“Don’t!” I scramble forward as I attempt to snatch the device from her hand. My heart has dropped into my stomach and I feel like I can’t breathe. The blood throughout my body has thinned, the color has drained from my face.
Tiffani smiles in such a way that she appears sinister as she stretches out her hand, holding me back. With her other hand, she holds her phone up in the air, as far out of my reach as she can keep it. She puts it on speaker, allowing the monotonous dial tone to echo around the restroom. “Cut it off with Tyler and I won’t tell Dean. Deal?”
“Fine!” I yell. I have no other choice. Even my hands are trembling now, and my chest is heavy.
Immediately, Tiffani pushes me back a step, and she ends the call before Dean has the chance to answer. I’m so numb that I can’t even feel relieved about it. “So here’s what’s gonna happen,” she says with a wide grin, so malicious that it’s hard to keep my eyes trained on her. Now I really do feel sick. Now I really do wish I’d escaped the diner when I had the chance to. “I need you to do it tonight. Say whatever you want to Tyler, as long as you make it clear that your gross fling is off. After that, I need you to come stay at our hotel.”
“What?” My voice is a feeble whisper now, not firm and strong like I wish it would be. It’s just weak. Defeated.
“You know, for dramatic effect.” Tiffani’s grin stretches even wider, and I’m not sure how it’s even possible for her to smile back at me, for her to enjoy how stunned and how petrified and how numb I really am. It’s sadistic, really. “And besides,” she says with a nonchalant shrug, “I’m not stupid. You could tell Tyler all about this conversation, so I think it’d be best if you came and stayed with Dean. I’ve thought all of this through, so when it eventually occurs to you—and it will, if it hasn’t already—that you could just tell Dean the truth yourself before I can, don’t waste your time. I’ll call your parents instead and let them know what’s up, and I know you won’t beat me to that, because there’s no way in hell you’ll tell them the truth over a phone call.”
She suddenly seems a lot smarter than I’ve ever given her credit for. This scheme doesn’t seem as comical as it did a few minutes ago. I’m being forced to decide who to hurt between Tyler, Dean, and my parents. She’s got me cornered exactly the way she wants, with no other option but to do as she asks. “You’re blackmailing me?”
“No,” Tiffani says. Her grin finally turns into a smaller smile as she steps closer to me, her voice threatening. “I’m just ensuring you know what’ll happen if you don’t do me this favor.”
“If you think it’s going to work, it won’t,” I murmur, swallowing. “He’ll never go back to you.”
“Oh, but Eden,” she says, her features relaxing as she takes a step back and lets out the smallest of laughs, “we both know how Tyler is with distractions, and ever so conveniently, I’ll be there to distract him from you.”
I part my lips to argue back, but the door to the restrooms swings open once again, and this time it’s Emily. She peers around the frame, her eyebrows arched. She glances between Tiffani and me rather suspiciously before asking, “What are you two doing?”
“Just making a pact,” Tiffani answers, stepping even closer to me and throwing her arm around my shoulders, squeezing my body tight against hers. I can sense her smiling again as her cheek brushes against mine, but I’m still too paralyzed to react. I can’t force a smile for Emily’s sake. I can’t frown. I can only attempt to breathe, totally zoned out as I stare at the sinks to my right.
Tonight, I’ve got to hurt Tyler for the greater good, and I have never, ever felt so terrified.
24
Tyler’s been wandering around the apartment for a while. He carries some of his clothes from his bedroom to the laundry room. He helps Snake replace the hinges on one of the cupboard doors in the kitchen. He cleans the coffee machine in silence, licking his lips in concentration, humming to himself every once in a while. The entire time, I’ve been watching him from the couch, my stomach in knots as I figure out the best way to do what I need to do. Emily’s been sitting beside me, flicking between TV channels and occasionally asking me if I’m okay. I keep telling her I’m absolutely fine, but the truth is I’m nowhere near it.
It’s not until Snake decides to head out on a late grocery shopping spree that I decide to just take a deep breath and get it all over with. Pushing myself up from the couch, Emily watches me curiously as I head across the living room, stopping at the kitchen counter. Tyler glances up from the coffee machine, smiling warmly at me.
“What’s up?”
“Come to the roof with me,” I say quietly, not quite answering him the way he expects me to. His eyes light up and he immediately stops cleaning the coffee machine. I swallow hard when he smirks.
“How come I’ve never thought of that before?” he whispers, leaning closer to me across the worktop so that Emily can’t hear a single word we’re saying.