Never Have I Ever

Chapter 10

I walk purposely through the house, collecting an empty bottle and a pipe as I go. Celia follows me, and I stop by Chelsea's car.

"What're you doing?"

"Getting the gas from inside the tank to set Sam on fire. What else?"

"Surely Camila would be a better idea? I'm thinking disposal now, more than anything else."

"But, Cecelia, which is more satisfying? Would you rather see your friend on fire or that bitch we all want dead?"

"I think I've worked out the trend, and killing him won't keep me alive it'll just turn you to murder. It'll just prove everyone else right. All the people that have been calling you psycho and a murderer, will just be proved right if you immolate him."

"What's to say I haven't already, Celia. They were right, okay?"

"What do you mean?" she asks quietly, opening the conversation for m to confess the weight that's been on my shoulders for years. Do I tell my friend, and let her leave forever, or do I shoulder the burden a little longer before I die? The answer should be straightforward, but I never see anything the way it should.

"I was telling the others about my aunt, and how I ran away from New York. You heard right?"

She nods.

"She didn't die of natural causes. I'd gotten in trouble in Vegas, and she'd came to bail be out. I'd stolen a gun off one of the guys I was with, my boyfriend at the time, and we were back to back in the street. His friends were bleeding out around us, and I was in full-blown panic mode. It'd gotten to the point where every single person was a hostile. I'd landed right in the middle of a gang war, and it was not looking good. So when I saw someone in the street, I leveled the gun, lined it up and shot. It was only when my cousin yelled loud enough over the shots that I realised who I'd shot in the head. I ran over, and she didn't recognise me. I remember what she said, clear as day. 'You're a stranger to me, Titania Summerfield. The girl I thought I knew is as dead as my mother is.' and that scared me more than the shots ringing out behind me. But she was dragged off, and I shot her too, to save her being imprisoned for mm sake by the police. We looked eerily similar.

"So I dyed my hair red, swapped my contacts for thick lensed glasses and pretended that Titania Summerfield was dead. I changed my name to Seraph Daelynne and claimed to be a relative. Nobody questioned it. My sister is the only other person in the world that knows what happened, because everyone else involved is either incarcerated or dead. Elara is still in Los Angeles, waiting for me. She's gonna jump to conclusions. But you can walk away now. Go and tell them all. I deserve it. Thomas was right. There's a special hell for traitors, and that's where I'm going."

"Circle nine. Frozen. That'd be hell for you, wouldn't it?"

"I'm hoping that wasn't meant to be a pun. But let's get this over with before Ellie decides I'm chickening out. I'll burn Camila later, a pyre. But Sam deserves this. One hundred percent."

I take the bottle of gasoline to the garden.

"Celai and I were just talking. Sam, take Chelsea's chair and move to the back of the garden. Now."

He retrieves Chelsea's chair and sits near the fence. I brandish rope, and tie him to the chair, and tight as my shaking fingers will allow.

"You're shaking. You don't want to do this, Seraph. You're not a murderer."

"That's what I was talking to Cecelia about. In reality, yes, I am. I've shot more nameless people than you think, and a few that aren't."

"Please..." he trails off, head down. I just tighten the rope, jerking his head up.