27 #2
Wait a minute!
“Did she really sleep with Aegan while he was going out with Eli?” I asked Dash to confirm my sudden suspicion.
“And they were friends.” He nodded, looking kind of sad. “Well, we used to see them together sometimes . . .”
“Until Eli vanished into thin air,” Kiana said, looking puzzled. “We never heard from her again.”
Of course, because she was dead.
Fuck, how had I not realized this sooner?
Leaving Dash and Kiana speechless, I suddenly spun around and walked toward Artie and Adrik. They were buying cotton candy.
Too bad for them—I had to interrupt their stupid little date.
Catching her completely off guard, I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward me. Adrik looked surprised, and Artie complained, asking what the hell I was doing. But I pulled her away with all my strength until we reached a spot where nobody could hear us. And then I confronted her.
“You’re the girl Aegan cheated on Eli with,” I blurted out. “You lied to me.”
Yeah, duh.
“Who told you that?” She froze, staring at me, her eyes looking bigger because of her eyeliner.
To be quite honest, I was pretty pissed off, because how the hell could she keep something as important as having been friends with Eli a secret?
I was stupid for not questioning what she’d told me—for not realizing how ridiculous her story about the footage and Aegan cheating on Eli was, and for taking the word of a girl I barely knew.
“It doesn’t matter who told me,” I shot back. “What matters is you told your version of the story, not what really happened. Why?”
Artie pressed her lips together, looking regretful, like she wanted to keep it all to herself, like facing up to what had really happened troubled her, but she had to tell me the truth.
“Now,” I insisted, with a stern look. And it worked a treat.
“Because I feel guilty!” she finally said, clearly emotional.
“Eli saw us leaving the hotel that day. She and Aegan got into an argument right in front of me, he shouted at her, and then I never saw her again. She disappeared because of me! I never heard from her again. Her phone number stopped working. Her family never spoke to me again. That’s not what I wanted! ”
Fuck, she could’ve been a great help to me in my investigation.
Well, who was I to hold something like this against her, since I was hiding things too? Maybe that’s why I didn’t want to argue with her despite her story being dangerously misleading.
“You know more about Eli than you told me.” I shook my head, looking disappointed. “I can’t believe that, while keeping this secret, you still berated me yesterday for hooking up with Adrik. You made me feel guilty when you made the same mistake.”
Artie let out a bitter laugh.
“That’s why I was angry,” she confessed. “Making the same mistake might lead to something like what happened to Eli. I already told you that bad things happen around the Cash brothers.”
“Yeah, but you’re with a Cash brother now,” I reminded her, nodding in Adrik’s direction.
He was looking at us from afar, intrigued. If he tried to interrupt us, I’d kick him in the knee.
Artie’s eyebrows lifted, looking overwhelmed. She stepped forward and whispered like it was a horrible secret. “I feel guilty about her disappearance. Not knowing where she is—it’s torturing me.”
Ah, so that’s why she was always so frightened. She was afraid someone would point the finger at her. She was weighed down by guilt.
In any case, I couldn’t be there for her as a friend. Once Aegan’s video hit the screens and the truth was out, I’d only have one choice: to vanish.
Yeah, just like Eli. I would leave Tagus.
Aegan would find out that I was behind the video, and I’d have to get away from him if I wanted to avoid the consequences of tarnishing his family’s name.
So, no more friendships. It was all water under the bridge.
It was better to end things there so I could just focus on my goal.
That’s why I was at Tagus.
You’ll soon understand what I’m getting at, dear reader.
“There’s nothing left to say, Artie,” I told her, cutting short the conversation and ending our so-called “friendship.”
She was about to say something to me, but suddenly Adrik (pulling off a perfectly planned gentlemanly move I didn’t know he was capable of) came over to check on Artie. Not on me. In fact, he completely ignored me. My stupid feelings—fuck, I’m such an idiot.
She told him everything was fine, lying of course.
Out of the blue, the fair’s loudspeakers started blaring Dash/Tood’s voice, coming from a mic by the Ferris wheel.
“With twenty minutes still to go until the traditional honorary speech, let’s have some fun with a game over at the Ferris wheel! Make your way over, everyone. Get your asses over here.”
People started flocking over. I looked at the time on my cell phone. Not long to go. In a few minutes, I’d go hand the USB to Lander, since the platform was close by.
I glanced at the Ferris wheel, which was kind of dark at the top.
There weren’t a lot of people on it, and the faces of those at the top were hard to make out.
What’s more, according to the info being blasted over the PA, the wheel had been stopped so people could take in the view, kiss, touch, and do all sorts of unwholesome things.
Hmm, someone up there looked kind of familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
Around me, Tood started calling the photographers, making sarcastic and sexual remarks.
The horny platypus had gathered a crowd around that section of the Ferris wheel, which was also being shown on the fair’s screens to keep everyone entertained.
The music was still being blasted from the stage, yet Dash’s voice remained clear, booming, and motivating.
“If you weren’t lucky enough to win a prize in the games yet, loosen up, because I’m going to give you the chance to win something truly special!
” Dash announced through the mic while dancing around in his huge costume.
People shuffled about, curious. “What do you have to do? Kiss.” A chorus of mischievous, excited whistles and cheers broke out all around me.
Tood jumped excitedly. “Yeah, that’s all.
I’ve got a prize for the couple who share the most unforgettable kiss at the top of the Ferris wheel!
So, who’s going to stick their tongues down each other’s throats? ”
Tood’s proposal sparked shouts, whistles, and a surge of excitement. I laughed; I couldn’t help it.
“Those who are on the Ferris wheel at the moment and those who are on the next round can take part,” Tood continued. “But if you don’t make it to the top, better luck next time!”
The crowd cheered and whistled, egging him on. “So, let’s kick things off by checking out what’s happening up there, right at the very top!”
Tood pointed to the very top. And just then, the previously dimmed lights came on, bathing it in bright light. The cameras around the platypus pointed upward and zoomed in.
“I can see a couple kissing! Yay!” Everyone started wolf-whistling. It was a passionate kiss, but the guy was blocking our view of the girl’s face, as he was sitting with his back to all of us watching down below.
And the guy looked familiar.
Tood was getting the crowd worked up.
“That’s what I’m talking about, guys! Tongues all the way down! Suck the teeth off each other! Tattoo your name on their gums!”
Everyone was shouting, laughing and cheering them on. Until the euphoria over a simple kiss suddenly stopped.
The second thing that happened at the fair: “The Unexpected Reveal.”
As soon as the guy pulled back from the girl, the crowd fell silent. Everyone waited anxiously, stunned by what they saw. Even Tood froze, mic poised at his lips, because it wasn’t a guy kissing a girl.
It was a guy kissing Aleixandre Cash.
In front of everyone.
Scaaaaandal.