Page 41 of Warmer, Colder

“Don’t say things you don’t mean.” I slam my fist into the wall just centimeters to the right of her head. Her flinch almost makes me lose my momentum, but it feels too good to get this off my chest. “I don’t want your empty words, and I sure as hell don’t want your tears.”

“Then what do you want?” Her words break on a sob.

“I want you to get out of my face. I’ve wasted enough time on you.”

It’s not until the door clicks shut that I notice the looming dark presence hovering in the corner of the ceiling. Radiating a silent satisfaction, the sinister energy almost makes me regret sending her away, but the fear it inspires is quickly overpowered by the anger I hold onto. Besides, she’s long gone without so much as a look over her shoulder, eager to put me out of sight and out of mind as always.

Too bad for her, I’m not going to let her off that easy. It’s time for a new type of torment, a level of emotional warfare I never would have considered waging on someone. But she deserves to feel the betrayal I did; she deserves to have her heart broken so irreparably that she’ll never be able to move on from me. But unlike me, it won’t kill her. She’ll be forced to endure it for eternity. It’s so fucking poetic I’m already buzzing from the high of satisfaction I know I’ll get out of this.

Chapter 19

Stasi

66 Days Dead

Over the last few days, we’ve both kept to our respective spaces. I’m a bit surprised Becca hasn’t come looking for me. People like her, the ones who need praise and adoration to thrive, don’t know what to do with themselves when left to their own devices. As the days pass, she becomes restless. The desperation is getting to her, the hearty filling of life giving way to the spongy emptiness of rot and mold.

Ironically, she excels at being a ghost, wandering the halls by night, moping around as a silent voyeur observing her family by day. Without the waterfall of affection, she’s become a wilted flower that droops and dries in the corner alone. It’s only a matter of time before she turns toward the sun in a last-ditch effort to revive herself.

I’ll be happy to shine a light on the parts of her that’ve been kept in the dark.

If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s seduce someone. Sure, Becca is a bit of a difficult case since she’s been holding that closet door closed for dear life, but I’m up for the challenge. It’s not like I have anything better to do.

Plus, it’s not exactly torturous work; I’m sure it’ll be a bit fun even. Honestly, it’s a win-win. I get to prove once and for all that she’s wanted me all this timeandI get to have my revenge.

I’ll admit she’s been a little bit more self-sufficient than I’d hoped, but she can’t avoid me forever. I’ll make sure she isn’t able to; she just needs a little nudge.

Stripping off my skirt and top, I toss them on the bed and head out to the yard, plopping down in one of the lounge chairs they have set out—the same ones we spent entire afternoons in during the summer of sixth grade. In the familiar setting, it’s impossible not to go back in time.

Coconut-tinged tanning oil we snuck from her mom’s bathroom coats our bodies that glisten under the sun. The ruffling of magazine pages catching on the breeze is only a little annoying. Copies of Cosmo, Girl, Seventeen, and Teen People that we’d snagged at the 7-Eleven pass between us in a steady rotation. Every time our hands brush, heat creeps down my neck, and my heart races. Sneaking a sideways glance, I’m disappointed to find that Becca remains unphased, while it takes every ounce of my self-control not to stare at her lips hoping she’ll ask me to help her practice kissing again.

The memory is stolen from me when my attention catches on blades of grass snapping beneath someone’s weight. It could be her parents, but Iknowit’s Becca. Can feel it in the way my center of gravity completely shifts. Still, I feign unawareness and play with the ends of my hair, staring pointedly at my lap.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Her irritation is my amusement.

I lift my head with an annoyed sigh. “Getting some sun. Is that a problem?” I look up at her through my lashes and roll my eyes. She is so uptight, goddamn. My fingers flex around the arms of the chair with the desire to work out all the knots she must have.

“When you’re basically naked in my family’s backyard, yes.”

Confidence surges through me under the attention of her wandering gaze. “Nobody else can see me, and there’s nothinggoing on here,” my nonchalant fingers flick between us, “so I don’t see what the problem is.”

Weakly, she clears her throat. “It’s just inappropriate.” Her eyes dart around as she tries to find anything to look at but my nearly naked body.

“We’re dead, Becca. Who gives a single fuck about whatisandisn’tappropriate anymore?” I laugh openly at her. “I promise you’ll feel a lot better without that stick up your ass.” Truly wicked temptation slithers through me. As I lean forward eager to provoke her, I shift my arms to not-so-subtly push out my bare breasts. “Of course, if you like having something fill that beautiful ass, I’m sure we could figure something out.”

“You’re disgusting,” she scoffs.

“And you’re a fucking bore.” The yawned insult is lazy on my tongue. “A gorgeous, self-centered bore, just like all the others.” Slashing at her ego is the quickest way to get under a perfectionist’s skin.

“Are you such a smug asshole with everyone?”Asshole.She’s still mad about that? It’s too easy.

“No. I reserve it for spineless bitches who help hide bodies.”

“I told you I didn’t have a choice. I wouldn’t do something like that.” Becca has the audacity to sound offended as if anything I’ve said is some slanderous lie.

“But you did.”

“Why are you so insistent on blaming me? Don’t you want to know my side of things?” If we weren’t dead, the rising pitch of her voice would attract a nosy neighbor or two.

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