The Mute and the Liar (60 page)

But
then
again,
I
can’t
rule
out
the
possibility
that,
just
like
she
tells
him,
she is
still
alive.

The
very
first
conversation
they
have
is
by
far
the
strangest.

It
goes:

Jayce.
To
which
Jayce
takes
a
good six
hours
to
reply
to.

Who
is
this?

You’ve
already
deleted
my
number?
I
feel hurt, Jayce.
You’re
not
Becky.

Haha!
I
knew you
hadn’t
deleted
my
number!
I
knew
you
were
just
joking!
That’s
so
funny!
You’re
so
funny,
Jayce!
You’ve
always
had
such
a
good
sense
of
humour.

Remember
when
we
were
all
round
Alex’s
and
you
said
you wished
you
were
pregnant
so
you could
just
demand
food
and
everyone
would
bring
it
to
you
and
not
question
any
weird
cravings
you
get?

Who
is
this?

Or
that
time
we
saw
a
poster
that
had
a
girl
winking
on
it
and
you
said
if people
winked
in real life
even
half
as
much
as
they
did
in text
messages,
the
world
would
be
a
very
creepy
place,
and
Donny
and
Sasha
didn’t
stop sending
you
winking
text
messages
after
that!

I
mean it.
What
kind
of
sick
joke
is
this?
I’ll report
you.
Who
are
you?

Or
that
time
we
were
round
Ryo’s
and
when he
left the
room
we
changed
his
phone
wallpaper,
his
laptop
wallpaper
and
his
profile
picture
all
to
this
picture
of
a
rabbit
with an ice
cream
cone
on it’s
head?
That was
so
funny!
Do
you
remember
that,
Jayce?
Stop it. Right now. Is
that
you, Sasha?
This
isn't
funny.
This
is
the
worst,
most
disgusting
thing
you could
possibly
do.
You
need
to
stop,
right
now.

Or
what
about
that
time
we
nearly
kissed,
Jayce?

Jayce
doesn’t answer,
so
she
sends
him
another
message.

Haha. Gotcha. You remember
that
one,
all right. You’re
so
funny. You’ve
always
been
funny, Jayce. You were
always
my
favourite.

Jayce
still
doesn’t reply.

I know
everything
about
you.
You
think
you
were the
one
watching
me and
following
me and
taking notes.
But
every time you
turned
around
and headed back
home,
that’s
when
I
turned around
too.
That’s
when
I
started
following
you.
I
can tell you
more
about
yourself
than
you
can.
Tragic
life
you’ve got
there, isn’t
it?
Nice
melodramatic
back-story.
Some
preteen
girl
should write
it
down
to
put
in
her
Twilight
fanfiction.

Bullied
for speaking too posh,
dressing too proper,
being
too
clever.
Falling
into
a
youth
gang
on
a
killing
spree,
and
then
falling
for
a
girl
that
his
new
friends
killed
in
front
of
his
eyes.
Dad’s
in
prison,
but
you
can’t
really
complain about
that
one, because
you’re
the
one
who
put
him
there. Greatest wish is
to
see
his
mother
dead.
It’s
all very
dramatic, isn’t
it?
Someone
should
let Evanescence
know
we’ve
written
her
next
single.

I
can’t
think.
I’ve
always
been
able
to
trust
my
own
senses,
to
work
out
what’s
going
on
in
a
crime
straight
away.
But
here
there
is
nothing
to
trust.
There
is
nothing
to
work
out.
Everything
just
blurs
into the
next.
I
can’t
tell
who
I’m supposed
to
antagonise,
who I’m supposed
to
believe.
I
was
so
sure
Jayce
was
acting
of
his
own
accord,
what,
and
now
some
dead
girl
pops
up
and
is
apparently
controlling
his
every
move?
That’s
impossible!
Who
is
she?
What
does
she want?
Why
is
Jayce
still going
along
with
this?

And
I
can’t
believe
how
much
that
person
seems
to
know
about
me.
I’ve
never met this
person, never seen this
person.
I
don’t even know what
I
wore
January
22
nd
,
how
they
do
sends
me
in
ice-bath
shivers.
Someone’s
been
watching
me.
This
is...
terrifying.
I realise
I’m
shaking.
I think
I'm
going
to
be sick.

They
might
have
been
watching
me
for
months,
maybe
even
years.
Following
me.
Documenting
me.
And
all
this
time
I’ve
never
realised.
I’m
supposed
to
be
an
observant
person.
Apparently
not.
‘Becky’
brings
up
her
mastermind idea in her next text.

Why
don’t
you
make
that
wish
come
true,
Jayce?

Jayce
replies
for
the
first
time,
having ignored her
past
messages.

What
wish?

To
see
your
mother
dead.
Why
not?
Why
waste
your
whole
life
wishing
for
something
when it
will never
happen?

Maybe
because
it’s
murder?
What’s
wrong
with
you?
You need
to
stop this.
Here’s
an idea.
Make
someone
ELSE
do
the
murder
FOR
you.
Then
you’re
not
doing
any
murdering
at
all.