“What? No,” Elise said. “I mean, she does get beaten up a lot, but she comes back stronger than ever every single time.” She could tell I was unconvinced, so she continued, “Every superhero needs a villain that is their equal. The stronger the villain, the stronger the hero. Every one of these stories has the hero failing again and again and again but getting stronger each time so that they’re ready for a final showdown at the end.”

I stared at her.

“That’s why you have to be strong,” she said. “That’s why you have to get up every time you’re knocked down. That’s why I love all of these movies so much. That’s why I love this movie so much.”

I turned back to the screen, watched a flashback of a younger Bride training under the cruel tutelage of Pai Mei—suffering but growing stronger. Then, as if drawing on that strength, the present-day Bride punched through her coffin and clawed her way up. I understood what Elise was saying. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Christian, okay? Are you going to be mad at me all day?”

“No, it’s whatever,” I lied. I was still mad at her, but I knew it’d be hard to stay mad at her for long. She said she was sorry, and she seemed sincere. She acknowledged it’d been a mistake but now she knew what Christian was really like.

“Good,” she said. “Because you’ve just given me an idea and I need your help.”

27.

Elise’s plan was simple. She’d go to the hardware store and buy liquid chalk markers, the ones that car dealerships used to write prices on the windshield. That night, after everyone had gone to bed, she’d strike.

“It’s just chalk,” Elise said with a shrug. “It’ll wash off.”

She wanted to call Christian out on all the things he’d said to her, how he’d led her on. She planned to mark up his Mercedes, take a picture, and post it on the school’s Facebook page, tagging all the right people. She wanted to humiliate him like he’d humiliated her. She wanted to destroy him. Her other plans had been brilliant but this one seemed to have evolved. This was much more personal, designed specifically for Christian. The golden boy. The flagship child. Student council president, popular at school, going places. It had to be as public as possible.

“It’s what the Bride would do,” Elise said, the excitement in her voice rising. “Actually, no. I’m going easy on him. The Bride’s justice wouldn’t be this nice.”

I questioned her. “Nice?”

She nodded. “This is nothing.”

I was so glad I hadn’t gone with her to the football field then, glad I hadn’t witnessed whatever it was that made her so determined to do this.

“Don’t worry, Remy, I know what I’m doing,” she said. “It’ll be a birthday present to myself.”

“But—” What she was about to do just didn’t feel right. Her plan, while genius, felt particularly vindictive. The price didn’t seem to fit the crime. Cameron and I had been together for a year and he was an asshole when he broke up with me at homecoming. Jae’s girlfriend Dana had cheated on him with his best friend. Christian had kissed Elise once and led her on for a few weeks. It just seemed extreme.