Part 25 (1/2)

”I knew she kept a diary. I snuck into the house when no one was home.”

”You used the trellis,” I said.

Nodding, she said, ”Kayla told me that's how she snuck out of the house sometimes. I just wanted to read the diary. To see what she'd written about Kane. To make sure she wasn't using him for something. I only wanted to protect my brother, that's all.”

”But you never found the diary,” Donovan pointed out. ”Even when you snuck in again after Jade had moved in. So what happened?”

”While I was looking for the diary Kayla came home with you.” She closed her eyes, remembering. ”You were fighting. You'd found out she was cheating with Kane. You were furious. You broke up with her. She actually ... begged for your forgiveness. Sniveling, crying. I'd never seen her like that - weak and vulnerable. She tried to explain herself, justify it.”

”How?” I said, though I already knew.

”She cheated with Kane because she felt guilty,” Donovan answered.

Ellie nodded. ”She was stealing the Bodiford Scholars.h.i.+p. Just as you said at my house this morning.”

I looked sharply at Donovan. ”She told you about the scholars.h.i.+p that day? You knew and didn't say anything?”

Donovan said, ”Yes, but it didn't matter. Kane had a lacrosse game that day. After I found out she'd died, that was the first thing I checked. I knew he didn't kill her and I never imagined ...” His eyes went to Ellie. Her small stature, her innocent stare. No one would ever think her capable of murder. But, in protecting Kayla's memory and not telling anyone about her and Kane ... Donovan had also protected a murderer.

”How could you?” he said to Ellie.

”That scholars.h.i.+p was rightfully Kane's,” she spat. ”It was his future. We have nothing. Our mother works minimum wage. And financial aid is such bull. He'd graduate six figures in debt. Meanwhile, Kayla grew up rich. Never had to work a part-time job on top of her studies like Kane did. She and her mother racked up charge after charge with designer clothes, five-hundred-dollar handbags. Sungla.s.ses worth what my mother makes in a week. The whole family was always so concerned with appearances that they lived over their means and then when her dad got laid off, they had nothing. So now, out of nowhere, she's going to qualify for the need portion of the scholars.h.i.+p. And she was going to take it. She didn't deserve it.”

Rage reddened Donovan's cheeks. ”She didn't deserve to die!”

Ellie's chest rose up and down, but she ignored Donovan and continued in an eerily calm voice, ”You left her alone, sobbing. You slammed the door. And I was standing in the hallway, taking it all in. My brother wors.h.i.+pped her and she was going to ruin his future. Just like that. The anger built up inside me. I was shaking with the power of it. And it just sort of ... exploded out of me. I rushed down the hall and pushed her from behind. It wasn't until she landed at the bottom that I'd even realized what I'd done.” She looked back and forth between us. ”I didn't plan it, I swear.”

”Was she still alive?” I asked.

”No. I walked down and ... it was obvious. She wasn't breathing and her neck was ...” She buried her face in her hands. ”I wish I hadn't done it. I wish I had snuck out of the house while she was crying. Or, even if she saw me and ruined me at school ... nothing Kayla could do to me could amount to what I've done to myself. I shouldn't have pushed her. I should have just gone home and told Kane. I should have left. If I had done that one thing, all our lives would be different.”

”Does Kane know?” I asked.

”No. And when he and my mother find out ...”

Ellie's mouth snapped shut as if she couldn't bear to finish. But I knew why the tears rolled down her cheeks. Not for Kayla. But because everything she, Kane, and her mother had worked so hard for - all the planning, all the work - it was all ruined now. Because of the one moment of Ellie's life that she lost control. One moment.

”If I could go back in time ...” Ellie said, more to Donovan than me.

”I know,” I said. I reached into my pocket for my phone. ”We have to call the cops. Don't try to run.”

She shrugged. ”There's no point. You can't run from yourself. Part of me is glad it's finally going to be over. And I won't have to hold it inside anymore.” She leaned up against the wall for support. ”Secrets are like a disease. They infect you and destroy you from the inside out.”

”I'm at six Silver Road and we need the police right away,” I said into the phone and then hung up. The details could wait until they arrived.

The three of us stood at the top of the stairs, in the place where Ellie had pushed Kayla, and waited in silence.

Silence. I straightened. I'd been concentrating so much on Ellie's confession that I hadn't noticed Kayla's energy disappear. Had she found peace? Had she really left?

My mother's pendant had begun to irritate my neck. I reached for it and gasped as it burned my fingers. What the? I looked down. The green peridot seemed brighter than normal, glowing almost.

A sharp intake of breath came from Ellie. I looked up to see her head rock back. Her eyes shut. Her entire body shuddered as convulsions racked her small frame. I looked at Donovan, unsure of what to do. But before we could act, a strange, guttural sound came from her. She slowly opened her eyes, c.o.c.ked her head to the side, then gave us a bitter smile. And I knew ... it wasn't Ellie anymore.

Tendrils of fear unfurled in my chest. ”Kayla,” I whispered.

Donovan stared at her with growing horror as he realized what I already knew. Ellie/Kayla looked at him. Before, emptiness had filled Colby's eyes. But now Ellie's eyes were filled with love.

In a soft voice, she said to Donovan, ”I'm sorry for what I did to you. You always did deserve better than me.” And then, as if in suggestion, her eyes slid to mine.

”You got what you wanted,” I said coldly. ”Now go. Forever.”

”I will,” she said. ”In just a moment. But, on my way out, there's one last thing to do ...”

That familiar menacing smile spread across her lips. She took an awkward step toward the top stair.

”Wait,” I said, suddenly nervous. ”What are you doing?”

Ellie/Kayla looked over her shoulder at me. ”Getting my revenge.”

”No, don't!” Donovan yelled.

”We told the police,” I said. ”Ellie will be punished.”

”A pretty little honor student with a wonderful sob story?” Ellie/Kayla snorted. ”They'll call it an accident. She needs to pay.”

My mother's pendant burned against my skin. I felt feverish - from the inside out. ”Don't do this,” I said.

”She did it to me,” Ellie/Kayla replied.

”So be better than her!” Donovan said. ”Be the girl I wanted you to be. Be the girl I thought you could be.”

The hard look in her eyes faltered and softened for a moment. I thought he'd done it. Convinced her. But it was only a fleeting second and her determination returned. I realized it first and without thinking, reached out. I wrapped my arms around her from behind, hoping to have the strength to pull her back, away from the top step. But she was unnaturally strong. The writhing ma.s.s of our bodies tangled together and launched off the landing.

Donovan's eyes widened with fear. His hands reached out for me, but - too late - grasped only air. I screamed loudly in surprise as my feet no longer touched the ground. Ellie/Kayla had jumped, even with me attached to her. It wasn't a perfect swan dive, though. We fell forward and to the side, awkwardly, haphazardly. I let out a second, smaller scream of pain when my head smashed into the wall. And then, clinging to each other, we continued to fall.

Probably only two seconds had pa.s.sed, but everything was in slow motion. It was like my mind knew - this is the last moment of my life. Slow it down, make it last. I was flying through the air.