Page 67 of Playing By Their Rules

She kicks aside the husk of a broken mug, a small smile on her face. “Well, I watched it burn.”

I suck in a breath. Is she telling me what I think she’s telling me?

Did Mina start this fire?

The smile remains on her face as she says, “It was kind of beautiful, actually. All those flames flickering. Knowing that Percy was in there, burning in his house like he’d be burning in hell.”

I don’t want to know any more. I want to cover my ears with my hands and sing lalalalala.

After a long moment, where I’m wondering if I should just bolt, Mina shakes herself out of her reverie. “Anyway. He got what he deserved, and he can’t hurt us anymore. I made sure of it.”

“We made sure of it by moving away from this place as soon as we could,” I say. “What you did is…”

I can’t say it. But the word hangs unspoken in the air between us. Murder.

Mina chews on her lower lip, then says, “Hey, it’s about lunch time, isn’t it? I have more sandwiches for us in the ice chest, and I brought stuff for s’mores. What do you say?”

I say we should get the fuck out of here and back to San Esteban, but I’m no longer sure what’s the best way of doing this. How do I get Mina to agree?

“Yeah, sure,” I say. “Let’s head back and have some lunch.”

Once we’re there, I’m going to talk her into returning to the city. She’s really starting to scare me. I think she needs help.

And although I’m scared, a large part of me is absolutely devastated that the vibrant, intelligent young woman who calls me sister is actually suffering so much with her mental health. I hate that I didn’t see the signs before this.

I hate that I don’t feel safe with her right now.

She kicks the broken mug again before joining me in walking back to the cabin. We don’t speak for a long time, and the only sounds are our breathing and the buzzing of insects, the faint shush of the breeze through tree branches and long grass.

“You think what I did was wrong,” Mina says.

Shit. I’d been hoping she would drop it so we could return to San Esteban without a conversation. I don’t want her to know just how much I’m starting to fear her and her reactions. I don’t think she’ll harm me, but my gut is telling me to tread carefully.

So, I tread carefully. “I think you were placed in an impossible situation.”

“I was. I lied to you, earlier, but since you aren’t freaking out on me about Percy, I may as well tell you now. I was in the car the night my other foster sister and foster dad died. I was sitting in the front seat.” She pauses and my heart beats out a loud drum of run…run…run… and then she adds, “I yanked on the wheel and caused the accident.”

“Oh, Mina,” I breathe. I know I can’t react too strongly. If I spook her, my hopes of returning to San Esteban this afternoon go sideways.

“I’m scaring you,” she says bluntly.

“I mean…a little.” No point in lying about it. But I continue keeping pace with her, walking side by side when the foliage permits it, and staying close when we’re single-file. “I just…I didn’t realize things were so difficult for you. So dire.”

“Yeah, nobody realized. Nobody would listen to me.”

We get back to the cabin without any more words between us. I dutifully go inside and sit on the blanket with her while she gets out our sandwiches. I pretend to drink my wine cooler, but other than a couple of sacrificial sips to sell the fantasy, I don’t actually swallow anything.

Once we’ve eaten, I say, “We should probably head back home now, don’t you think? This has been really nice. I love the sandwiches and our sleeping bags and everything—you put so much thought into it—”

“Oh, stop with the bullshit,” she says, laughing. “You don’t want to be here, do you?”

“I need to get back,” I say. “I didn’t tell my teachers I’d be missing lectures.”

“You’re fucking the teachers.” She scoffs. “They’re not going to care if you aren’t in class.”

I take a deep breath. I don’t want to antagonize her, although what she’s saying is hurtful, and it’s also untrue because Chance and Ethan both resigned from my lecture courses. “That stings, Mina.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Another bright smile, lobbed my way like a missile.

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