Page 127 of The Last Time I Lied

Seven. Eight. Nine.

I sleep after that. For how long, I have no idea. When I awake, it’s with another pain-filled jolt, me still counting, the number flying from my parched lips.

“Ten.”

My eyes snap open, my sleep-blurred gaze landing on Vivian right in front of me. She reclines on the cave floor, her elbow bent, head propped up. It’s how she liked to play Two Truths and a Lie. She claimed the relaxed position made it harder to tell when she was lying.

“You’re awake,” she says. “Finally.”

“How long was I asleep?” I say, now long past trying to cast her away through sheer force of will.

“An hour or so.”

“Have you been here that whole time?”

“Off and on. I guess you thought you were rid of me.”

“I certainly wanted to be.”

There’s no point in lying to her. She’s not real.

“Well, you’re not.” Vivian spreads her arms wide in mock delight. “Surprise!”

“You must find this amusing,” I say as I sit up and roll my neck until it cracks. “I’m a lost girl, too.”

“You think you’re going to die down here?”

“Probably.”

“That sucks,” Vivian says with a sigh. “Although I guess it makes us even, then.”

“I wanted you to come back,” I say. “I didn’t mean it. And I’msorry. Just like I’m sorry for locking the cabin door. It was a horrible thing to do, and I regret it every day. That’s all truth. No lies.”

“I probably would have done the same thing,” Vivian admits. “That’s why I liked you, Em. We were both bitches when we had to be.”

“Does that mean we still would have been friends if you hadn’t disappeared?”

Vivian twirls a lock of hair around her finger, giving it some thought. “Maybe. There would have been a lot of drama. Lots of driving each other crazy. But there would have been good times, too. You being a bridesmaid at my wedding. Drinking with me after my inevitable divorce.”

She smiles at me. Her kind smile. The one from the Vivian I thought of as a potential big sister. I miss that Vivian. I mourn her.

“Viv, what happened to you guys that night? Was it Theo?”

“I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet. I left you so many clues, Em.”

“Why can’t you just tell me?”

“Because this is something you have to figure out on your own,” Vivian says. “Your problem is that you’re blinded by the past. Everything you need to know is right there in front of you. All you need to do is look.”

She points to the other side of the cavern, where a snake of light crawls along the rock wall. Several more surround it, undulating like waves, making the dome of the cavern feel like a disco.

Then it hits me. I cansee.

The darkness is gone, replaced by a warm light radiating through the entire cave. It comes, quite improbably, from the pool in the middle of the cavern. The light is a rich gold tinged with pink that makes the water glow like a hotel swimming pool. I check my phone, seeing that it’s now six. Sunrise.

The presence of light means one thing—there’s another way out of the cave.

“Vivian, I think I can get out!”

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