Page 143 of I Dare You
We sit at the kitchen counter in silence, but she soon breaks it.
“You want to do it tonight or tomorrow?”she asks, in sync with my thoughts.“You know it’s the only way.”
I sip my wine.“Tonight.He’ll be vulnerable after the funeral.And probably drunk.He knows my face.But he doesn’t know yours.We do this together.”
Jupiter closes her eyes for a moment, as if things have aligned.“Our roles are now reversed,” she says, referring to the fact that she is now the bait and I’m the killer.
“Kit and Dandy can’t know.But how do we sneak out undetected?Kit will know something is wrong when I’m missing.”
Jupiter opens her purse and produces a bottle of over-the-counter sleeping tablets.“Kit is going to have a well-deserved rest.”
I look at the bottle with guilt.I don’t want to drug him, but they’re over the counter.I just need him out for a couple of hours.That’s it.
“You’re keeping him safe,” Jupiter says, reading my concerns.
Eventually, I cave.“We’re going to mildly sedate him, not overdose him, right?”
When Jupiter hides behind the rim of her glass, sipping her wine, I reiterate, “Right?”
“Yes, all right, Jesus, when did you stop being fun?”
When the front door opens, Jupiter quickly puts the pills back into her purse.
“What are you girls gossiping about?”Dandy asks.
I see that he’s alone.
I wonder where Kit is.
Dandy stands opposite Jupiter and me at the counter.He reaches for my wine and takes a sip.
Jupiter dismisses him.“I’m going to lie down.”
“Okay, rest well.”
Dandy doesn’t bother bidding her farewell.
Since her arrival, Dandy and I haven’t really spoken much.I realize he might feel replaced.I’m an idiot for not seeing it sooner.
“You know I love you, right?”
Dandy nods, his eyes heavy.“I love you too.But Jupiter…does she really need to be here?I mean, do you really need her?”
I place my hand over his.“This will be over soon.”
He pales.“What does that mean?”
I’ve said too much.But I can’t take it back.“I don’t know.I just know that things will get better.”
And I mean it.
“They have to.”
Dandy doesn’t look convinced.“Let’s run away.Like we always planned to.There’s nothing but painful memories here.”
“We’re not kids anymore,” I say sadly, because sometimes I wish we were.
Dandy lets out a resigned sigh.“Jupiter isn’t going to help you, Hallie.She’s not someone you should rely on.I get that she gives you comfort, but she’s not?—”
