Page 85 of The Masks We Wear

But next to that is a mug shot. Fresh off the fucking press of Lily’s mom from Saturday. It’s not hard to see the resemblance as they share the same heart-shaped face, small nose, and slightly pointed ears. But if you didn’t know they were related, the big, bold black caption underneath does it for you.

Lily Conley, the PEASANT of Emerald Falls

The same words I told her when we were in the pink room. Lily doesn’t miss a beat. Whatever was there just moments ago crumbles into dust, replaced by the girl in the picture. Her lips flip up in a snare as she hones in on me with a sharp red stiletto. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Don’t.” I know where this is going, what she’s fucking thinking, and there is no way in hell I’m going to let her spiral. Let her thinkIwould do this.

Reaching out for her, she recoils immediately as if I’m trying to burn her. I ignore the intense pang in my heart and step forward.

She steps back, one hand raised. “So this is it, huh? Your big revenge for everything I’ve done.” Her laugh is bitter, echoing through the now silent hall as spectators crowd around us. “Get close to me,fuckme, then humiliate me?”

“Please. YouknowI wouldn’t do this.” I try for her again, just barely grazing her elbow before she rips it away. She has to be able to hear the truth in my voice, the fucking fear. It feels like I have a pile of dry sand, and I’m watching it slip through my finger, unable to catch the tiny grains.

I can’t lose you. I just fucking got you.Please.

She closes her eyes, taking a few steady breaths, her brows knitting together as if she’s trying to think of anyone else that would know about Saturday. That would know her mother works here. She’s trying to make it make sense. She doesn’t want to believe it’s me. I can see it.

“Stop it, Spence. I’m going to fall,” Liliana screeches at the top of her lungs.

She wanted to see the meteor shower, and me, thinking I’m something like Aladdin, have her follow me to the roof of the treehouse, perching on my shoulders. I can’t resist tickling her pretty pink toes dangling so close to my hands, so I run the tips of my fingers down the arch. I don’t tell her I love the way she squeezes closer to me, holding on like I’m the only thing keeping her safe. Instead, I recite the movie, twisting it to fit us now.

“Liliana, do you trust me?”

She peers down at me from a curtain of dark lashes, her chestnut eyes shimmering in the first pass of a meteor. Her smile fades, replaced by something in the deepest part of her heart. Like this is the most honest thing she’s ever said. “I’ll always trust you, Spence.”

Then, as if the sky was waiting for this moment, dozens of little stars streak across the sky, and I make a new wish on all fifty-three. After that, we made it rule number one on our contract. Always trust your best friend if they ask.

“Liliana, please. Trust me.”

Her eyelids pop open, and whatever,whoever,was there ten minutes ago is gone. She grasps the delicate necklace around her neck and wrenches it free in a powerful snap, throwing it at my feet. “It’s Lily,dog. And I never want to see you again. Stay thefuckaway from me.”

She turns on her heels, Blaze appearing from fucking nowhere with an impassive look on his face as he follows behind her. My heart sinks into my gut, dissolving in the stomach acid as I watch her leave. It’s as if my feet are stuck in quicksand, and I know I’m fucked either way.

Thrash and run after her, I’ll only sink faster.

Sit and do nothing, I’ll still sink.

Without thinking, I reach out, grasping the edge of Amora’s arm. Surprisingly, she doesn’t pull away and instead regards me with sad striking blue eyes. Her mouth opens and closes twice before she grabs onto the words she’s searching for. “I don’t know you, and I have no fucking clue how I know this, but I know you’re not stupid enough to actually have done it.”

With that, she disappears behind her friends, leaving me reeling in the middle of the hall.

Hold fast, hold steady.

But even doing that won’t stop the sand from rising and swallowing me fucking whole.

THIRTY SIX

Imake it around the senior lockers and into the art hallway before my feet give out. Luckily, Blaze was behind me, scooping me into his arms and taking me straight back to my car. He drives me home, making quick work of explaining everything to my aunt, and tucks me into bed. I notice when he tells her, he leaves out the part that it was Spencer’s doing.

That he ripped my fucking heart out of my chest and waited for the perfect time to throw it in a blender.

And it was perfect, really—extremely smart planning on his part.

Play this little victim, come up with some story to make me feel like a dumbass for getting so mad at him all those years ago, then leaving conveniently for three months. Letting me stew over everything and realize that I miss him. That I lo...lovehim.

Then he does all that stuff at the fair, which makes me rethink my entire future in the blink of an eye. Makes me consider rearranging things so I can have the future I wanted while doing what I’ve come to love. But that wasn’t enough. He dug so deep under my skin, I gave myself to him. All of me. Every tear, scream, and orgasm.

I trusted him. Fuckingtrustedhim.

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