Pretty Little Liars

Chapter 18: I'm Sorry for Being the Cause of You Looking Like Freddy Krueger

After lunch, Neah follows Remy down the school hallway buzzing with students. She bites down on her bottom lip, her conversation with the others floating through her thoughts. They've all agreed that they won't tell anyone about this A person. If they do, they risk all of their dirty laundry being splayed out for everyone to see. And she's not ready for anyone to know that she had a moment with her stepbrother or that she played a part in Remy's accident. She will never be ready for that. But if they're not going to get answers from adults, they need to get them themselves.

"Hey," she greets Remy before talking herself out of it. She holds her breath when he looks at her under the hood of his sweatshirt.

"Is there a reason you're talking to me?" Remy blinks. His thick brown hair sticks out from under his hood, and his burn marks burn even more guilt into Neah.

"I act on impulse," Neah rambles. "I figured that I could be like everyone else in this school and whisper about you behind your back or I could just walk up and say hi. So I did the second option. Does me greeting you offend you?"

"Kinda," he admits, folding his arms over his chest. "Unless you have some sort of amnesia. Or did Alison brainwash you into thinking you were all innocent the night I was sent away?"

Neah winces. It was days after the Remy Thing happened and one of the only times they talked about the incident. Alison informed the girls that Remy was being sent to Philadelphia where a burn clinic will take all the care in the world for him and his burns. She gifted them all matching bracelets with their names embroidered, like a piece of jewelry was enough to push what they did under the rug. And that was it.

Neah realizes that this conversation might be a lot more difficult than she thought, but she's not going to give up. "I'll be honest, the word innocent has never really been on a list that described me, but I'm sorry that I offend you." She pauses. "And I'm sorry for... everything."

He squints. "Why the sudden apology?"

"Is it sudden or is it overdue?" Neah studies his scars without being bothered. She used to spend hours hunting for him on social media, desperate for a peek at what they did to him. It was a way to torture herself. Feeling guilty and having nightmares about what they did wasn't enough. She needed to see her damage. "And hey, maybe all that brainwashing has worn off and I can see the light. If I could go back and change things, I would in a heartbeat. What happened was wrong and I can admit that I am kinda the worst."

"Kinda?" he challenges, his charred eyebrows raising. "You're a little more than the worst."

Neah forces a small laugh. "I deserved that." She means it, too. "Thanks for speaking to me, though."

"Did you think I was going to just ignore you?"

"Maybe. Ignore me, cast a hex on me, wish me death..."

"I don't practice witchcraft, I wouldn't wish death on anyone, and I figured being a little bit of a dick toward you is better than ignoring you." A tiny grin plays across his lips. That's a good thing, right?

"Not to make a big deal about this, but you're kind of giving mercy toward someone who doesn't really deserve it." Neah can see who he was before the accident happened. It's just a slimmer of Remy's past before that fateful night, and it disappears just as fast.

"Like I said, you were brainwashed, too." He starts heading in the other direction, keeping his head ducked. "But I still don't like you."

Neah's growing smile quickly fades.