Page 33 of Kiss Slay Replay

Cassie nods and closes the side door. She has a singular focus. Theo. She needs to get back to her son. She’s in survival mode. I admire it, but it hurts me, a little. That she doesn’t say goodbye.

She has a family. That’s her priority. I’m not part of it. I’m second tier. It’s a selfish, insecure, ugly thought. But it’s there.

My friends have families. I’m on my own.

Luke slides into the driver’s seat and shuts the door. He reverses the van down the path. It makes that hideous noise again—metal grinding dirt and rock—so awful it scrambles my brain, leaves me woozy.

“Hold on,” Danny says. “What are we doing? You should go with them.”

“You should go with them. It’s not too late. I can get everyone out.”

“I told you I wouldn’t leave you.”

“And I won’t leave you. So, let’s go.”

We run to the front of the reception hall. Vicky’s body is still in the grass, but her head is now resting on the steps, near the eyeless man in the bloody suit. It’s intentional placement, meant to frighten anyone coming out of the reception hall, to cause commotion. Fear makes people do stupid things. Make bad choices. If they open the doors and the first thing they see is Vicky’s decapitated head, they’ll run back inside—fish in a barrel, until that barrel starts to burn.

“We should move them,” I say, lifting the dead man’s legs. He’s heavier than I was expecting.

“Look.” Danny points to the deck. Smoke whorls up from underneath. “No time.”

I drop the man’s legs, muttering an apology under my breath.

Danny bangs on the door. “Hey, it’s me. It’s Danny. You need to get out. There’s a—”

“Wait.” I cover his mouth. “If we tell them there’s a fire, they’ll panic.”

“Okay, yeah. Okay,” he says, gently moving my hand away. He bangs on the door again, this time with both fists. “Hey. Hey! Open up! You guys all need to leave. Okay?”

There’s quiet on the other side.

“Hello?” he says.

They don’t trust us. They’re too afraid.

“Ravi,” I shout through the door. It hurts to speak, my neck bruised, throat raw. “Ravi, you have to listen to me. You have to trust me. You need to get everyone out.”

Why would he listen to me? Why would he trust me?

“Please,” I say. “Ravi?”

Mumbling. Movement. They’re talking it over.

“We’re wasting time. We have to tell them,” Danny says. He grabs the knob and rams his shoulder into the door. “There’s a fire!”

The smoke billows up from under the deck. I can hear the crackle and hiss of flames.

“Ah, shit!” Danny starts to pace, hands on his head. “A window. We’ll break a window. We’ll—”

He’s interrupted by the click of a lock.

The doors open.

It’s Ravi.

10

“You’re so good-looking,” I’d said, pushing his hair back from his forehead. I ran my fingers over his perfect thick eyebrows, down the neat slope of his nose. Then I came to his lips. “Your lips. How do you have such beautiful lips?”