I looked around and spotted Alex. She was standing on the path in between the trees, her hands on her hips. She was wearing a weird outfit for that time of night—tiny jean shorts and a tank top that pushed up her boobs. It was dark but she seemed to be wearing makeup too. Unfortunately, it didn’t cover up how ugly she was on the inside.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m going to see Will,” she said, in a tone that was haughty, like I should be thankful she deigned to speak to me.
It didn’t surprise me. This was how she always spoke to me when Will wasn’t around.
“He doesn’t want to see you,” I said, which was true.
Alex laughed, and it infuriated me.
“He always wants to see me,” she said. She crossed her arms and popped out one leg, her flip-flop kicking up the dirt.
I looked at her, smirking back. “Heusedto.”
She was pissed. Her eyes narrowed into slits. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” she fired back.
“Yeah, I do,” I said. “I spoke to Rosie. She told me everything.”
Alex laughed again. “Right. Your little sister told you something, so you think it’s true?” She shook her head. “Come on, Tommy. She wants attention and you’re both giving it to her. She’s lying.”
I remembered Rosie’s face earlier at the restaurant. She was practically in tears. She would never. “My sister doesn’t lie.”
Alexandria kicked the dirt again. “Rosie is a little bitch.”
“Well at least she isn’t awhorelike you,” I said, moving toward Alex and shoving her hard on the shoulder. I hated listening to her talk about my sister like that.
That was all it took for her to unravel. She came at me, pushing into my chest.
“My god, you’re just jealous, aren’t you?” she hissed.
“I don’t even like you, Alex,” I said, turning on my heels to walk back toward our house. I heard her behind me, her flip-flops smacking against the ground.
“Oh, please,” Alex snorted, her voice rising. “You’re just insecure because you aren’t as cool or good-looking as Will. You want to be him so bad, and you know you’ll never be. You’ll never get to fuck a girl like me because you’re just a fucking loser, Tommy.”
I turned around again to face her and she smacked me hard against the chest. She kept hitting me, her small hands slapping my face and arms, so I shoved her again.Hard.
She fell backward, tripping over her loose flip-flops, and hit the ground. I must have knocked the wind out of her because she was gasping. It took her a couple of seconds to sit up.
“Are you insane?” she shouted, trying to get to her feet. “You realize I’m going to tell Will you hit me, right? God, I can’t believe you two are even related. He’s going to be so upset when I tell him what a fucking psycho you are.”
I felt myself come undone, fueled entirely by rage. I pushed her back down in the dirt, pinning her down with my knees. I grabbed her by the throat, and I started squeezing. I just wanted her to stop talking. To stop saying all those vile things about my family. It took a few minutes for her to stop squirming, but finally she went still. I took a deep breath, relieved to have some quiet.
But then Davis started barking. I looked down and realized Alex’s eyes were open. She hadn’t passed out. She wasn’t taking a break from the conversation. She wasdead.
I scuttled backward. I couldn’t breathe. I was ninety percent sure I was having a panic attack. I started pacing.
Alex was dead. I had killed her.
I knew I had to get her off the trail. I grabbed her by the arms and dragged her. She was heavier than I thought she’d be, and her legs were getting scratched by the rough ground.
I could feel the tears sliding down my cheeks as I pulled her into the woods. I realized quickly that I couldn’t carry her much farther. I shoved her in between some trees and tried to catch my breath. If I was going to leave her there, I needed to make it look like somethingreallybad had happened. Like someone had followed her and raped her and that was why they killed her.
I remembered she told Rosie that was what she would say happened at that party. So why couldn’t that have happened here? I bent down and unbuttoned her shorts, yanking them down by the waistband, the edge of her lacy underwear ripping as I did. Then I yanked her shirt all the way up, tearing it slightly. It looked convincing enough.
She didn’t look beautiful anymore. Her hair was all messed up and tangled in twigs. She had purplish marks blooming around her neck. And that was when I spotted the necklace. The one Will had given her.
Will had been so proud of that gift. He’d spent so much money on it. And here she wasstillwearing it, even though she’d cheated on him and he broke up with her.
