The Complete Burn for Burn Trilogy: Burn for Burn; Fire With Fire; Ashes to Ashes (26 page)

Everyone laughs this time. I take another sip of my beer. A big sip.

We talk awhile more about the game, and Rennie goads Reeve into rehashing his plays for us, highlight reel style. I’m watching Rennie’s beer bottle, hoping that once she’s finished, she’ll be ready to take me home. I’ll never hear the end of it from Kat if I’m late. Plus, I have curfew.

PJ has a watch that beeps every hour. When it turns one in the morning, I start yawning, every minute or so. Sometimes they are real, but sometimes they are fake. This one is fake.

“You tired, Lillia?” Alex asks me.

“Yeah,” I say. And then I make eye contact with Rennie. But Ashlin gets up and pours a ladle of water onto the hot rocks, filling the place with sizzling steam.

Alex stands up and stretches. “I don’t think I can take this heat much longer,” he says.

Rennie tells him, “Then get me another beer,” and cracks up hysterically.

“You shouldn’t stay out too late,” I say to her. “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day for you. You don’t want to have tired eyes.”

“But I’m so relaxed,” she says, glancing over at Reeve. Her words run into each other.

“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go, Ren. I’ll drive.”

Rennie makes a face at Reeve and says, “Is something wrong with her ears? Can she not hear me?” She looks back at me and says, “Testing, testing. One. Two. Three.”

I want to slap her.

“I’ll take you home, Lillia,” Alex offers.

“Awesome,” I say, before pushing open the sauna door and stepping outside. Rennie can do what she wants. Why should I care? She’s not my responsibility. Just like I wasn’t hers.

Ashlin’s backyard is dark, and the night air feels good against my skin.

Alex walks out behind me. I tell him, “One second. I’m just gonna go put on my clothes.” I run inside Ashlin’s house and change back into my cheering uniform.

When I get back outside, Rennie’s standing next to her Jeep, wrapped in a towel. “I thought you wanted to stay,” I say.

She opens her mouth to answer me, but then Reeve calls out of the sauna, “Come back inside, Ren. Just let Lindy take her home. I’ll drive you later.”

Rennie shifts her weight and looks back toward the sauna. “I think I will stay. See you tomorrow!” And then she runs off, leaving tracks of wet footprints on the blacktop.

I turn and see Alex, sitting in his SUV with the lights off. I climb inside. “Thanks for giving me a ride. I don’t think I can watch Rennie throw herself at Reeve for another hour.”

Alex shrugs. “I don’t see him complaining.”

He starts the car up and I buckle my seat belt. “Of course not. He’s an egomaniac.” I fiddle with the radio. “I mean, it
doesn’t even matter who the girl is, as long as she’s as obsessed with him as he is with himself.”

Alex doesn’t say anything, and I feel embarrassed. Maybe I took it a little too far.

*    *    *

At exactly two in the morning, I go downstairs and open the front door. Kat and Mary are both there. I hold my finger up to my lips and lead them into the living room.

“How was the game?” Mary whispers to me.

“Whatever,” I say. “We won.” I ask Kat, “Did you get the stuff?”

Kat’s walking around the living room, looking at the pictures on the wall. The one of Nadia and me in our Easter dresses at our grandmother’s house, the family portrait my mom had commissioned by some famous Boston artist. She’s seen them before, but maybe she doesn’t remember. “Yeah,” she says, lingering at my mom’s cotillion portrait. “I got it.” She hands me a small glass vial.

“What’s this?” I thought we were buying a pill.

“Liquid ecstasy. It’s a lot stronger than the regular kind.”

I unscrew the top. The liquid inside the vial is clear. I hold it under my nose and sniff, but it doesn’t smell like anything. “Are you sure this guy didn’t rip you off?”

Kat glares at me. “What do you take me for? I know drugs, Lillia. A couple of drops in Reeve’s drink, and he’ll be tripping balls. It should only take about fifteen minutes to kick in, so wait until Reeve gets to the dance before you do it. If he starts wigging out before you get there, one of your friends might lock him in the limo until he sobers up.”

“How long will it last?”

“Reeve will be riding pink elephants for at least eight hours.” Kat snorts. “Mary, as soon Reeve starts to get crazy, find one of your teachers and point Reeve out. I’ll do the same thing. Then they’ll already be watching when he peaks.”

“Senor Tremont is one of the chaperones,” Mary says. “We did this whole thing in class today about Spanish dancing.”

“Perfect,” I say. “I think he almost failed Reeve in Spanish II last year because he wrote his final paper on the
Three Amigos
movie. Tremont hates him.” I turn the vial over in my hands. “Um, I need to tell you guys something.”

“What? Are you okay, Lillia?” Mary asks. “Please don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay.”

“It’s not that,” I say, and then bite down on my lip. I know I don’t have to tell them about Alex. It’s not like it makes any difference at this point. But I want to be honest with them. Like
Mary said, there can’t be any secrets between us. They have a right to know. “I talked to Alex. And it looks like everything with my sister was a big misunderstanding.”

Mary’s eyes get big. “Wait. Seriously?”

“But I saw them in his car,” Kat says.

“Fine, but did you see him kissing my sister? Like, actually see them doing anything?”

Kat sucks in a breath. “No. I guess not.”

“Alex swears they never hooked up, and I believe him. Maybe it’s stupid, but I do.” I lower my eyes. “I’m really sorry.”

Kat waves off my apology. “We can’t dwell on the past. Now it’s our time, mine and Mary’s.”

Mary adds, “And it’s not like anything
that bad
happened to Alex. It was only a couple stupid jokes.” She turns to me. “You’re still in, right, Lillia?”

I squeeze the vial of liquid ecstasy tight in my hand. It’s true. We really only screwed with Alex a bit. It was nothing like what we’ve got planned for Reeve and Rennie. There’s no doubt in my mind that those two deserve everything that’s coming to them. “Definitely.”

“All right, beotches,” Kat says, running her hands through
her hair. “I guess this is it. The grand finale.” She turns to Mary. “You ready?”

Mary nods. “I can’t wait.”

She doesn’t seem scared at all. Just excited. Same for Kat. I’m still scared, but I’m excited, too.

I feel closer to Kat and Mary than to any of my other friends. The three of us, we are a circle. We’re bound to each other now. I can feel it. I feel power, too. All the talking, the hard work, the pranks we’ve pulled, have brought us to right here, right now.

I open the front door, and Mary bounds happily down the steps. She goes and gets her bike from underneath one of the bushes.

Kat lingers for a second. “One thing,” she says to me. “When you put the E in Reeve’s drink . . . get it done as quickly as you can and don’t make a big deal about it. Hand him a drink and go dance.”

I nod. “Okay.”

Kat’s face suddenly changes. Her mouth gets tight, and I see her looking over my shoulder. I turn around, and there’s Nadia, in her nightshirt, holding a glass of water.

“What are you doing up?” I put my hands behind my back and turn to Kat, hoping she’ll have some kind of excuse. But
she’s already gone. I look back at Nadia, my heart thudding in my chest.

“What was Kat DeBrassio doing here?” Nadia asks me, confused. She sticks her head out the door and looks down the driveway.

“She . . . she was hooking up with Alex this summer,” I say, squeezing the vial in the palm of my hand. “And she heard some weird rumor about you two having a sleepover one night. She came here to threaten you.”

Nadia’s face turns pale. “But we never—”

“I know. Don’t worry. I set her straight. I told her you would never do that. I just hope she believed me.”

Nadia shuffles back from the open door. “Lillia! What should I do?”

I close it fast, for drama. “Don’t say a word to anyone about her being here. Don’t give her a reason to come looking for you. I can protect you at school and at home, but I’m not with you 24/7. So just steer clear of her.” I give her a stern look. “’Kay?”

She nods. In a small voice she says, “Thanks for sticking up for me.”

“You’re my sister,” I say, averting my eyes. “Of course I’m going to stick up for you.”

Impulsively Nadia runs up to me and gives me a tight hug and then scampers up the stairs. I lock the front door and let out a sigh of relief. Then I follow her up.

My homecoming dress is hanging on the back of my bedroom door. I set out my shoes and the clutch I’m borrowing from my mom. That’s where I put the vial of liquid ecstasy. In the little satin pocket where a lipstick is supposed to go.

Then I turn off my light and climb into bed. I hope it doesn’t take me long to fall asleep. Tomorrow’s a big day.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

MARY

I’
VE GOT DRESSES AND DRESSES PILED UP ON MY BED
. Every single one I brought with me to Jar Island. I’ve tried on six, but none of them are right for tonight. I put on number seven, a lacy white dress with a crinoline skirt, but it looks babyish, like an oversize christening gown. I want to look beautiful tonight. Beautiful enough to have been homecoming queen myself, if I wasn’t the new girl, if I’d never had to move away.

As I sort through the pile, I wonder if maybe Aunt Bette
has something I could borrow, or if it’s not too late to go to that fancy boutique on Third Street in White Haven. The dresses there cost, like, three hundred dollars, but I’m pretty sure my mom would agree that it’s worth the expense. Looking good, I mean. Not just good. Tonight I have to look perfect. Even though Ashlin is the one who’s going to be crowned homecoming queen, tonight is
my
night.

Then I find it, right at the bottom of the pile. A dress I don’t even remember buying. It’s a one-shoulder, long and floaty and shell pink. Layers and layers of chiffon. I check the tag. It’s from that fancy boutique.

And then I realize—Aunt Bette. I told her I was going to the dance. She must have gotten it for me as a surprise, hid it in my closet for me to find. I could cry!

I throw the white christening dress off and put this one on. It’s not a dress I would have ever picked out for myself. And as I slip it over my shoulders, I hope I can pull it off. It’s so stylish and unique, and definitely the most expensive piece of clothing I own. You can tell just by touching it, how nice the fabric is. It feels like spun cotton candy on my skin.

I walk slowly over to the mirror and have a look. I almost don’t recognize myself. It’s so nice. More than nice. Perfect.

Exactly how I want to look when Reeve meets his downfall tonight.

I run out of my room to go find Aunt Bette, to thank her and to show her how perfectly the dress fits me. She’s not in her bedroom, and she’s not downstairs, so I try her art studio. I haven’t been up there yet since I’ve been back. It’s her private workspace, and she’s been keeping the door closed, the way she used to when she didn’t want to be disturbed. Today her door is open, but just a crack. Maybe it’s unintentional. Maybe it just blew open or something.

I’m not sure if I should leave my hair down, or maybe wear it to the side? Aunt Bette would know. Anyway, I’m dying to thank her, give her a big hug.

“Aunt Bette?” I call out, running up the stairs.

The attic walls are lined with paintings. Stacks and stacks of studies. Sometimes Aunt Bette will paint the same scene fifty times before she gets it right.

The roof is pitched, and I have to walk down the center if I don’t want to bump my head. Aunt Bette’s easel is set open at the end of the room. She likes to paint with the window at her back. Next to the easel is the table where she sets out her paints and brushes. The tiny puddles of paint glisten, still wet, fresh.
I see her legs, hear the sound of her brush dotting the canvas.

“Aunt Bette!”

She leans past the canvas and looks at me. I do a spin for her. “Mary, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you. I love this dress.”

Aunt Bette nods and smiles. “I’m so glad you’re happy now.”

“I am,” I say. “I really am.”

I go back down to my room and brush my hair. Then I open my jewelry box, take out my daisy pendant necklace, and put it on.

*    *    *

For my twelfth birthday party I invited my whole class to Jar Island, to my house.
That’s how it was at Montessori. Everyone invited everyone. All the other years, I had the party on the mainland, because that’s where the other kids in my class lived. We’d have it at a bowling alley or the laser tag place, or a pizza parlor. But this year it had to be at my house, because of the theme.

I got the idea when I went to the card shop on Main Street to pick out invitations with my mom. I saw cards that were shaped like circus tents, with red and yellow stripes, and you had to peel back the flaps of the tent to see the party info.