Chapters (62)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-one
- Chapter Twenty-two
- Chapter Twenty-three
- Chapter Twenty-four
- Chapter Twenty-five
- Chapter Twenty-six
- Chapter Twenty-seven
- Chapter Twenty-eight
- Chapter Twenty-nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-one
- Chapter Thirty-two
- Chapter Thirty-three
- Chapter Thirty-four
- Chapter Thirty-five
- Chapter Thirty-six
- Chapter Thirty-seven
- Chapter Thirty-eight
- Chapter Thirty-nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-one
- Chapter Forty-two
- The Letter
- Chapter Forty-three
- Chapter Forty-four
- Chapter Forty-five
- Chapter Forty-six
- Chapter Forty-seven
- Chapter Forty-eight
- Chapter Forty-nine
- Chapter Fifty
- Chapter Fifty-one
- Chapter Fifty-two
- Chapter Fifty-three
- Author’s Note
- Resources
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“All what?” My voice is steely. Then my lower lip trembles and I bite down hard to stop it. Look back at her. Her face is drawn.
She continues, “It’s just…with college. Scholarships. I don’t think I can do it anymore.” She pauses. “I thought about it a lot today, after lunch. You know I started off really into what we were doing. It made sense—it was retribution. It felt like we were doing something good. Like we were doing something important to remember Jordan. But now…with David’s parents moving to god knows where and this obsession you have with his lawyer…I don’t feel right about it. Especially with college…If my chance of getting a scholarship is taken away because they catch us…” She shakes her head. “Dude, I’d be so screwed. You know I can’t afford to go anywhere without one. I’ve worked too hard for it all to be ruined, and it would destroy Grann. I’m sorry.”
My insides collapse on themselves, but there’s no way I’m going to let her see it. I don’t ever want to hurt Lucy’s Grann, who is one of my favorite people in the entire universe and the only person other than Lucy I could bring myself to speak to right after Jordan died. But it’s Michelle Teller. Lucy doesn’t feel right about what we’re doing to her? So, what, it’s right that she sleeps at night, safe and secure, after spending her days defending the piece of shit who killed my brother? It’s not a fucking obsession. It’s my pathetic attempt to force the universe back into some semblance of balance.
I dig my nails into my palms. Bite down even harder on what’s left of my shredded cheeks. They start to bleed again.
It doesn’t matter.
I’m made of stone.
I don’t have any feelings left to hurt. Any tears left to cry.
I grit my teeth so hard I think they might break.
“It’s fine. You gotta do your thing. College or whatever. Moving on.”
She grimaces. “I’m sorry, May. But don’t you feel like we’ve done enough? For Jordan? For his memory?”
I nod—a total lie—because what she doesn’t understand is that it’s never going to be enough. I could avenge every hurt human living on this planet, every human who will ever live, and it will never make up for the fact that I stayed in that closet like a coward. It will never make up for the fact that I am the only one David left alive.
“It’s fine. Like I said. Whatever. You do you.” I turn toward the window, and we ride the rest of the way to the audition in silence.