Free Vengeance by Megan Miranda Page B

it. As I stood. As she grabbed my wrist and dug her fingers to the bone.
    Black pupils, growing wider .
    Listen .
    Footsteps. Laughter. A horn blaring somewhere on the other side of the parking lot. Water splashing.
    Breathe .
    I pushed off the trash can and walked back toward the dunk tank. Kevin was climbing out, dripping wet. Maya leaned into him, like she didn’t even notice. They started walking away, back toward the parked cars, like the rest of us didn’t exist.
    “Kevin!” His mother stood with her hands on her hips near the dunk tank, her high heels on a dry spot of pavement, like even the water knew enough to obey her. “Where are you going?”
    He gestured toward his clothes. “To get a change of clothes.”
    She looked at Maya beside him. Then at the rest of us. I wondered if she was about to ask one of us to strip. I bet someone would listen. But she just shook her head. “Straight there, straight back.”
    He smiled wide. “Obviously.”
    He took off across the parking lot, Maya chasing after him, so obviously not intending to return.
    I scanned the parking lot. Janna and Justin were debating the merits of mayonnaise on burgers. My mom handed someone a hot dog. Tara raised her hand at me from across the way, surrounded by a group of girls. I raised my hand in return, started backing away before I could accidentally spot Delaney. I wished it was this easy to stop seeing someone. Tara and I had stopped seeing each other by just … stopping seeing each other. Though I guess we weren’t ever really together. Not seriously. I guess I wasn’t really together with anyone, really , until Delaney.
    And then I heard her name. Someone asking for her. Coming closer. He was vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place him. He stopped in front of a group of freshman girls and asked, “Do you know a girl named Delaney?”
    “What do you want with Delaney?” I asked, and he moved through their circle, a look of relief on his face.
    “I’m looking for my sister,” he said. “She said she was coming with her friend Delaney, and I left her a message that I would meet her here, but she’s not answering her phone … and I’m not having much luck asking for Maya.” And then his features clicked into place. Maya’s eyes. Maya’s hair color. The shape of her face. The same slim build.
    “Maya?” I asked. “You just missed her. She left with Kevin.”
    “Who’s Kevin?” he asked slowly.
    “Her boyfriend,” I answered, and from the look on his face, I knew I shouldn’t have.
    “Her boyfriend ?” he repeated.
    Last thing I wanted was to get in the middle of someone else’s drama, so I started walking toward the parking lot. “Yeah. Sorry, I gotta go.”
    “Do you have any idea where they were going?” he asked.
    I had plenty of ideas where they were going, none of which I was about to tell her brother. “Nope.”
    He scanned the crowd, his jaw clenched. “How about Delaney then?”
    “She’s around here somewhere,” I said. And I left before he could ask me to find her for him.
    I wandered back toward my car. The streetlights were just starting to flicker on. One glowed right above my car, and I sensed movement from somewhere behind me. I froze, listening, waiting for the feeling again. The sounds from the barbecue were blocked by the school. “Delaney?” I said. And then I hated that I said it. That she was my first thought, always, even now.
    Someone was there, between the rows of cars, I could feel it. Or maybe I was panicking again.
    “Decker?” I heard. And then Tara rounded the corner, coming from between a minivan and a pickup truck. “Hey,” she said. “I saw you leaving. …”
    I was leaving because I didn’t want to see Delaney here. Didn’t want to talk about mayonnaise or burgers. Didn’t want to think about Kevin off with Maya. And if everyone washere, Delaney’s house was empty. I missed having a house to myself.
    When I didn’t respond, Tara bit her bottom lip. “You