Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I’d always remembered the earlier parts of the evening—driving to Ballard with Sloane, watching the prom queen and king ceremony, dancing with my sister and her friends. After that, things get hazy. All I have are blurry shapes and random flashes.
Lots of bodies. Fancy dresses.
Spinning. Dancing.
My fingers around a cup.
Laughter.
My memory is like Swiss cheese, riddled with holes. I can’t see what’s happening during those holes, the images growing fuzzy and undecipherable before going totally black.
But this time, one of the holes was filled. I clearly heard my own voice saying, “I can give you a ride.” And while I said it, I was looking at something pink. I vividly remember a flash of pink.
“I offered someone I ride, but I can’t see their face,” I tell Lucas. “And I remember seeing the color pink.”
“Pink?” he echoes blankly. “Was it a dress? Hair color?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could it be a girl you were talking to?”
I suck in a breath. That hadn’t occurred to me. For some reason I always assumed the person driving the car was a guy. But there’s no reason why it couldn’t have been a girl. The security footage only showed a shadowy figure in a hoodie running past the camera. The height and build suggested it was a guy, but I can’t be totally sure.
“That’s a possibility,” I say out loud.
“Wait, this brings up another issue,” Lucas says. “If you are the one offering the ride, doesn’t that imply you were the one driving?”
“Fenn says he found me in the passenger side.”
“You sure Fenn wasn’t lying?”
I bite my lip. “I don’t think he was.”
“Okay, so that means whoever you offered to give a ride to ended up behind the wheel instead. Why?”
“I don’t know.” My phone dings in my ear. “Oh, hold on a sec. I’m getting a text.”
Jazmine: Leaving soon. You down?
“That’s Jaz. She’s going to drive tonight. Are you coming or what?” I ask Lucas.
“I can’t,” he says in a sheepish tone. “I have a date.”
“What!” I promptly forget all about my own drama. “Since when? Who is she?”
“This girl I met online. She’s a gamer.”
“That’s it? Those are all the details I get?”
“For now,” he replies, and I can almost see him rolling his eyes on the other end of the line. “Let’s see how the date goes first. Then we’ll know if there’s anything else to tell.”
“Fair.”
“We’ll be at the movies in Parsons so my phone will probably be off, but text me later to let me know how it goes at Ballard. Be safe?”
“I will,” I promise.
We hang up, and I text Jaz saying I’m in. I have to do this. I can’t keep hiding away in this house and jumping at my own shadow. I made a promise to myself. Okay, well, maybe it’s more of a devil’s bargain. But I’ve decided to embrace the bad bitch inside and go rogue. Because how long can someone live in total terror of everything around her before her personality withers and she forgets how to be a person?
After the accident and all the rumors, I thought I wanted to be alone, to keep everyone safely on the other side of thick, sturdy walls.
Now I realize those walls were my prison, not theirs.
Bad Girl Casey doesn’t sit in her room sulking and feeling sorry for herself. She isn’t scared of a lake or the whispers between the trees. I imagine if Lawson were sitting here right now, he’d smirk and cock his head. Goad me to throw on some thick black eyeliner and shock them all.
No more tears.
When Jaz texts to say she’s on her way, I throw some clothes and makeup in a backpack because there’s no way I can get out of this house looking like I’m headed to a party.
In the living room, Dad is crouched in front of a bookcase with board games piled around him on the rug.
“Want to grab your sister for some Scrabble?” He glances at me over his shoulder. “Or we’ve got Risk, Sorry…?”
“I’m going to take a pass on game night. Jaz invited me over to her dorm to study.”
He sits back on his heels and his cheeks droop with disappointment. “It’s Friday night. You’d rather be studying?”
“Just for a bit. Then we’ll probably watch this awful reality show Jaz is obsessed with on her laptop. I’ll probably spend the night, if that’s okay.”
“Are you sure?” he pushes. “We could play Pandemic. Or Monopoly.”
“Sloane cheats.”
“Everyone cheats at Monopoly.” Sloane enters the living room and plops down on the couch to turn on the TV. “Anyway, I can’t do game night either. RJ’s coming by to watch a movie.”
Dad stands up and grumbles under his breath. “Guess I’ll make a cup of tea and read in the den.”
“Sorry,” I call after him. My phone buzzes in my hand and I give it a quick scan. “That’s my ride. Gotta go.”