Page 159 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

“Fucked if I know.”

“How do you know it was them?”

“They weren’t covered up like the guy they killed. I think...I have a feeling they weren’t expecting anyone else to be there.”

Romi puts one hand over her mouth, the other over her belly. “It makes no sense,” she mumbles through her fingers. “They’re jerks, but they’re not...killers.”

“Well unless they all have identical twins...Romi, I know what I saw.”

“But I mean, are yousureit was them? Maybe it looked like them from a distance?—”

This is the part I was dreading more than anything else. “No, Romi. I know it was them, because they were right in my fucking face. Theysawme. They...they threatened me.” I wave a hand, gulping down air into lungs that feel petrified with lack of use. “That’s why they’re targeting me. It’s not because I’m new. It’s because I witnessed them murdering someone in cold blood.”

“What...what did the sheriff say?” Romi asks, her hand still over her mouth. Well, at least she believes me. But I have a feeling she’s trying to convince herself that I’m talking shit.

Oh no, wait.Thisis the part I was dreading. “I didn’t go to the sheriff.”

Yup, there it is. In an instant, the confusion and fear on her face are replaced with incredulity and suspicion. “You didn’t go to the sheriff,” she repeats woodenly.

I go over in a rush, dropping to my knees in front of her bed and reaching over to touch her knee. “I wanted to, Romi, I did. But fuck, they scared the shit out of me, okay? They found my driver’s license, and they said they’d kill me if I ever said anything.”

She turns her face a little to the side, but her eyes remain locked on mine. Big, and brown, and wary as a deer watching a shadow skulk through the woods. Not sure if it’s another deer or a wolf and ready to bound away if it feels threatened.

“I was going to tell my parents the next morning...but then I got a call from the sheriff’s department telling me about the accident.”

“Andthenyou told them about the murder?” she whispers.

I shake my head, biting down on my bottom lip. “I couldn’t Romi. I...I was in shock, I think. Or trying to tell myself I’d imagined it.”

“Hadn’t you?”

“No.” I take a deep breath and slowly stand. “They made sure I wouldn’t forget.”

She opens her mouth, but before she can speak I twist my leg out and inch up the hem of my skirt, showing her the pink S-shaped scar on my thigh. “They did this to me,” I murmur. “And they promised to do worse if I ever told anyone.”

“Oh my God, Nim.” Romi reaches out, and then pulls her hand back, curling it into a fist and shoving it into her lap. “Why are you telling me this?”

I stare at her for a long minute as I start nibbling at my lip again. “I need your help.”

Chapter 28

Nim

”I still can’t believe he let me go,” I say, turning to study Romi as we cruise down Gold Drive in her Audi A5 Cabriolet.

Romi shrugs. “Dean Rigby’s strict, not heartless. How could he possibly refuse for you to visit your parents’ grave?”

“Yeah,” I murmur, sliding my hand over the cabriolet’s leather finish. “Nice car, by the way.”

“It’s okay. They didn’t get the color right.”

It’s a dark plum color, hints of red sparkling in the paint when the sun hits it just right. I think it’s gorgeous, and I’m still a little incredulous that we get to drive to Cinderhart in such luxury.

Okay, that’s not what I’m incredulous about. It was all the other cars I saw in the students’ parking lot that had my jaw-dropping. There was a pearl whiteMaseratiin there. Romi saw me staring and just laughed.

“Sheriff’s up ahead.” Romi slows down and parallel parks beside The Melting Plot bookstore. “Are you sure you don’t want me coming with you?”

“Plausible deniability,” I mumble to her, my eyes locked on the building on the corner. “This way, you can just tell them I slipped away at the cemetery without you noticing.”

---