Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
“You—!”
“Sue did it,” I sliced in, halting her mid-shout. “Sue snuck into the school, replaced the screws with cheap plastic destined to give way, and then she snuck away and let gravity and security cameras do the rest. She did this,” I stressed, “and I know this because I’m not Soo Min. I’m Sarang. I’m Sarah.”
Mrs. Finley didn’t move. She didn’t shout. She didn’t blink. She didn’t even look at me. Her eyes glazed out of focus like she couldn’t see me anymore.
Starting from the beginning, I told her almost everything. How Sue and I started to hate each other by eight years old, and it only got worse from there. I shared the lies, the gaslighting, the sabotage, and her endless campaign to make my life hell. I told her about Sue’s seething jealousy when I got into Titan Prep and then into Yale. Then I told her how it all culminated into Sue framing me for pranking Colin, which resulted in my mother throwing me out.
Towards the end is where I fudged it a bit.
“Sue ran off and abandoned her child and husbands, so I stepped up,” I said. “I came back to be there for them and to be there... for my mother. I want to put right what went wrong.” I climbed down off the stool, hitching my bag up my shoulder. “It’s too late for you now. You’re going to prison for what you did to Mrs. Prado and my mother, but I want you to know, Colin will be taken care of.
“Every cent my mother and sister should’ve given to him will go to him now. No matter how long it takes me, or what it costs—his care will be paid in full for the rest of his life.” Gaze drifting, I fixed on the picture of the sweet, smiling little boy holding up his first-place ribbon for the science fair. “I’m sorry it took so long, Mrs. Finley. Sorry for you, for Colin, for me, for Mrs. Prado, and for my mother. The act of one jealous, mean girl shattered so many lives that day and for that... I’m just sorry.”
Turning my back, I walked away.
“Sorry?” came a trembling voice. “You’re... sorry?”
I didn’t slow or turn back. There was nothing else to say and no more time to waste. I needed to get this recording to Officer Cop-A-Feel and get my best friend out of prison.
“You’re SORRY!?”
Crash!
A mug hit the wall to the right of me, exploding in a shower of razor-tipped ceramic shards.
“Ahh!” I screamed, throwing my hands over my head and face.
Thunderous footsteps came up on me so fast, I didn’t have time to turn around.
“What good is your sorry?” she shrieked. “What do your promises matter now! He’s dead!”
Shock struck me through the chest. What?
“Because of you and your stupid sibling rivalry, my son lost everything!”
Something fell over my eyes, and wrapped around my throat.
“Eurgh!”
“His body, his future, his life—everything!” She wrenched the dishcloth tighter, popping my eyes and tongue out of my skull. “Where were you?! The whole time— The whole time!” she screamed, thrashing me around. “The person responsible was right there, and I didn’t know because of you!”
Blood rushed to my face—trapping in bursting blood vessels as air trapped in my burning lungs. I clawed at the cloth, my nails bending and breaking under the assault.
“Because of you, we had nothing! No money to pay for Colin’s care! Because of—!”
My fist flew up, striking something that crunched against my bones.
“Ah!”
Mrs. Finley flew back, loosening her grip.
I didn’t waste a second.
“H-help!” I scrambled across the floor, crawling through the hall into the living room. The doorknob loomed only six feet from my grasping fingertips. “Hel—!”
A heavy mass dropped on me, bouncing my skull off the hardwood.
“Where were your promises last week, you narcissistic bitch!” Knees crunched my spine, pinning me to the floor as the dish towel found my neck again. “It’s too late!”
I garbled and gasped, black spots popping in my vision. One of the shadows moved and I strained to look away—my hands pounding and slamming the floor trying to buck her off.
Alex?
Alex stood at the window, peering through the glass.
“Al— Ag!” I called for him, reaching through the bleeding darkness. Alex, help me!
“Just die!” Mrs. Finley wrenched my head back and forth, bouncing it off the floor—bloodying my forehead as my body desperately screamed for air.
And Alex didn’t move.
HELP!
He didn’t twitch. He didn’t call for help. He didn’t shout. He didn’t tap the glass.
As consciousness fled, Alex stood there... and watched me die.
Chapter Nineteen
“...take her to the hospital...”
“...were you doing...”
“Your job!”
What... What’s going on? A lone thought swirled in the darkness, tugging on my consciousness and demanding it leave the peace, quiet, and numb.
“She was doing your fucking job because she told you a million times Courtney Thorne didn’t do it, and you wouldn’t listen!”