Confess

Auburn is 15 and visiting her boyfriend, Adam, for the last time in the hospital because he is dying of cancer. Adam agreed to move from Portland to Dallas for treatment so he could be with extended family, including his brother, but only if Auburn could come with him. His family agreed, but Auburn’s flight back to Portland is today. Both of their families feel five weeks was enough time for her to be there.

Adam thanks her for being his first sexual partner and for letting him be hers. He asks her to tell him something she’s told nobody, something that can be all his, and she responds that she thinks about who else should die instead of him. She cries, and he tells her, “I’ll love you forever. Even when I can’t” (10). She responds, “And I’ll love you forever. Even when I shouldn’t” (10). They tell each other they love each other over and over until Adam’s brother, Trey, tells her it’s time to go.

Auburn, now 20, sits across from a lawyer and asks if she can pay using a sliding scale, but he says no. She moved to Texas three weeks ago, and she wishes she could still be in Portland.