Her voice wavers as the cable car sways gently in the wind.
That would have made my stomach drop even a few minutes ago, but the movement doesn’t seem to bother me now. I don’t even care that I can see tiny specks in the distance—people, hiking up the side of the volcano—indicating just how high off the ground we truly are.
A piercing, high-pitched ringing crescendos in my ears, and my whole body feels like it’s been set on fire. I can’t concentrate on anything except the white-hot fury burning in my chest. I’m only slightly aware of the sharp metal edge of the bench seat digging into my palms as I grip it tightly, but the pain isn’t registering.
Thisis why she had been acting so haughty, likeIhad done something wrong.
“I…ghosted you?” I snort a sarcastic laugh and stand.
“Yes. You left Colin’s office and I never heard from you again.”
“What the hell did youexpect? You almost got me kicked out of school! You got me fired from my internship. I could barely get a job in film after I graduated, let alone one I actuallywanted.I’ve spent the last decade trying to prove I’m notsome fuck-up to an industry that barely even wants me as it is. Molly, my shitty career is just one more casualty of your selfish and stupid decisions, and you’re upset because Ighostedyou?”
I can practically taste the venom in my voice, the sharp, acidic sting of it burning my tongue with its ugliness. Normally, I’d feel shame for reacting like this—and I do try to rein it in, tamp it down, and move on—but right now…I feel vindicated.
All my anger, after all these years, and Molly doesn’t even care about what her decision did to me. She doesn’t care about the consequences.
Before I can stop them, words bubble up to the surface. There’s a millisecond when I consider slapping a hand over my mouth to force them back, but every part of me that hasn’t moved on from the pain of the past pushes what I’m about to say up and out of me like a tsunami of rage.
“No wonder your parents were always so disappointed in you,” I sneer. “Seems like they were right.”
My words echo in the small space and hover between us as I realize the old wounds I’ve just sliced open and poured salt into. Almost immediately, I wish I could snap those hurtful words up and shove them back down my throat. But I can’t. They fall away like sand, leaving us both stunned. Hurt contorts Molly’s face, and she blinks away tears.
We glare at each other for a long moment before she finally looks away, and I’m aware we’re getting closer to the ground as my ears pop.
The silence is torture, until, finally, she nods and stands. I’m prepared for her to turn teary eyes on me, but as she steps in close, taking my hands in hers and meeting my gaze again, I can see she’s slipped her mask back on. The walls are up, and something vicious is glinting behind her icy gray eyes.
I flinch, trying to pull my hands from hers, but she grips them tighter, and my entire body freezes up.
What the hell?
“You’re right, Chloe. Iama disappointment,” she bites the words out, but her tone is even and calm. Molly straightens her spine and rolls her shoulders back. She’s the same height as me, but the way she’s holding herself makes her feel taller—more dangerous. Her glare is steady, her hands wrapped so firmly around my wrists that I can’t move away from her, even though I’m still pulling against her grip. Then she adds, “But the only stupid mistake I made waseverbeing your friend. Because in typical Chloe Hill fashion, you have no idea what you’re talking about—and, at the end of the day, everything is always aboutyou.”
At that moment, the door to the cable car creaks open, and an elderly gentleman peeks around it when we don’t immediately vacate the space—we’re too busy staring each other down, daring the other person to make the next move.
“Mi scusi?”
Molly’s grip suddenly loosens and she turns away, dropping my hands quickly as if my skin has burned her. She storms past the man and stalks off toward the parking lot.
I watch her go, as the anger that consumed my entire being in that tiny metal cable car washes away, leaving nothing behind but shame and regret.
What did I just do?
TWENTY-ONE
Chloe’s ‘90s Hits, Now Playing:
TORN — NATALIE IMBRUGLIA
“Where is she?”
Demi’s voice is a sharp knife to the side of my skull. I stifle a groan and rub at my eyes with one hand as I hold my stateroom door open with the other.
“Where iswho?” My throat is so dry that the words come out with the gravelly timbre of a phone-sex operator. Which would probably seem hot…if I didn’t also have drool caked to the side of my cheek.
“Molly. You were the last person to see her, and she’s not back on the ship. I didn’t even knowyouwere back until Sora told me.” Demi is standing with her arms crossed over her chest, like she always does when she’s annoyed, the walkie-talkie at her hip chirping every few seconds.
“I…uh…I don’t know. She’s not back yet?”
