Buttercup shut the door behind her and fell against it as soon as she heard the click. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to calm the knots that welled up within her upon seeing Karl Bartlett. She thought she had left the Bottoms and all its memories behind her. It never even dawned on her that Karl was Rhychard's brother. She wasn't even sure if she had known Karl's last name. Last names were irrelevant in the Bottoms. Real names were irrelevant for that matter.
She slid to the floor, sitting there in her misery. Would she ever be completely free of the past? She wiped the tears that started to fall with the back of her hands, leaving smudges on her cheeks. She didn't want to think about where she was a month ago, the strange cars she climbed into, the men she had s*x with just
