“I have to tell you something,” I cried, sitting next to Connor, my best friend. “You won’t tell?”

“’Course not, hon!” he squealed back, a glint coming into his eye. Doubt filled me.

“Actually…”

“Come on! Tell me!” The glint disappeared as he looked into my eyes. “You know I won’t tell, right. Only my mother dearest. She doesn’t like you, anyway. Thinks you made me gay.”

“Seriously!? Well, that’s not the point. What I meant to say was…”
I told him everything, and it felt like the weight on my shoulders eased just a little. By the end he wasn’t staring at me in shock, just holding me in his arms as I cried. “…and now she’s in hospital!”

“It’s not your fault, babe.”

I didn’t know if he was right. Maybe this was God’s way of getting at her. Like with Scylla: a fisherman fucked her claiming to be ‘god of the sea’ and Circe’s way of revenge was to turn Scylla into a sea serpent. Is Heather my sea serpent?