And if she did, that means...
Meg killed Heller.
A scream bubbles up in my throat but before it can come out, Levin speaks. “You know what I could really go for? A burger.”
“I know where Christina keeps the leftovers,” Meg says, the playfulness back in her voice.
“Say no more.” Levin stands, and I wait to hear the screen door slam as they leave the building.
I stay rooted in place for a minute more, trying to figure out what the fuck happened, but then the door swings open and Imogen and Ava are staring at me, confused and bewildered. Their eyes are wild with questions.
“Did you hear that?” I ask in a hushed whisper.
“Every word.” Ava stares at me. “What the hell was she talking about?”
A light blinks on outside. Imogen pulls at my arm. “We have to go. Now.”
We rush out the front door, panting as we make our way back to upper camp, not daring to speak.
Finally, when we reach the cabins, we eye one another with reluctance. There’s still so much to say. I don’t want to leave them yet. But it’s too dangerous to be out here any longer now that we know the truth. I pull them to me and hug them tight.
“Tomorrow,” I say. “Let’s come up with a plan tomorrow.”
Ava squeezes my shoulder and Imogen nods solemnly. Then they both depart, disappearing inside their cabins.
I gently pull the door to Bloodroot back, careful to not make a sound. The campers are quiet and everything seems okay—untouched. Once I get into the counselor room, I discard my hoodie and look around. Meg’s bed is still neatly made, her little Union Jack bear sitting on her pillow.
I peer at her stuff—her fleece sweaters and hiking boots and baseball hats.Who are you, Meg?I want to scream.What did you do?
I spot the cabin banner, the one she made all those weeks ago when the campers first arrived, with her chicken-scratch handwriting, barely legible at all. But that’s when it clicks into place.
Don’t screw this upwritten on that piece of paper with the debit card I found in Heller’s desk.
I’m so sorryspelled out on the letter Cal found from Sally.
Those words were written in the same handwriting as the one on this banner. Meg’s handwriting.
My hands move before my brain does and in an instant, I’m rifling through her things, tossing her sweatshirts and socks and T-shirts onto the floor. I need to know if it’s true, if she is who I think she is. I need to know for sure. I need proof.
It doesn’t take long to find what I’m looking for and when I do, the sobs come suddenly without warning, spilling over onto the fabric in front of me.
I look down into my lap, breathing hard as tears fall from my face onto Meg’s striped senior staff shirt.
CHAPTER 54
Then
“Come see us in New York!” Meg said. “Levin’s place isn’t too far from Ava.”
“The Upper East Side is approximately one million miles away from Washington Heights.” Levin heaved Meg’s duffel into the trunk of his car. “Metaphorical miles, of course.”
Meg smirked and punched him playfully on the shoulder. “For real, though. Let me know when you’re visiting, yeah? We’ll have a proper night out.”
It was the final day of camp the year before, and Meg and Levin were the last counselors to leave. After they drove away, it would only be me left at Alpine Lake, the way the summer started.
I didn’t want her to go, didn’t want to see her drive off with Levin to start her new life in New York working for some tech startup as a receptionist. I wanted her to stay with me, to become one of the in-betweeners, someone who straddles the line ofusandthem.
Meg wrapped me in a hug, fierce and tight. She smelled like ginger and peppermint, and her Alpine Lake hoodie was worn thin from being run through the camp laundry so many times.
