Never Have I Ever

Chapter 15

"Ember, there's so much more you can do with yourself!"

I don't bother with some great proclamation like Celia. There's no taking back what she's said, only prolonging the inevitable.

"I've lost my only like-minded individual. I'll need to realign my life."

"Inconvenience is my middle name, the one of my own choosing, not the one my mother gave me."

"I can understand that. However, I'm gonna give you some advice. If you're going for efficiency, I'd use acetone polish remover, but if we're going for speed, gasoline all the way."

"After that insightful speech," says Thomas with a grin despite the circumstances. "I'm going to disappear. I can't watch this."

"I will. My loyalty is hard-earned but if you achieve the highest level of trust I will stick by you until the end. No matter what."

"I'll stay too," says Celia. "I owe it to you, after everything I've done. Ember, if there's something you've done, tell me now. I will keep it to myself, and not judge you for it. But I want to know everything. It gives you a chance to alleviate any guilt and die knowing you've cleared your debts."

"I've been cheating just as much as you have."

"With who?"

"Mona. You won't know her. Seraph does."

"I think I do. Wasn't she that street racer that got convicted a while back? Her file was in your room."

"You won't know her personally. We weren't in love or anything, and she had a girlfriend too. She was just a good sport and-"

"I think this is getting a tad detailed. Anything else anyone wants to say before I go and find some fuel?"

"I don't think so," says Ember. Celia shakes her head and mutters that we already know after Jack's challenges. I raise a hand and so does Thomas. I gesture for him to go first.

"I kept it a secret for a while, because I didn't want anyone to know, but I rigged the vote for class president. You remember when you were elected? I was friends with Nishan at that point, and he helped me mess with the numbers. I figured you deserved it more than the others."

"Thanks for telling me. Who really won?"

"Skye Emory."

"Of course. The girl who'd campaigned to be Senior Class President since a few weeks before."

"And you'd always wanted to, since we met you. You wanted to make a difference. Seraph, your turn."

"I lied before. If I had to choose who to save, I wouldn't have picked one of you. I'd've picked two. I'd've committed suicide had it not been for the promise I'd made with Jack. given more of you the chance. If only we could kill off that bastard in the corner and get the three of you out."

"Unfortunately, I don't think that'll work. Emberlain, wait by the fountain. Thomas, go hide somewhere. The passages, I don't know. Seraph, go move the cars to the end of the drive. Celia, shut the fountain water off."

I jump in Chelsea's car and drive it to the gate, careful not to go over the invisible lin, then get my own. I walk back. Mason has reappeared with the same can of gas used to kill Sam, and I hand it to Ember.

"Highsmith, go!"

"I can't leave my friend to die alone. Nobody has had to do that, and I can't be that person to leave."

The water drains from the fountain, and Ember stand in the base. She pours the clear fluid over her head, like she's been caught in a rainstorm. She pulls a lighter from her back pocket.