Page 112 of The Debutantes
Vivian looks at me with a lifted eyebrow. I return a devious smile.
“Are y’all okay?” Aiden asks, his gaze lifting from Piper to us.
“Yeah,” I say. “I think so.”
“Did Piper call you?” Vivian asks Aiden, with a look of mischievous delight.
“No, I—” Piper stops, eyes widening. “Oh my god. You location-stalked me.”
“You never texted,” Aiden says. “And then I called a bunch, and you didn’t answer, so…” He gestures at the police. “I may have gone overboard. But in my defense, it was clearly worth it.”
Piper stares at him, stunned. Then she grabs his face with both hands and kisses him.
Vivian and I gape at each other.
“Holy shit,” she says.
“Holy shit,” I echo.
Piper pulls back, one arm still around Aiden as she turns to give us both a death stare. “Don’t look so proud of yourselves.”
Someone clears their throat, and we all turn to find Lily standing beside us, the blanket still around her shoulders. Despite everything, she still manages to look like her usual queenly self. Leave it to Lily LeBlanc to have good posture even after being rescued from a kidnapping.
“Hi.” She looks to Aiden. “Mind if we…?”
“Yeah, sure.” He gives Piper’s hand a squeeze. “I’ll wait by my car.”
We all turn to Lily, waiting as her hands tighten around the blanket’s edge.
“I just wanted to say thanks. And… I’m sorry. I—” Her eyes fall. “I know what it looked like back there, but I was there for days, and they got into my head. They said if I cooperated, they’d let me go. I was just trying to survive, and I—” She chokes up, blinking fast like she’s trying not to cry. “Y’all saved me. And I’m not sure if I deserve it.”
For a breath, no one moves. And then Vivian pulls Lily into the kind of hug that seems like only Vivian can give: fierce, protective, like all is forgiven, and maybe it is, at least for her. There are intricate threads to their friendship thatI don’t understand, ones that maybe even this can’t break. Maybe that’s all it takes.
“Shut up,” Vivian says lovingly, squeezing Lily tighter. “Just don’t ever disappear again. I need you to kick my ass at practice.”
Lily laughs with a particularly unladylike snort. She pulls back, and her eyes meet mine.
“Here.” She holds out something for me to take. Margot’s lighter, I realize, as the cool metal brushes my palm. “You were always a better friend to her than I was. And I know I said some stuff to her about you, and I’m sorry. I think I was… I don’t know. Afraid she loved you more. Because I think she did. All the way to the end.”
I look down at the lighter, my throat tightening. All this time, Lily and I were afraid of the exact same thing. It doesn’t make me forgive her, but at least I think I understand. I close my hand around the lighter, letting the ridges of the Pierrot logo press into my skin, tattooing them there.
Then I hand it back to Lily.
“Keep it,” I say, reaching to grip my camera strap.
Maybe because I think she needs it more than me. Because I don’t want to remember Margot only by that night, the fire we never lit. Or maybe because I know I carry enough of her with me already—the memory of her laugh, her boldness, the way she struck me like a flint, sparking something that hasn’t died.
Lily brings the lighter close to her chest. “Thanks.”
Piper shifts, and I notice that, for the first time maybe ever, she looks out of her element.
“I’m sorry,” she says in a weirdly professional tone. “About the essay. I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay,” Lily says. “Honestly, I never wanted to go there anyway. And I’m sure Dad can get it all sorted out with the admissions people, so you don’t lose your spot. We owe you, after you… you know. Saved my life.”
For a moment, Piper looks unusually lost for words. Then she gives a distinctly Piper-like nod.
“Thank you,” she says. “I’d appreciate it.”
