by Chelsea Fine
“What stuff with Gabriel?” Heather looked at Scarlet with narrowed eyes. “What happened?”
Scarlet twitched her lips. “Well….” What was she going to tell Heather?
The truth?
Heather leaned in closer to Scarlet. “You found out he was hiding something from you, didn’t you?” Her eyes were wide and accusing.
Scarlet wrinkled her brow, about to deny, but realized she could spin this to her advantage. “Well, yeah he—”
“I knew it!” Heather interrupted, shaking her head. “He’s in the mob, isn’t he? That bastard! I knew he was a gangster drug-dealer—“
“No.” Scarlet shook her head. “He’s not in the mob.”
“Then what was he hiding?” Heather gasped. “Is he married?”
“What?” Scarlet furrowed her brow. “No. No, he’s not married.”
But he almost was. To me.
Agh.
“No he….” Scarlet thought about telling Heather everything. Her multiple lives, her multiples deaths…but she couldn’t.
At least not yet.
Would Heather believe Scarlet’s story?
Maybe. Probably.
Heather liked aliens and vampires and UFOs, so she could probably get onboard with immortal twins and a resurrecting best friend.
But Scarlet wasn’t ready to involve anyone else. And, honestly, she was still so confused she wouldn’t know where to begin.
Hey, so, because of a curse, I’m going to die. My heart is breaking as we speak, and I might just keel over at any minute, but have no fear! I’ll come back to life in a few decades. No biggie. Oh, and, B-T-W, Gabriel’s totally immortal.
No, she couldn’t tell Heather the truth. At least not until the truth made more sense. So, she decided to tell Heather a half-truth.
Scarlet cleared her throat. “Gabriel has…a brother. Named Tristan.”
There. That was good enough…right?
Gabriel had lied about having a brother.
That was his big secret.
Heather would buy that…right?
“He has a brother?” Heather gasped again. “Why, that little, lying, son of a…. Wait,” Heather interrupted herself, switching from Protective Heather to Flirty Heather. “Is this brother hot? Does he live nearby?” Heather wagged her eyebrows. “Is he seeing anyone?”
Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief. For once she was glad her best friend was boy-crazy.
“Uh,” Scarlet pressed her lips together, “he’s Gabriel’s twin brother so…yeah, he’s attractive. And I’m pretty sure he lives with Gabriel. But I don’t know if he’s seeing anyone….” A pang shot through Scarlet’s chest at the thought of Tristan having a girlfriend.
Scarlet reprimanded herself.
Why do I care if Tristan’s dating?
Heather’s eyes grew large and her mouth dropped open. “Gabriel has a twin? And he didn’t tell you?” She shook her head wildly. “Why wouldn’t he tell you about his twin?” Heather lowered her voice suspiciously. “Is his brother, like, an evil twin? Is he in the mob?”
“No, Heather! Nobody’s in the mob.” Scarlet sat up and ran a hand through her long hair.
“Oh!” Heather’s eyes brightened. “Maybe Angie didn’t see Gabriel in the park at midnight after all! Maybe she saw his twin! And I bet it was the twin I saw in the warehouse district, too.” She nodded, like she’d just solved a great mystery.
Scarlet thought about it. “Yeah…it was probably Tristan.”
Heather squinted. “But…why would Gabriel’s brother be hanging out in the park and doing shady business in warehouses? Unless he’s—“
“He’s not in the mob, Heather.”
Heather shrugged and shook her head. “Whatever. I’m just saying it’s weird behavior. Gabriel’s twin is weird.”
Scarlet nodded. It was weird behavior. She would have to ask Tristan about it later.
“How did you find out about this brother, anyway? Did Gabriel just, like, confess?” Heather asked.
Scarlet made a face of embarrassment.
Heather smiled. “Oh, no. What did you do?”
Scarlet told Heather about following Gabriel/Tristan into the woods, leaving out the part where Scarlet wanted to run her hands all over Tristan’s body.
“You followed him into the woods…like a stalker?” Heather raised a brow.
Scarlet nodded shamefully.
Heather laughed. “That’s awesome! You’re a crazy person.” She laughed again then furrowed her brow. “But why did Gabriel keep him a secret at all? Why hide his twin from you?”
Scarlet shook her head, confused by that same question. “I’m not sure.”
“You didn’t think to ask Gabriel why he lied?”
Scarlet shook her head with a groan. “I wasn’t thinking clearly, okay? Agh.” She dropped her face back into her pillow, heaviness settling over her. “My life is crazy.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “It’s not that crazy.”
You have no idea.
Heather continued, “Gabriel lied to you…so, what? There’s no reason for you to sulk. It’s just a silly brother…a silly, hot, secret brother. Get over it.”
Scarlet didn’t care about the silly hot brother secret.
She cared about her imminent death.
But Heather didn’t know that. And Scarlet wasn’t ready to have Heather start working on a eulogy.
What could she tell Heather that would justify her emotional behavior?
Scarlet thought for a moment. “I also found out Gabriel used to be engaged to someone.”
Oh, crap. Why had she said that?
“He was what? Engaged? You have got to be kidding me! That’s insane! He’s a teenager! W-T-H?”
Okay, obviously, the engagement thing was going work as a cover story for Scarlet’s upset behavior, but it just added another string of lies to the fragile web Scarlet was spinning.
Scarlet nodded, feeling like the worst friend in the history of time. “He was engaged, and I didn’t know about it.”
“Well, where’s this hussy now? Is she in Avalon? Does she live in New York? Is she allergic to strawberries? Because I’ll send her a gift basket that’ll make her wish she’d never laid eyes on Gabriel’s deceitful—albeit delicious—body!”
Scarlet shook her head quickly. “No. She’s not in New York. She, uh…died.”
Somebody shoot me now.
Two days ago, Scarlet was enraged by Gabriel’s half-truths and secrets. And now she was doing the exact same thing—to her best friend; a girl who’d accepted Scarlet without question, without judgment.
Scarlet didn’t deserve her friendship.
Heather’s vengeful face became subdued. “Oh. Well. I guess no gift basket then.” Heather looked at her in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Scarlet. That sucks. Are you okay?”
Scarlet nodded. “Yeah, I just…I just need to regroup, you know?”
Heather nodded in understanding as Scarlet crawled back under her covers and turned away.
She wanted to be alone. She wanted to process everything she’d learned from Gabriel and figure out what her next step was going to be.
And she wanted to cry for lying to her best friend.
Heather remained at her side for a minute longer, and Scarlet assumed she would leave her alone to cry into her pillow.
Nope.
“Okay, get up.” Heather jumped out of Scarlet’s bed and clapped her hands.
Scarlet peeked from under her pillow. “Why?”
“Becaaaause,” Heather said, “you’ve moped long enough. And also because I’m almost certain you’ve been in the same pajamas for two days. Yuck.”
Scarlet looked down at her cozy jammies and shrugged.
Heather rolled her eyes. “Here’s what you’re going to do: You’re going to get up, get dressed, and let me take you out for a girls’ day. We’ll shop and eat ice cream and cry or whatever. It’ll be epic.”
Scarlet groaned again. “I don’t want to
get up.”
“Well, that’s too bad.” Heather yanked the covers off Scarlet, threw them on the floor, and marched into her closet. From the closet, Scarlet heard, “You don’t get to hole up in your room and whine all day because your boyfriend lied to you, Scarlet. You’re not a helpless baby.”
Heather stuck her neck out of the closet and looked at her friend. “You’re a super smart, beautiful brunette and some stupid, hot, lying boyfriend isn’t going to change that.” She blinked. “And I will not stand by and let you stew in a filthy pair of cotton pajamas one minute longer.”
Scarlet scrunched her face. “It’s not like I’m covered in mud and sweat, Heather. My pajamas are clean.”
Heather looked Scarlet over with a lifted brow. “Okay, obviously the filth has gone to your head.”
Scarlet’s heart lifted. Heather’s persistent joy and stubbornness were exactly what she needed today.
In that moment, Scarlet decided she was definitely going to tell Heather the truth.
Soon.
Heather deserved honesty. And as soon as Scarlet figured out how to explain her “situation” without freaking her out, she was going to sit Heather down and confess.
Heather disappeared for another minute before exiting the closet with an outfit over her arm—which she threw at Scarlet. “Take a shower and get dressed.”
Scarlet caught the clothes with a yawn. “You’re bossy.”
Heather rested a hand on her hip. “Well, someone needs to take charge. This,” Heather made a wide circle in front of Scarlet, indicating Scarlet’s appearance, “is no good. You look like you were raised by a pack of wild pajama wolves.”
Scarlet gave Heather an annoyed look before reluctantly rolling out of bed and heading for the bathroom.
“I love you!” Heather called, her normal perkiness returning to her voice.
“Whatever,” Scarlet called back.
But she did love Heather.
And Heather was right.
She did need to shower.
33
Monday morning came and Gabriel still hadn’t spoken with Scarlet since the cabin. His attempt to explain things to her hadn’t gone smoothly, mostly because she hadn’t really remembered anything.
Unprepared for Scarlet’s lack of memory, he hadn’t known how to ease her into the idea of, well, dying.
And he hadn’t known how to tell her about the whole curse.
So, he left out the part about him.
The curse that robbed him of any true love outside of Scarlet. Something about telling her just seemed…selfish.
He didn’t want to pressure her into loving him. He wanted her genuine affections, not some show put on out of pity or obligation.
He would wait until she remembered everything. At least, that way, she’d also remember how they’d been engaged. And how he’d loved her even before the curse.
Until then, he’d tread lightly, hoping Scarlet would come back to him and trust him with her fate.
He sighed as he sat waiting for his third period class to begin.
Without warning, someone smacked him upside the back of his head.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire!” Heather scooted around his desk and sat in front of him, before turning to face him. She narrowed her eyes. “You were engaged before? And you have a secret twin? W-T-H, Gabriel!”
Gabriel rubbed the back of his head. Scarlet had sent him a brief text letting him know what she’d told Heather, so he’d been expecting this. Well, not the smacked head thing, but the in-your-face Heather onslaught.
He sighed. “I know. I suck. I get it.”
Heather leaned in, her vanilla perfume wafting into his nostrils. “Do you have any other family secrets you want to confess? A dead uncle in the closet, perhaps? A talking pet pig?”
He wished.
If his biggest family secret was a talking pet pig, his life would be cake.
Gabriel rubbed the side of his face. “I lied to Scarlet, and that was wrong. But,” he leaned forward, suddenly anxious to defend himself to someone—to express how he felt about Scarlet, “I would never hurt her. Never.” He leaned back. “I care about her, Heather. And that’s not a lie.”
Heather puckered her lips as she examined him with a raised brow. After a few moments, she huffed out a breath. “I believe you.” Tossing her hair to the side she scowled. “I hate that I believe you. It’s a lot easier if I think you’re lying scum and revolt against you.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Well, thank you for believing me.”
Heather sneered. Like she was trying not to like him, “But, you were engaged? That’s really weird, Gabriel. You’re in high school.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“How long ago could it have been? Were you, like, ten?”
He sighed again. “It doesn’t matter, now. Okay? All that matters is Scarlet.”
Heather narrowed her eyes. “You better not be messing with her, because I will kill you. Slowly. And painfully. And I’ll probably start by plucking out your very manly eyebrows. So, be warned! She is not just some cute girl you go to school with, Gabriel. She’s Scarlet. Don’t break her heart.”
Gabriel blinked, filling up with admiration for the tiny blond sitting before him.
She really cared about Scarlet.
Gabriel kept his face serious. “I promise I will treat Scarlet as if she’s my destined soul mate and I’ve been chasing after her for five-hundred years.”
Heather raised her brows. “Wow.” She blinked. “Good line. Very…poetic-sounding.”
Gabriel exhaled. “How’s she doing?”
Above all else, he hoped Scarlet was coping. She could hate him, she could even choose never to speak with him again, but Gabriel needed to know she wasn’t falling apart.
Heather exhaled. “Uh, not good. She’s all quiet and pensive. It’s like hanging out with a mathematician. You need to talk to her, Gabriel. Apologize to her and tell her your ex had a peg leg or something. Bring her back to life.”
He pressed his lips together. “Has she been…sad…or anything?”
“Of course not.” Heather scowled. “She’s not a cry baby, she’s fine. She’s just…far away, you know?” Heather snapped her fingers in his face. “So, fix it. I need my best friend back. And, also, I need her to start wearing matching socks. Today, she had on a white one, and an off-white one.” Heather tossed her hands in the air. “Unacceptable.”
Gabriel bit back a smile. “I’ve been calling and texting Scarlet all weekend. She wants space.”
Heather nodded, twisting her lips. “Yeah, well, then give her space or whatever. But when you do talk to her, could you pour on some extra charm?” Heather’s face fell into one of sympathy. “She’s had a tough and crazy little life, you know? Be nice.”
His heart softened. Heather was protective and feisty and annoying and blunt. But she loved Scarlet.
The bell rang and students shuffled to their seats.
Before turning around, Heather whispered. “B-T-W, I love your shirt. And your belt. Good job.”
Gabriel smiled as blond hair whipped in front of him and sat facing the front of the room.
Heather was a good friend for Scarlet—even if she was a little crazy.
34
The first few days back at Avalon High since learning of her supernatural past and doomed future were a blur for Scarlet. But she’d successfully managed to steer clear of Gabriel and dodge most of Heather’s questions.
Until Thursday.
Scarlet sat in class, staring blankly at the front of the room. She was having a hard time taking English seriously.
When you’re cursed to die and come back to life every few years, essays just don’t seem as important anymore.
A small, wadded-up piece of paper hit her shoulder and Scarlet rolled her eyes.
Heather was a chronic note-thrower.
Scarlet looked over at her best friend before swiping the note off the floor where it had fallen.
Have you talked to your smokin’ hot liar of a boyfriend today?
Scarlet glared at Heather and shook her head.
She was ignoring Gabriel—and any other piece of her ridiculous past—until further notice.
She’d sent Gabriel a text a few days ago letting him know she needed space; time to digest things and wrap her head around her future.
Gabriel had responded politely, saying he understood, but she was sure a part of him was disappointed.
The weekend had been fairly unproductive. Scarlet had come to very few conclusions, but one thing she was sure of: She had to act normal.
What was she going to do? Run off with Gabriel to hunt for the fountain of youth?
Not likely.
Laura would call the police and file a missing persons report and then Scarlet would be caught and things would get ugly.
Funny how, just a few years ago, Scarlet spent weeks wishing someone would file a missing persons report for her. Now that she had people in her life who loved her, she couldn’t just disappear on them.
Scarlet inwardly smiled.
It was comforting to know she was loved.
It was also a little inconvenient. But mostly comforting.
She couldn’t leave town, but she also couldn’t ask Laura’s permission to venture off with her boyfriend in search of a mythical fountain.
So, instead, Scarlet decided to play it cool. She would go to school. Do her homework, and behave like a normal, non-cursed teenager until she had a better plan.
Unfortunately, part of Scarlet’s play-it-cool plan involved lying to Heather.
Which sucked.
Heather was the only person, besides Laura, who’d given Scarlet a chance. Lying to her wasn’t fair and the thought broke Scarlet’s heart. But she wasn’t ready to introduce anyone else to her circle of crazy.
Heather would have to stay in the dark—at least until Scarlet had a better handle on her situation.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class and everyone gathered their things. Heather approached Scarlet with a look of pity. “Are you okay? You seem…soggy.”
“Soggy?”
“Yes.” Heather nodded. “Like you’re a depressed spaghetti noodle or something.”