by Rebel Hart
“Oh my god…Coach…I’m so sorry,” I gasp, my heart breaking for him and a lump in my throat. “I had no idea. That’s terrible!” I feel awful for not knowing this whole time, for not being able to offer my condolences in some way. “But I don’t understand,” I continue carefully. “Why are you telling me this right now?”
“He was a recovering addict, Ophelia,” he answers. “He relapsed and overdosed on heroin.”
“Heroin…” I trail off, making the instant connection between what Lily and Vivian did to me and what happened to Coach’s son.
“My son was doing better than ever,” he explains vehemently. “We were very close. I knew what the signs of a relapse were, and he showed none of them. I knew the Elites had to be behind it somehow because of the timing of it all. I just didn’t know how. Until you told me what Vivian and Lily did to you.”
“I believe you,” I offer immediately, needing to show him the same trust he showed me when I was in trouble at school. Ironically, those are also the same words I am longing to hear from Emmett right now. “You think they did the same thing to your son?”
“The stuff they found in his room around his body, Ophelia…it was all wrapped in a bow. Like someone planted it there just for him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist,” he illuminates chillingly. “After you told me what Vivian and Lily did, I called up a detective friend of mine and had him look into it. There was DNA on the items that matches two people from WJ Prep.”
“Lily and Vivian,” I announce confidently.
“No. Lily and Malcolm,” he corrects me.
“Why would Malcolm do that to your son?” I exclaim into the phone, quickly softening to a hushed tone so they won’t hear me inside.
“Ophelia, where are they right now?” he asks, the panic in his voice returning.
“They’re inside,” I reply. “I can see them through the window.”
“It’s not safe for you there, but I need you to try and make sure they don’t leave until I get there,” he instructs. “The police are on their way, and so am I. Can you do that for me? Without getting hurt?”
“I think so,” I say timidly. “I can try. But I don’t think either of them want to physically harm me…Just ruin my life.”
“No, they’re dangerous,” he reminds me. “Be very careful. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
Chapter Twenty
BOOK 2
I walk back inside trembling, trying to hide my fear. I feel stupid for not realizing how much danger I could be in when I charged in the first time, and I am still having a hard time believing what Coach Granger said.
I never knew Lily to be vicious until recently. Same with Malcolm. I knew when the old Elite gang was together, they were capable of some pretty monstrous things, but Lily and Malcolm were never a part of that. They were supposed to be the good guys. But now it appears as though they may be the worst ones out of them all.
“So…you never said what it was you were doing here exactly,” I say carefully to Lily as I shut the door behind me, wishing I could leave it open as a means of a quick escape. “I didn’t know you and Malcolm were friends.”
“What…you think you know everything about me just because we hung out a couple of times?” she shoots back coldly.
“Obviously not,” I mutter, clenching my fingers around my phone before slipping it into my pocket.
“Who were you talking to on the phone?” she asks in a sly, questioning tone.
“Oh…uh…it was my mom.” I laugh nervously. “Just wondering where I was.” It feels like the energy in the room has shifted, but I can’t tell if I’m just being paranoid. I swear they know that I know something, and I suddenly feel like a rat thrown into a snake’s cage. “Can I use your restroom?” I blurt, needing some kind of retreat to collect myself.
They say nothing, but Malcolm lingers behind me, vaguely waving his arm towards the back of the room. So, I direct myself to the door I saw Lily coming out of before. I brace my back against the door as I close it behind me, blowing sharp breaths from my cheeks as quietly as possible. My shaking hands reach for the faucet, turning on a rush of water on to drown out the sound of my panic attack.
I lean over the sink and splash some water on my face. My heart is breaking for Coach Granger. Even though Lily and Malcolm didn’t murder his son with their own hands, what they did seems worse somehow. To plant his weakness in front of him wrapped in a bow. They just left it there and waited, letting him take care of the rest. Coach sounded confident that his son would have never relapsed on his own, had it not been for their little gift.
I swallow down the sickness rising in my chest and try to regain my composure. With one last deep breath, I flush the toilet and turn off the water. I reach for the door handle to go out, realizing I have zero plan for what to do until Coach Granger gets there.
I frantically try to wrap my brain around some sort of explanation for my lingering presence and to keep them occupied, when I am frozen at the sight of both of them lurking on the other side of the door, waiting for me to come back out.
“Hey,” I gulp innocently.
“Been talking to Coach Granger, huh?” Lily’s voice burns as I blindly feel for my pocket and realize my phone is gone.
“Looking for this?” Malcolm teases as he holds my phone up in the air. He must have grabbed it just as I was walking past to the bathroom.
I lunge forward to grab it back, which is pointless because it’s obviously too late. Lily pounces on me from behind and wrestles me to the ground as Malcolm swings his hand back, snatching the phone from my reach. I squirm as he joins in, helping her pin me to the ground.
I’m terrified of what might happen once I am fully restrained, but suddenly the front door bursts open, slicing through my fear. I expect to see the police or Coach Granger standing there, but I’m shocked to see Emmett instead. He freezes at the sight of them tackling me.
“Emmett, help!” I scream out as he rushes over.
Emmett pulls Malcolm back by the hair and punches him in the face with enough force to scare Lily off of me. Malcolm stumbles off to the other side of the room, holding his hand over his eye and cheek while I pull myself to my feet and cower behind Emmett.
“Coach Granger and the police are on their way here,” I announce over his shoulder. “They know all about what you two did.”
“Your girl has officially lost it, Emmett,” Lily sneers, trying to play innocent.
“What’s going on?” Emmett asks, looking at Malcolm like he could kill him.
“He found your DNA on the needles and drugs you gift-wrapped for his recovering son,” I explain. “It’s all over now. He knows what you did and can prove it. He’s on his way with the police!”
Lily and Malcolm are still before us like deer in headlights, but Malcolm quickly bolts for the door. Emmett chases after him but doesn’t catch up in time. I see him sprinting across the yard out of sight as Emmett quickly locks and blocks the door so Lily can’t escape.
“What’s all this about, then?” he asks as he instinctively guards the escape. He’s smart enough to know to act and then ask questions. I’m glad he still has at least this much faith in me. “What are you talking about?” he asks again.
“I told you someone made sure Coach Granger wouldn’t be around when things came to a head with the rest of the Elites,” I remind him. “They’re the ones who did it. They made sure his son would use again, and it’s the reason he died.” I watch his expression as he pieces it all together before turning back to Lily. “How could you do something like this, Lily? Why were you helping the Elites?”
A look of defiance comes over her for a moment, but it quickly fades. She knows I’ve talked to Granger and that I know everything. Emmett knows now, too, and the police will be here soon. She accepts that she’s been caught. Her eyes close, and then she turns to Emmett in desperation.
“I did it for you,” she cries softly in his direction.
“What the fuck ar
e you talking about?” he thunders back.
“I’ve always loved you,” she sobs. “Ever since freshman year. You knew I had a crush on you.”
“What does that have to do with Coach Granger’s son?” I redirect her, growing impatient. If there’s any chance of getting a real explanation from her, it has to happen now, before the police show up.
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” she insists. “Malcolm promised nothing would happen to me.”
“He’s gone, Lily,” I remind her with a pitying, reprimanding stare. “He left you. He’s not going to help you.”
“I was furious with you and the Elites for ruining my chances for college,” she explains desperately. “And it was all your fault. All because I was stupid enough to try and help you and be your friend!”
I could never believe that those Elite monsters would stoop so low as to ruin Lily’s entire educational future just because she wasn’t in their good graces. It changed my entire view of the world, realizing that even the most prestigious institutions could be swayed by the right people in the right places. Nothing is sacred.
And now they have stooped even lower in the aftermath, reducing Lily to a love-raged murderer. She always seemed so bright and above all of the bullshit around here. But I guess maybe that was just an act. Maybe she was just trying to keep me close out of jealousy for Emmett.
I never realized how unhinged Lily was. To think she caused so much damage all because of me. “Why would you get mixed up in all of this, Lily?” I try to understand. “Emmett fixed your chance for that scholarship at Juilliard. But now that’s over with because of this. Why would you do that?”
“You did that for me, didn’t you?” she pleads with Emmett. “Because you love me, too?”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Lily,” he says lightly, but with certainty. “No. I did that because I thought you were Ophelia’s friend. I was trying to make things right.”
I see her recoil, but something stays persistent. I don’t think she accepts his rejection any more now than she did freshman year. She has obviously been clinging to some hope of being with him ever since, refusing to admit that it was all just a cruel prank.
“I just wanted to make sure the Elites got away with whatever they had planned for you,” she continues. “I knew Coach Granger was the only one who would have helped you.”
“But I thought you cared about me…” I gape in shock. “You tried to help me! Why would you want the Elites to hurt me? Why would you risk ruining your own future just to get back at me?” I shake my head in disbelief. “Jesus, Lily. Because of you, his son is dead!”
“Because it’s not fair!” she screams through her tears. “I know Emmett had real feelings for me! Vivian just came along and fucked it all up! Made him turn on me!” she insists before reaching out to Emmett. “I thought if I just kept my head down and stayed out of the way, Vivian would eventually fuck off and you’d come back around. You’d realize that what you felt for me was real.”
“That was just a prank, Lily,” Emmett confirms with real remorse. “It was awful. I know. But I didn’t feel anything for you then.”
“Because Ophelia came along. Everything was fine before then. Everyone knew you were just with Vivian because of your families. You had no choice! It never would have lasted!” She flies into a mad and desperate rant. Her words spill out quickly, leaving no room for any other possibility. “But then you showed up and it was so obvious—the way you secretly fawned over him even when he treated you like shit!” she bellows at me. “And then I was stupid enough to help you and ended up right back as one of the Elites’ main targets. You ruined everything! I wanted to make sure they took you out of the picture for good!”
“So you helped kill someone!?” I shriek, wishing she could hear how crazy she sounds.
“I didn’t know he’d die!” she defends frantically. “It was Malcolm’s idea! I thought he would just start using again and Coach Granger would be distracted trying to help him. I hated him for being on your side. Emmett, college—everything—all ripped from my hands because of you!”
“Lily, I had no idea you felt that way,” I reply in astonishment. “You should have just talked to me.”
“I wanted to punish Coach for going against the Elites. Both of you act so above everything. Like you can do whatever you want,” she says, shaking angrily. “Like you’re the only ones who can just ignore the way things work around here and get away with it. After everything they did to me and my family for not respecting the hierarchy of things!”
“But now you’re going to be investigated for murder, Lily!” I try to give her a reality check. “Just because you were angry with me.”
“That’s not all of it,” she persists. “I did it because I love you, Emmett. And I knew once she was gone, you’d finally come around to how you really felt about me. You do still feel the same way, don’t you? Isn’t that why you’re hanging around Vivian again? Because of me?”
Emmett’s eyes cut to mine with a knowing glance. We both know what he has to do. The sirens are wailing in the distance, but Lily is growing more frantic and anxious. He has to play along with her before she hurts herself or one of us. Or before she tries to make another run for it.
“Yes, Lily,” he sighs. “You’re right. I do love you. That’s the only reason I have been trying to spend time with Vivian. So I could be around you.”
“I knew it! I knew you felt the same way!” she shouts ecstatically as she throws herself into his arms. “Run away with me, Emmett! I can’t stay here and go down for this. You have enough money. We could go wherever we wanted to. Away from all this Elite bullshit. We could start all over again!”
He says nothing but cradles her, keeping his eyes glued to me the whole time. I wait pensively until I see Coach Granger and the cops surrounding us outside. They burst into the room, but Lily is so far gone she doesn’t seem to hear or see them. All she cares about is that Emmett just confessed his feelings for her and is finally holding her in his arms.
“She confessed to everything,” I announce, almost hating to ruin Lily’s delusional fantasy.
“I can prove it,” Emmett says as he pushes Lily over to the cops. He pulls his phone from his pocket and begins playing Lily’s recorded confession back to them. He must have clicked the recording on as soon as I said the police were coming.
Lily doesn’t even flinch as it plays. She keeps her eyes squinted shut tightly, as if she’s trying to stay in some mythical space where Emmett’s feelings are real, and she’s not about to be arrested. I am overcome with pity. I knew Vivian obviously still had feelings for him, or maybe she just wanted him back to restore some sense of her social status. But I couldn’t see Lily’s affections for him boiling beneath the surface this entire time.
Coach Granger nods to me before following the police out as they put Lily in their squad car. Emmett and I are left alone in shock, but I don’t even know what to say to him. I’m almost more afraid of him now than before. I want to feel above Lily, like I am somehow better and could never be so delusional, but am I? Is this just what Emmett does to girls? Who knows how far he took things with Lily during their little prank, knowing he was with Vivian the whole time? I am becoming paranoid that all of the Elites are going to jump out from behind the curtains and announce that what he and I have is really just a prank, too.
“Did you have any idea Lily felt that way?” I gape at him from across the room, wishing I could run into his arms.
He shakes his head no, staying silent. He looks lost as his dark gray eyes dart hopelessly around the room and back to me. He looks like he’s trying to decide if he can talk to me right now, if he can bring himself over to me. But his feet are planted firmly. He won’t come to me, and he won’t go.
“Emmett,” I start, my face lifting in desperation. “There’s so much I need to say. I…”
He holds his hand up firmly to silence me, and just like that, he turns to leave. I don’t know why he
came here in the first place, but he was exactly who I wanted to come bursting in after me. But now that he’s gone, I don’t think he was coming after me at all. Why else would he have left me?
I look around the empty room, feeling suddenly vulnerable and afraid to be here alone, not knowing when Malcolm will return or if he will at all. I don’t want to risk it. I walk out of the house, hoping maybe, by some chance Emmett was unable to leave. Maybe he’s waiting for me by my car. I don’t see him when I get out there, so I linger for a while, thinking maybe he’ll come back. But there’s no sight of him.
I remember my thought about the security cameras and turn back towards Malcolm’s one last time to see if I spot anything, but there are no cameras that I can see. Even if there were, I probably wouldn’t have a clue how to retrieve the footage. Someone like him surely has every measure possible in place to protect people from getting into his system.
Feeling no closer to convincing Emmett the photo was fake, I reluctantly climb into my car and drive home. Lily’s voice and face haunt me for the rest of the night. I’m beginning to question my ability to judge the character of a person. To think she was so desperately in love with Emmett the entire time, and I had no idea! Even when she paired off with Vivian, even after what she did to me, I never would have thought she’d be capable of something like what she did to Coach Granger’s son.
After everything I have been through, I am grateful that I still have so much to come home to, which is more than I can say for everyone else. Emmett seems to have lost his entire family. Lily has been arrested. Malcolm’s been forced into hiding. The rest of the Elites are under investigation. I almost feel sorry for them, no matter how awful they all have been. They were raised to believe they could do whatever they wanted. That people like them never faced consequences for their actions. And now all at once, their worlds are crumbling down around them.
My world may feel like it’s crumbling without Emmett, but I still have the warmth of my loving family to come home to. I give my mom and Brendan extra-long hugs after dinner that night, and think of Coach Granger and his poor family as I fall asleep. I hope that maybe he can find some peace now that he knows who sabotaged his son’s recovery and ended his life.
