Page 67 of Wicked Sins

I’m on the toilet, about to wipe, when Haley calls me in a low whisper.

“Candy?”

I flush the toilet the same moment Haley pushes open the bathroom door.

“You okay?” she whispers.

“Just had to pee.” My tone’s harsher than I’d wanted it to be, but that’s because my heart’s pounding a thousand times faster again.

I’m getting a migraine.

“Hey…I’m…I’m really sorry about what happened tonight.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Haley’s chin drops, her eyes going wide.

What the hell did she expect? I told her I wasn’t up to it, and she made me do it.

I squeeze my eyes closed.

You’re the one to blame, no one else. You’re responsible for everything that happens to you.

“I’m just… I’m just really tired,” I say through a sigh. I press my fingers into my temples. “And I’ve got a splitting headache.”

“Want some Vicodin?” she asks.

“Is that like aspirin? Because that shit doesn’t work for me.”

“Hell no. It’s much stronger. Snuck some out of my mom’s handbag when she came to visit.”

“Sure, why not.”

Haley nods and beckons me out of the bathroom with a flip of her hand. There’s a nightstand next to each set of bunk beds. The two drawers correspond with the bunk locations—Haley’s drawer is on top, mine on the bottom. We get to keep them locked, but our lodge parents have their own set of keys anyway.

There’s no such thing as true privacy at Happy Mountain. Just like there was no such thing as true happiness at the Bale house.

Haley gives me a pill, and I down it with a sip of water.

More than ever, I wish there wasn’t just water in this bottle. I stare at the plastic bottle, swirling the colorless liquid inside.

“What did Josiah say to you?”

I look up at Haley. Shrug. “Nothing he hasn’t said before.”

She looks a little surprised. “Oh. He didn’t…?” then she waves away what she’d been about to say and lets out a soft laugh. “Good night.”

I frown at her, catching her hand before she can make it all the way up to the top bunk. “He didn’t what?” I ask.

From across the room, Trinity mutters, “Shut up, you guys.”

Haley pulls at her arm, and then shrugs at me. “Nothing. I didn’t—”

“Haley.” Now I’m not bothering to lower my voice.

Trinity lets out an exasperated sigh. Her bunk creaks as she throws herself onto her other side like a whale.

“Nothing, Cay. He just…I heard he’s getting out the end of the month.”

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