Page 105 of The Debutantes
But then it hits me: Lily doesn’t even seem mad.
“I mean, it was obvious. Not like I care.” She brushes a piece of lint off her sleeve. “I broke up with Wyatt after the ball, anyway. So, really, he’s all yours.”
Like he’s her scraps, the out-of-season clothes she’ll lend me, knowing they’ll be sizes too small. And it’s not even that I care that much about Wyatt, not really. I know, now, that I liked him less than I liked the idea of being with him, of being loved the way he loves Lily. But it’sbecausehe’s so irrelevant that, with all the other bullshit and horror of tonight, I can’t let it go.
And then I understand.
“You didn’t make this whole plan because you thought me, April, and Piper would know what to do,” I say. “You were scared of what would happen if you told everyone the truth, so you left it for us to deal with. You put us in danger so youwouldn’t have to be.” Finally, it dawns on me. “You were punishing us.”
“So what if I was?” she explodes. “You screwed my boyfriend. Piper sabotaged my Vanderbilt essay and thought I wouldn’t notice. April hated me for no reason, and Margotstillliked her more than me. Maybe y’all deserved it.” She stands, suddenly serious, and comes close enough to look up at me. “But if you think that’s the only reason I did this, Viv, then you don’t fucking know me at all.”
“Yeah,” I say, my voice scratchy. “Maybe I don’t.”
Before I can fully think through what I’ve just said, whether or not I mean it, I hear it. A scream.
I move to the door, ready to bang against it, but Lily’s hand grips mine, stopping me. When I turn back to her, she’s got the look she always gives me on the field when I’m getting too impulsive:Slow down, Viv.
“They have April and Piper,” I whisper. “We have to do something.”
“What are we supposed to do? We’re trapped.”
I press my ear to the door. I don’t hear anything, and somehow, the silence is worse than anything. Before I can chicken out, I reach for the knob. Lily stiffens beside me.
“Wait,” she says. “Don’t—”
The door gives way, opening with a force so unexpected, I stumble back. For a second, I’m stunned, staring at the open door like it’s some kind of fake-out, but no. It’s real.
I turn to Lily, expecting her to be just as shocked, but the guilty look on her face tells me she knows what I should have from the moment the door opened.
It was never even locked.
40APRIL
JANUARY 3, 12:25A.M.
Coach Davis takes a step, and then another, close enough that I can see the sharp point of the needle, can almost feel it puncturing my skin. Piper screams, I think, but I can’t be sure. It’s like I’m here, but I’m not—in my body, and also above it all, watching it unfold with Margot by my side. Coach grips my arm, pinching the skin, and through the fear, the racing animal heartbeat of it, I think,I did it, Margot. I didn’t run away this time.
And then, noise. A door opening. Someone running.
Coach’s head whips toward the sound.
“Dad?” he asks, like Marty must be all-knowing.
But he’s just as surprised. Marty runs to the side of the float, looking for the source of the sound.
“No,” he says, eyes widening. “No.Reed—”
Marty doesn’t get to finish the command, because a shout cuts him off.
“Don’t fucking touch them!”
Vivian.
Icy pinpricks of relief wash over me, and now that I’m not seconds from death, I’m full of a burning need to live. I buck mylegs, kicking Coach square in the balls, and he doubles over, the syringe falling from his grip.
Footsteps thunder up the float stairs. Marty grabs for the syringe, raising the needle just as Vivian appears on the deck like an avenging goddess in a ball gown.
Another pulse of relief. She’s safe. She’s okay.
