Sara Shepard - Burned

“ No ,” Spencer, Emily, and Hanna all said at once.

Spencer touched Aria’s hand and swallowed hard. “You’re right. We have to end this, and confessing is the only way. I’m in.”

“Me too,” Hanna said after a moment. Emily nodded as well.

They were silent for a while, listening to the din of the kids in the lobby. Jeremy once more announced that they were booking everyone on flights back to Philadelphia that would leave in the next few days. Spencer’s stomach sank just thinking about it. Once they got home, their lives would be over. If only she could stay in Bermuda forever.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the doorway. Reefer stood with his hands in his pockets. “Can we talk?” he asked, eyeing Spencer.

Spencer glanced at her friends, who shrugged and nodded. She walked toward Reefer tentatively, her heart suddenly thrumming. As soon as he got close, he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. “I just found out what happened,” he said into her ear. “Are you okay? What were you doing taking a lifeboat back to those coves?”

Spencer’s body remained stiff and cautious, and she glanced around the room to see who might be watching. Even though A wasn’t Naomi, A had still sent texts that she should stay away from Reefer.

But then she remembered that they were going to confess soon. Life was too short to stay away from him. “It’s a long story,” she admitted. “But I’m fine. Naomi rescued me, actually. So I guess she’s not such a psycho after all.”

Reefer shook his head rapidly. “No, Spencer, she is . She told me everything.”

Spencer frowned. “Told you what?”

“She was the one gaslighting you.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “She poured baby oil on the floor, rigged the bed so it would break, all of it. Everything you thought was happening was true.”

Spencer blinked hard. “She actually admitted that?”

Reefer nodded. “I just talked to her. First she told me about the rescue, but then she admitted what she’d been up to. She seemed to feel really bad about it. I feel bad about it, too. I didn’t believe you. Can you ever forgive me?”

Spencer stared at him crazily. “ I should be the one begging for forgiveness. I’m the one who’s been acting crazy. And I’m the one who broke up with you. I never should have done that.”

Reefer squeezed her tight. “Of course I forgive you,” he murmured. “It’s been a weird trip, hasn’t it? Naomi tormenting you, that fugitive girl jumping overboard, and did you hear about the explosion? It might have been intentional.”

Spencer swallowed hard. “I didn’t hear that.” She hoped it sounded like the truth.

Reefer nodded. “It started in the boiler room. They think a passenger did it.”

Spencer looked down, knowing eye contact with Reefer would give everything away. “Do they know who did it?” she asked.

Reefer shrugged. “No clue. They’re trying to bring up security cameras from the boiler room, but two of them were knocked out. I heard that they made out two people on the third camera, though—they’re just trying to figure out who they were.”

Spencer glanced at Aria, who was still talking to Hanna and Emily. She was sure the two figures on the security tape were Aria … and Graham. She shut her eyes for a moment, considering Graham as A. They didn’t even know him. It all seemed so … impersonal . What kind of lunatic stalks and torments his girlfriend’s killers instead of simply turning them in to the police?

A lunatic called A, of course.

She turned back to Reefer, wanting to think about something else. “I missed you so much,” she admitted.

“I missed you, too,” Reefer said, and leaned forward to kiss her neck.

Spencer tilted her head back, savoring the sensation. But suddenly, as a group of tourists wearing American flag T-shirts waded through the kids, reality snapped into focus once more. They were going to call the FBI tomorrow . How would it go down? First a call, then a meeting with the investigator, then a tearful confession? She pictured her parents being summoned to jail, the press clamoring at the door with questions, their names in the news again, everyone staring at them. What would Reefer think when he found out?

She let out a small, quiet moan and hugged Reefer even tighter. When she was a little girl, she and Melissa used to play a game they’d made up called “Prince Charming,” in which they listed all of the characteristics they wanted in a future boyfriend. At first, Spencer always copied what Melissa said—tall, dark, handsome, drives a nice car, and has a good job—until she realized they were, more or less, describing their dad. But even when she imagined a unique future prince, things like smells like hemp or can quote obscure Grateful Dead songs were never on her list. But as she gazed at Reefer’s kind, gentle face, the same wistful, someday-my-prince-will-come feelings she used to have when playing the game welled up inside of her. Even though Reefer wasn’t the sort of guy she had anticipated ending up with, he was exactly what she wanted.

But would he want her , after he found out what she’d done?

Even though the Eco Cruise company had chartered flights for the kids to take back to Philadelphia, there was still the matter of everyone collecting their stuff from their rooms on the ship. The boat pulled into the Hamilton harbor at 7 A.M. on Monday, and everyone was allowed one hour to pack up. Aria and Noel climbed up the ramp, then glanced at the auditorium, which was still decorated for the talent show. It was kind of sad to see the festive balloons, streamers, and search lights. Even the food was still set up, though flies were buzzing around it hungrily.

Noel pointed at the first-prize Vespa, which was parked near the stage. “I wonder who’s going to get that?”

“No one, I guess,” Aria murmured.

He shook his head somberly. “Yesterday sucked .” He took Aria’s hand. “I just can’t believe you thought it was a good idea to go and get some stupid family heirloom that Spencer lost on a dive. You could have died.”

Aria lowered her eyes. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. We didn’t plan on the raft deflating. It was a freak thing.”

“You just should have thought it through.” Noel cupped the sides of Aria’s face in his hands. “When Naomi told me that you guys sailed off into the sunset and hadn’t come back yet, my heart just about stopped. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Aria murmured, but tears sprung to her eyes. Those horrible moments in the water were so fresh and raw in her mind. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Naomi wasn’t A, either—and that A might be Graham and Graham alone. He’d watched all of them, slipping in and out of the shadows so effortlessly. He’d been the one to kill Gayle and almost kill them.

As they walked further onto the ship, the smell of smoke grew stronger. Noel wrinkled his nose. “Nasty.” As they passed the casino, Noel glanced at the table up front, which still bore a sign for the Eco Scavenger Hunt. “Did you talk to Graham after we evacuated?” he said, making a face. “I’m surprised he didn’t want to rescue you.”

Aria swallowed hard, revisiting those horrible moments in the boiler room. Spencer had told her that the ship was able to salvage one of the security cameras, but she was of two minds about what the tape would reveal: On one hand, it might be good for Graham to be identified and caught. On the other, she was certainly the second figure on the tape. Noel would probably lose his mind if he found out she’d almost been blown to smithereens.