Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning

Author:Josh Winning [Winning, Josh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

XXIII

As we approach the beach, I see that a couple of people have already beaten us to stone circle. Kurt sits on one of the logs around the fire pit, wearing a green jumpsuit and aviators, his hair gelled back from his face. Juniper stands beside him, tall and dressed in black.

“Hey,” I say, as me and Dani join them. After what we found in Buck’s cabin, I feel energized. Ready for a fight.

Easy, girl, Willow says. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

Dani must sense how tense I am because the back of her hand brushes against mine, and I feel a fraction calmer. The wind is picking up, though. The sky is dark. No stars. No rain yet, either, but the threat is there.

“Hey, guys,” Juniper says. “Want a smoke?”

She holds out a pack of Camels. I’m sure she’s not a smoker, and I’m so programmed to agree with everything she says, I almost say yes, but then I see what she’s wearing—a skeleton bodysuit, complete with gloves. She’s drawn white lines into her face that make her cheekbones really pop, and those around the tip of her nose are realistically skull-like.

“Oh, I get it,” I say, smiling. “You’re Death, right?”

“Sure I can’t tempt you?” she asks, waving the pack, which I take as confirmation.

I shake my head, taking a moment to revel in her singularly arch attention, but then I’m interrupted by Misty, joining us on the beach.

“Hey, babe,” Misty says. I realize she’s talking to me. It takes me a moment to register what she’s wearing. A frilly pink tutu with a pair of black Doc Martens, like season one Villanelle. Pink and blue ribbons snake through her hair, and her makeup is layered on as thick as paste—hot pink lips, baby blue lids.

Misty grins at me. “I’m guessing you’re the only person who can see me right now.”

I feel like air has been punched from my chest.

She’s dressed as Eliza. The imaginary friend from We Love Willow.

I must be imagining it, projecting something onto Misty that isn’t really there. But the style is unmistakable, and the bright glint in Misty’s eye tells me I’m a hundred miles from wrong.

Misty knows the show.

She knows who I am.

Looking at the detail of her costume, I realize it’s more than mere recognition.

She’s a We Love Willow fan.

How did I miss it? I’ve been mooning over Juniper for three whole days. Has Misty been doing the same, but with me? And if she’s a fan, she must know everything. Tweetageddon. Everything.

I stare at her, dumbfounded, and her grin slips.

“You don’t like it?” she asks.

“What’s going on?” Dani asks.

I feel something creak and split in my mind.

Misty is fucking with me.

And I am fully done being fucked with.

“She’s dressed as Eliza,” I say. “A character from my show.”

“Your show?” Kurt asks.

“It’s the reason I’m here. I was on a Netflix series that got canned because of something I posted online. Everything fell apart, and I came here to escape it all.”

Funny how the truth suddenly feels feeble.

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