20. Elody

20ELODY

“Babe?” I knock on the door again. “Come on, I’m literally aging out here.”

I shift the wine bottle under my arm, waiting a few more seconds. Then, just when I’m about to give up on this whole being-nice thing, I hear footsteps, and Logan opens the door.

“Oh.” I can’t even hide my shock at her red, puffy face, her hood so tight around it that I’m pretty sure she wants to move in. All the lights are off. “You look…”

“Is that wine?” Her eyes go straight to the bottle.

“Yeah. Thought you could use some.”

I hold it out. She unscrews the cap and takes the longest sip I’ve ever seen.

“Damn,” I say. “Guess I thought right.”

She takes the wine and crawls back into her bed, cradling the bottle like a baby doll. I flick on the light.

“No,” she begs. “Off.”

Oh my god. I’m starting to remember why I don’t normally try to be nice to people.

“Nope. I’m not gonna let you just, like, lie here and feel sorry for yourself.”

She sits up, wrapping the covers around her head. “Why are you here?”

“I don’t know. You’ve been locked up here for, like, two hours. I thought someone should make sure you’re alive.”

She stares into the bottle. “Are they all talking about me? Saying I’m a bitch who ruined Zane’s life?”

“No, narcissist. Everyone’s just, like, sitting around and being freaked out. It’s literally so boring I could scream.” I roll my eyes. “Also, I’m pretty sure everyone’s with you on the whole ‘Zane deserved to get canceled’ thing.”

Logan gulps down more wine.

“Whoa, okay.” I hold out my hand for the bottle. “I was thinking more like we’d share it? I’m not trying to watch you black out and die.”

She makes a pissed-off face, but hands it over, and then throws herself back onto the pillows. I take a sip to fill the awkward silence. If she doesn’t start talking soon, I might have to give up on this little project and go get drunk by myself.

“Why are you checking on me?” she asks. “Female friendship doesn’t seem like your thing.”

“Um, rude? But you’re not wrong, I guess.” I pick at the wine label. It’s a cheap Moscato, because apparently Tilly couldn’t be bothered to get us wine that won’t make me feel like crap tomorrow, but whatever. Some nights you’ve just got to drink bad screw-top wine. “Look, I’ve been in your whole situation before.”

“What, with the thirty-year-old you dated? You seemed pretty proud of that when Zane asked.”

Okay, I know Logan’s been through some stuff, but she could at least try to not have such a gross personality.

“I wasn’t proud of it. Zane just put me on the spot. Like, to be honest…” I take another sip, preparing myself. “That guy kind of did the same thing to me. What Zane did to you.”

She sits up. “Wait, he groomed you?”

“Yeah. Whatever you want to call it.” Grooming sounds more like what you do to a fancy dog than what it actually is, how it feels, but I push that thought down. “I guess I kind of knew it was happening, but also … I don’t know. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I was in too deep, if that makes sense?”

I down more of the wine, and I almost want to laugh, because Derek would literally die if he knew I was drinking something so cheap. For him, it was top-shelf only.

“Who was he?” Logan asks.

“A photographer. But, like, one of those fancy high-fashion ones.” I take another drink, trying to forget how exciting it felt to walk into his studio, down the hallway with all those famous people framed on the bright white walls. “He slid into my DMs and asked if we could do a shoot. I thought he was a catfish at first, but then I saw it was his verified account. I literally almost died.”

Logan pulls a pillow close to her. “What happened?”

“It was all pretty basic at first. We did the shoot. I looked hot.”

“Ethereal” was the word that Derek used, actually. I had to Google that one in the Uber home, the one he ordered for me.

“We did some more shoots. He was totally obsessed with me. And then he started talking about how he had this huge opportunity for me. The cover of a big magazine. I won’t even say which, because it’s so embarrassing that I actually believed him.” I laugh, but it’s hard in my throat. “I don’t know why. Like, he also kept telling me that he was going to post our shots on Instagram, but he never actually did that, either. He kept saying he hadn’t found the perfect one yet. And I believed him.”

“Dickhead,” Logan says.

I laugh. “Yeah. For real. So maybe I should have known. I don’t know. But whatever. He told me that to get the cover, we’d have to do something that really got their attention.” I shudder and take another pull from the bottle, the alcohol starting to warm my cheeks. “It started with some kind of sexy poses, and then all of a sudden I was just in my bra and underwear, and then…”

I hold the bottle tighter. The worst part is, even as I realized what was happening, I only felt excited. Derek’s hand on my back, undoing my bra like he’d done it a million times, not like all the guys my age who acted like they’d never seen one in their lives. His breath on my neck, waiting. Because that’s what Derek did. He wouldn’t kiss me first. It had to be me. I had to decide. Back then, I thought it was him being careful, not wanting to pressure me or whatever, but now, I know what it really was: plausible deniability.

Logan curls tighter around her pillow. We’re the same age, but right now, she feels so much younger than me.

“What happened after that?” she asks.

“We hooked up for, like, two months. In secret. I thought the whole thing was super hot. All the running around and stuff. But then he broke it off. Got bored, I guess.”

“Fuck him,” Logan whispers.

A weird feeling starts up in my chest. A good one. Like, I didn’t realize how good it would feel to hear someone else say it, what I’ve been thinking for years.

“Yeah. Fuck him.” I nod, letting myself feel it. “Don’t worry, though. I wasn’t just going to sit there and take it.” I grin over the mouth of the bottle. “I got revenge.”

“How?”

“Leaked his nudes.”

Logan snorts a laugh. “You’re lying.”

“No, babe, I’m so serious. They were bad, too. So cringe. But he couldn’t report me or anything, because then he’d have to tell everyone why he sent those pictures to a minor.”

“Damn,” Logan says. “That’s kind of badass.”

“Yeah.” I bring the bottle to my lips, stopping before taking a sip. “I wish I would’ve done more, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Like, obviously he was super pissed, but he got over it. It didn’t hurt his career at all, and he probably found another girl. I just wish I could’ve done something to really make him feel it, you know? Because guys like Derek and Zane … they always get away with it.”

Logan lets out a shaky breath, and her voice comes out soft. “I’m really sorry that happened to you, Elody.”

“Thanks.” I roll my shoulders, shaking off the serious energy. “Sorry. Not to be, like, a huge downer. I just wanted to let you know that you’re not alone.”

I hand Logan the bottle.

“Thanks.” She takes a sip and then looks at me. “You know, you’re a lot nicer than people give you credit for.”

“If you tell anyone that, I swear to god I’ll kill you.”

Logan laughs. “Yikes. Not the best choice of words.”

“Oh.” I lean back on my elbows. “Yeah, guess not.”

“Noted, though.” Logan looks sad all of a sudden, and I realize she’s staring at the empty bed across from us. “McKayleigh would do this sometimes. Like, come check on me when no one else would. She could be surprisingly nice, when she wasn’t, you know…”

“Being a total bitch?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Logan’s eyes look foggy and definitely a little drunk, which … duh. The girl might be tall, but she’s bony as hell, and also majorly going through it. Lightweight central.

God, it just hit me how depressing this is. Logan has to sleep in this room when, just last night, her dead ex-friend was sleeping here, too. McKayleigh’s hairbrush is still on the nightstand, her long red hair all tangled up in its bristles.

I hold up the wine bottle in a toast, because someone needs to cheer up this sad-girl energy, like, real quick.

“To McKayleigh Hill,” I say. “Who was sometimes a bitch, but also sometimes a good friend. And that’s how all the realest ones are.”

I take a long pull, and hand it over to Logan.

“To McKayleigh Hill.” She kills the bottle.

It gets quiet again, and I stand up. “We need more wine.”

“I don’t want to go down there.”

“Sorry, babe.” I snatch the empty bottle from her hands. “You want wine, you’re coming with me. I’ll give you five minutes to make yourself look”—I wave my hand at her—“not like this, and then you’re meeting me downstairs.”

Logan groans, climbing back under the covers.

“Okay, fine. If wine isn’t enough, then think of it like this.” I pull the covers down so she has to look at me. “If you stay up here and hide, then you’re just letting Zane win. Do you want to let that happen?”

Logan turns onto her side. “Ten minutes?”

“Five. That’s my last offer, babe.” I take the empty bottle and turn toward the door. “Now, get your ass up!”

Out on the landing, I look down to the living room. Max, Kira, Corinne, and Aaron are having an intense-looking conversation.

“There’s got to be something we can do with the watches, right?” Max asks, looking at Corinne. “Undo whatever programming is stopping us from sending messages?”

Corinne shakes her head. “We can’t fix that on our end without the right tech. This isn’t a movie where I just type really quickly on a keyboard and go, ‘I’m in.’” She slouches. “But a keyboard would be nice.”

“Oh my god,” I say, walking down to the first floor. “Can we take a break from this techy stuff? It’s boring.”

Kira looks at me like I grew a third boob. “We’re trying to find a way out of here.”

“Unsuccessfully,” Aaron adds.

“Sounds like we need a break, then.” I point at Aaron with my empty bottle, and it gives me the perfect idea. “Spin the bottle. We’re playing.”

“Seriously?” He frowns. “We’re on a death island and you want to play spin the bottle?”

The patio door opens, and Graham and Zane walk in.

“Spin the bottle,” I tell them. “Anyone who doesn’t play is lame.”

“Yeah, I don’t really know if we’re in the mood,” Zane answers for them both.

“Okay, seriously?” I put the bottle down on the coffee table with a loud thud. “What have you two been doing all day? Having some kind of e-boy jam sesh?” I gesture at Graham’s guitar and turn back to the rest of the group. “And you guys have been trying to find a way out of here for, what? Two hours? So, what’s the brilliant, amazing plan you came up with?”

“Two hours.” Kira looks at her watch and frowns. “Has it been that long?”

Max slumps. “She’s right. We’re not getting anywhere.”

For once, he knows what he’s talking about.

“I don’t know about you guys,” I say, “but if we have to spend the rest of the night, like, sitting and talking and thinking about all of the shit that’s happening today, then I might lose it, okay? Like, actually.”

Kira shifts her weight, crossing one arm over the other. “A distraction might be … kind of nice.”

Definitely not who I expected to back me up, but I’ll take it.

“Hell yeah! That’s the kind of energy I’m looking for.”

Zane sighs. “Fine.”

A door opens upstairs, and Logan comes out of her cave and onto the landing.

“Spin the bottle,” I call up. “You in?”

She groans. “Seriously?”

“There’ll be wine.”

“Fine.”

I smile. Maybe it’s wrong to be excited right now, but whatever. This day has been a lot, to say the literal least, and we all need to do something to forget it.

We move the coffee table so there’s enough space for everyone on the floor. Logan goes to the kitchen to grab another bottle of wine, and everyone circles up. Everyone except for Max, who hangs back, staring at Graham’s guitar case.

“You coming, babe?” I ask.

Max looks at me, his eyes dipping down to my chest. When he realizes I noticed, his face goes tomato-red. I grin. This is definitely going to be fun.

“Yeah,” he says, fixing his hair. And then fixing it again. “Sure.”

Max sits down on the floor next to Kira. Of course. But you know what? I love a challenge.

I hold up the bottle. “Who’s first?”