At the End of My Tears Lies the Lake

Ever since I was a kid, I've had a knight complex. See someone weak, and I want to protect them. My boyfriend has a childhood friend named Fern Sullivan. Timid, pale-skinned, like a startled little rabbit. Every time the three of us ate together, I'd instinctively look after her, rinsing her bowl clean, peeling her shrimp, putting food on her plate. My boyfriend got so jealous he slammed down his chopsticks. "Which one of us is your boyfriend, exactly?" And Fern clung to me too. She'd give me gifts on the holidays, and when she came over to the house, she insisted on sleeping in my bed.