if she sent him here to
hurt me even more?” I finally voiced my main concern. I hadn’t seen
Mackenzie in years, but I feared she could still hurt me.
    “Jillian, the chances of that happening are
very unlikely.”
    “It’s Mackenzie, Rebecca. She’s evil. She’ll
do anything.”
    “I know, Jilly Bean. But what if Lincoln is
telling the truth? Think of how hurt you were after freshman year.
What if Lincoln is feeling that way right now? He’s been hurt