Page 90 of Such A Bad Girl

“Turns out, Harlan’s been keeping a few secrets of his own.”

We all looked at Harlan. Harlan looked at the door.

“What is she talking about?” Jill asked him.

“How did you and Harlan come up with this little scheme, Jill?” Everleigh asked.

“We ran into each other at the reunion,” she replied, shooting a suspicious look at Harlan. “We were drunk. Of course, West and Everleigh weren’t there, but they were the famous ones of our group, and we all hoped they would come. But when they didn’t show up, Harlan and I ended up talking trash about them towards the end of the night. I saw how passionate he was, how much he hated them.” She paused, staring over at him thoughtfully.

“We bonded over that, didn’t we?” When he didn’t reply, she continued. “After the reunion was over, we kept in touch. He invited me to visit him in San Francisco and we began fantasizing about revenge together. We’d confessed to each other that we’d both seen what happened that night. We were both hiding in the woods, watching what went down separately.”

“And Harlan wanted revenge, didn’t he?”

“Yes. He told me he loved Avett.”

“Is that all he told you, Jill? That’s the only reason?”

“Yes,” she said. “He said it wasn’t fair that you and Theo had gotten away with murder. That you’d just gone on with your lives, with Theo still being rich and you getting famous. Having your wholesome images, all while secretly being a couple of murderers.”

“Right,” Everleigh nodded. “But even we were fooled.”

“What are you talking about?” Jill cried out, impatiently.

“How about I just show you?” She hit a few buttons on the phone and held it up.

The video started to play. My stomach churned as I watched the old familiar scene of the lake come into view again. It was the boardwalk where I’d fought with Avett. In the footage, two figures ran away in the distance. I could tell, even from here, that they were Everleigh and me.

But the video continued playing even after we’d left the frame. From the far left, Harlan ran up the boardwalk. He fell to his knees and peered over the edge. He cried out, and then reached down. Struggling hard, he managed to pull Avett’s limp body from the water.

“No!” he cried out, sobbing as he leaned over him. “Avett, wake up! Avett, I love you!”

He shook Avett, trying to rouse him. He slapped him, but Avett didn’t move. The video was grainy and from a distance. The sound was faint, but Harlan’s voice broke through.

“What the fuck,” I muttered, my head spinning as I watched the video again.

We kept watching as Harlan placed Avett’s body on the boardwalk and began CPR, alternating between pumping his chest and blowing air into his lungs. We watched now, breathlessly, as Harlan kept going, determined to bring his friend back to life.

“Avett, you can’t die!” He cried. “You can’t leave me! I love you, baby, please!”

My eyes widened in disbelief as Avett started coughing, violently spewing up water and turning on his side and curling up into a fetal position. Harlan sprung up onto his feet, a shout of glee escaping from his lips.

Avett coughed and coughed, before looking up at Harlan.

Harlan sank back to his knees, consoling his friend with a spontaneous hug. But Avett wasn’t having it. He pushed him away, Harlan landing with a thud on his ass.

“Get off me,” Avett growled, his words gravely before collapsing in another fit of coughing. Slowly, he stood up and Harlan followed suit, until they were facing each other.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Avett barked. “You aren’t fucking supposed to touch me in public.”

“But..but..we aren’t in public. Nobody’s here. Everleigh and Theo left. They left you there to die, Avett, but I saved you!”

“Those fuckers,” Avett said, shaking his head and wiping his mouth. He was soaked, he had a huge lump on his forehead from the tip of my boot, but he was standing strong and very much alive. “They’re going to pay.”

“But…pay for what? I saw what you were doing to Everleigh, Avett.”

“She fucking deserved it,” he snarled.

“Don’t you understand?” Harlan insisted, his voice rising in the darkness. “You almost died, Avett. If I hadn’t come along and pulled you out, you would have drowned…I saved you! I saved you!” He grabbed Avett’s arm, trying to hug him again.