Page 12 of Boys Who Taint

Everyone’s quietly staring at me as if they’re slowly realizing that I’m right. That this means the end.

The end ofeverything.

“They will want someone to blame,” Sunny says, folding her arms. “You know that, right?”

“Oh God.” Milo grabs his head with both hands. “This is going to end up in a big fight, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t kill her,” I mutter to myself.

“Did Apollo do it?” Nathan says.

“Apollo didn’t kill her either.” I gaze up at them all. “No one did.”

“Then how the fuck did she die?” Mom shouts.

“She fell,” I reiterate.

She sighs out loud and slaps her hand against her forehead. “This again.”

“It’s the truth,” I say. “Why won’t you believe me?”

“People don’t just fall off a cliff, Levi,” she says.

“We were supposed to make the jump together,” I explain.

“And then what?” my dad asks.

My lips part, but I can’t bring myself to say the words, so I opt for nothing at all.

Mom shakes her head. “This is a nightmare.”

A nightmare I can’t seem to wake up from.

“We can fix this, right?” Milo asks. “Please tell me this is fixable.”

“No, we can’t,” Nathan growls. “Pen’s kid is dead. Sunny’s right. Someone’s going to have to take the blame.”

Someone to blame.

That’s right. Aspen will need someone to hate. She’ll never look at me the same way again.

So why would it matter if I destroyed everything?

“I will,” I say in a single breath.

“What?” Dad looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“Blame me,” I say. “They’re already saying I’m a killer.” I raise my eyes and meet theirs without fear. “And if they want a villain, they can have one.”

Aspen

A few dayslater

Everyone is dressedin black when they come into our house to offer condolences. It was Mavis’s favorite color, and I’m pretty sure this funeral reception is the only thing Mavis would’ve literally died to attend.

Hell, maybe she’s watching over us right now, floating somewhere in the chandeliers.

I snort to myself and take another swig of my drink to calm my nerves.

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