Standing before her, his skin glistening and wet, was Thayer. He was out of breath, as though he’d jogged over to her. Emma kept her gaze averted from Thayer’s taut stomach. She decided she’d better not look at his arm muscles, either.
“Thayer!” Laurel’s voice sounded in the distance. “Where did you go?”
“One second,” Thayer called, sounding a little annoyed. He looked at Emma, his face full of concern. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she answered, staring at the ground and trying to marshal her courage. This was her chance to question him. “Um, how about you? Are you having fun with Laurel?”
Thayer’s expression tightened. “What do you care?”
Emma’s mouth fell open. “Sorry. I was just making conversation.”
Thayer’s broad shoulders tensed. “I don’t get it, Sutton.” He shook his head slowly. “I’m trying to move on. But it’s…” His voice trailed off, swallowed by the night breeze that passed between them. “I can’t stand seeing you with Landry,” he finally said. “I want to kill that guy.”
Oh, Thayer, I whispered, wishing he could hear me. It broke my heart to be so close to him and not be able to explain what I still felt for him, even now. It killed me all over again that Thayer thought my feelings for him were gone.
The cold air chilled Emma’s still-wet bathing suit. “I’m sorry,” was the first thing she could think to say. She couldn’t imagine how this looked—Sutton had been in love with Thayer before he vanished. He’d been hit by a car on their last night together, and when he came back, she was with someone else. She felt terrible for doing this to him, but then, it wasn’t like she could just pick up where Sutton left off with Thayer either.
“And…I’m sorry I wasn’t the one there for you in the hospital that night,” Emma added. “I’ve wanted to tell you that for so long. I understand why you had to call Laurel, but I still feel like it should’ve been me…”
Thayer scoffed. “Whatever. It’s in the past now.”
“But I feel terrible about it.” Emma heard a splash and a giggle from the hot springs. “Did Laurel at least stay with you?” Emma pressed. “Overnight, I mean. So you didn’t have to be alone?”
Thayer let out a laugh, but anger flickered across his features. “Do you really think I’m that much of a wuss? I didn’t need Laurel with me to hold my hand.”
Emma blinked, needing him to be clear. “So…she didn’t stay with you?”
Thayer shook his head. “She left shortly after she dropped me off. She said she wanted to have a word with you. She was furious, like she wanted to kill you or something. I’ve never seen her like that before.”
Emma tried her hardest not to gasp. It was like the words had been scripted for Thayer, proving Laurel’s guilt. “Oh my God,” she whispered.
The words rushed through me, bringing a terrible emptiness. I hadn’t realized until that moment how desperately I’d wanted Laurel to be innocent. She was my little sister, the girl I grew up with, who I once considered my best friend. But Thayer’s words stripped me of my last shred of hope. She hadn’t been with him that night, and she hadn’t been with Nisha and the tennis team. I had to face it. Laurel, my sister, had murdered me—over a guy.
A cough sounded. Emma whirled around and saw a figure standing at the end of the trail. Laurel’s light eyes flashed in the darkness. “So that’s where you are,” she said, her voice no longer teasing, but instead flat and cold.
The hair on Emma’s arms stood on end. How much had Laurel heard? “W-we were just talking,” she stammered.
“Yeah,” Thayer said. His glance darted between Emma and Laurel. It was clear he wasn’t sure whose side to be on.
Laurel glared at both of them. Then she held up something in the air. Only when a flash went off did Emma realize it was a camera. After that, Laurel whipped around and marched back to the hot springs, her spine ramrod-straight. “Join me when you’re ready, Thayer,” she called.
Emma and Thayer stared after her, and my heart clenched at the tragic characters in front of me: the boy I loved, the twin I’d never met, and the sister who took both of them away from me.
12
TRACK MEET
The next morning in gym class, Emma and a group of girls walked the perimeter of the track instead of playing handball with the boys.