By her twentieth birthday, there are a few things Valarie Ricci knows for certain.
She knows that her waitressing job barely covers the costs of living out of a beat up old van. She knows she's stuck in the dead end hometown her high school friends...
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Theo began with a confession. "Val," she said. "I'm sorry."
Valarie swallowed, took a step closer to the cot. "For what?" The ghost, still sitting, watched her move with a sharp interest.
"I know I treated you so terrible. I knew it as I was doing it, but I couldn't stop because it was so easy. You never hit back, not once. And–and I need you to be my friend one more time, okay?"
"You don't need to ask, Theo."
"But I do." Theo's eyes were like a vice, locked on Valarie and holding her in place. "I need you to be nice to me still, even if I don't deserve it. Just for, like, the next fifteen minutes."
"Okay."
"I need you to understand."
"Okay," Valarie said, voice soft. "I can try."
"I hated you for taking the blame at school, you know? I really hated you. I couldn't stand feeling I owed you something."
"That's okay. You don't owe–"
"I do. I owe you a lot. But, if it had to be someone, I'm glad it's you."
"Theo–"
"Just for the next ten minutes, okay? Just give me that."
Theo seemed determined to strike a losing bargain with herself, as if she needed some limit placed on this conversation, on Valarie's tolerance for her. "Okay," Valarie agreed. "Ten minutes."
"I'm going to tell you what I'm about to tell you because I don't know what we can do anymore," she said. "I can't sleep because I'm afraid I'll wake up and Jared will be dead." Jared opened his mouth to speak, but Theo cut him off with a sharp look. "I'm afraid he's going to take too much, that he's going to forget what he's taken, that he's going to end up in a ditch somewhere. That he's going to be alone. Val, I don't want my brother to die."
Grace leaned toward Theo, eyes shining and rapt with the force of her attention.
"I don't know what the right thing is, but I do know that this isn't working. If something doesn't change, he's going to be dead. And I'm done with protecting anyone but him, okay? That's all I care about."
It took a moment for Valarie to realize that Theo was expecting a response from her. "Okay." She looked over her shoulder to Alice, who was watching Grace watch Theo.
Theo scooped up the cigarette pack on the table and shook one loose. "Grace was a trash human being," she said. "Some people are garbage. I really, truly believe that." She lit the cigarette. "What I did to her was an accident, but I'm not that sorry, to be honest with you."
Valarie's entire body went cold.
"What happened?" Alice said, as if she were asking about the weather.
