You are all guilty.
Someone knew what she’d done a year ago. Someone knew what she was capable of. Someone had decided that it was time she paid the price.
8
Ellis
Ellis was up early and pissed.
He didn’t care if the whole deal with the message was some sick joke. He was done. He was packing food and water and hitting the road. When he got cell service, he was going to call his father and get a ride home.
He dragged his rolling suitcase violently across the red dirt, bouncing it hard into the air as he headed over to the reception area. There had to be some food somewhere in this godforsaken hole.
It was early—all pastel colors and deserty blah-blah everywhere. Very beautiful, no doubt. Also, very boring. Ellis had zero interest in scenery. He had set his alarm for an ungodly hour with a plan. He would leave before anyone else woke up. Then he could enjoy a peaceful hike without having to talk to some imbecile, and he would get to be the hero of the day—the brave kid who hiked solo for thirty-five miles to save his classmates. He grinned to himself. His father would like that.
In the reception area, he nosed through cabinets and around thecounter. Nothing edible. Next, he tried the small office. Just a desk and empty filing cabinets. Useless. He headed back outside and walked around the side of the nauseating pink building. His stomach was rumbling, and he was hangry as all hell by the time he found the snack machine. It was half-stocked with candy bars and chip bags that looked like they’d been there since the previous millennium.
Grabbing the machine by its sides, he shook it hard in an unsuccessful attempt to free some of the snacks. Frustrated, he tried sticking his arm through the slot—a nerdy obsession with magic tricks in middle school had made him remarkably adept with his long fingers, but they barely brushed the corner of a lonely bag of Doritos. Pulling his arm out, he gave the machine a solid kick, squatted low, and ran at it, toppling it over sideways with an immense crash.
It took him all of a minute to realize his mistake. Now the snacks were stuck down the back of the machine.
He was not going to be defeated.
Ellis stood on top and jumped up and down on the surprisingly resilient plexiglass.
A snickering sound behind him made him stop. Jade and Jax were watching, amused expressions on their faces. Jax had his camera out and was filming him beating the crap out of a junk-food machine.
“Delete that,” Ellis said, pulling himself to his full don’t-mess-with-me height.
“Okay…okay. Chill.” Jax made motions to delete the video. “No big deal. We’re just hungry too.”
“Then help me!” Ellis shouted, turning back to the machine, irritated. What were Barbie and Ken even doing up this early? Weren’t they missing their beauty sleep?
It took ten minutes of combined effort, but soon they had most ofthe stock of Chex Mix, Starburst, and Gatorade packed in Ellis’s suitcase, along with several dusty bottles of water.
“I’m leaving. Are you coming?” Ellis asked as they sat in the shade munching on Doritos.
“Hard pass,” Jade said, glancing dismissively across the desert stretching out on all sides. Even this early in the day, heat waves were shimmering and warping the distant mountains—it was going to be unbearable.
“Why would you want to stay in this place?” Ellis asked incredulously. It was inconceivable to him that anyone would voluntarily be here a minute longer than they had to. A quick image of the message shot through his mind, along with a brief, hard flash of panic.
“We’re not missing out on the game. Are you kidding me? This kind of exposure is the best thing that could happen at this stage of my career,” Jax stated enthusiastically.
“Besides, we don’t hike,” Jade added flatly. “Send someone for us, okay? I’m going to my room to pick out the perfect outfit to ‘die’ in. It’s really hard—you have to stand out, without looking like you tried too hard. You know?” She swept up a handful of bottled waters and stalked off around the building.
Jax filmed her leaving, head cocked on one side appreciatively.
“Aww, man, just look at that walk—damn, my girl’s hot! Gonna add this cut to the final edit—keep the subs sweet.” Jax must have caught Ellis’s look. He pulled up defensively. “What? Jadelikesme posting her. It boosts her stats too. Plus, she always approves the edit. If she doesn’t like the way she looks, she can pull it. Jade totally gets it—she’s the coolest girl I’ve ever dated. I’m not even kidding you. We’re in sync, like soulmates, know what I mean, bro?”
Ellis gave Jax a clear do-not-bro-me glare. Jax was hot, undeniably,but boringly straight and about as interesting as cardboard. Not Ellis’s type. He liked sporty boys. All those endorphins just made them easier to get along with. No drama. No commitment. Yup, if they hadn’t made varsity, Ellis wasn’t interested.
Apart from Danny, of course. The one exception to every rule.
Ellis stood up quickly and brushed himself down. Time to get the hell out of this place.
“Later.” Ellis walked around the front of the motel, dragging his snack-filled suitcase behind him. He checked his Rolex. It was close to eight already. He’d lost his head start. Better hit the road before it got any hotter.
As he cornered the pool fence, he stopped in dismay. A figure was standing at the edge of the road behind the burned-out shell of the bus. Fuck. Now he’d have to share the credit for saving the day.
