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He’s lying

I force a tight smile "Wow, I’m not sure what to say to that"

"How about we don’t say anything about Haven ever again?" he suggests as he stands up and moves toward me "How about we pretend that, e left my place, all that happened was I walked you ho toback between his teeth "And that I kissed you goodnight before I left"

He sucks in a breath and presses his lips to mine

I ally part, allowing his tongue to fully enter raze of his tongue ring, a nip of my lip But I still feel breathless when he pulls away

"I’ll pick you up for class around two, if that’s okay?" He pauses, staring down at me as he fiddles with a stud on his belt "That is, if you still want to ride with oes by Liar or not, I’ve had ht than I’ve ever had That has toa liar as they come

I nod and he s open the door He peers out into the stairway Once he’s satisfied that Haven’s gone, he ducks out into the night

Theall around

You need to take your pill and undo your wrongdoings

Likeoxygen flow I hurry across the room to the kitchen, rip the pieces of paper into unreadable-sized pieces, and discard therow louder

Take the pill You need to take the pill You need to clear your head

Two bottles of pills sit near the sink, pills I haven’t touched in months

"My head is clearer than it has ever been," I say aloud as I pick up the bottle with the pink pill, twist the lid off, and glance inside

Take the pills, Emery Take them now

"Don’t take them, Emery," Ellis’s voice circles around me

I nearly drop the bottle at the sound of his voice I frantically scan the apartment for him, but like in the carport, he’s nowhere

"Ellis?" I whisper,roo his voice because of guilt

I reach into the bottle and pluck out one of the small pills

Take it, Emery Take the pill!

I tuck the pill intothe pills rain into the sink and down the drain

The voices die

All I’m left with is the quiet and the faint echo of Ellis’s voice inside le pill frohtstand Then I collect ht

My brother, Ellis

I ot to know hi up, he was always in his roohts he escaped,

I envied him

Wished to be him

But I was always too subdued to try o,

when I dared to sneak out

I followed hiht