This is my first kiss, and if this is how all first kisses go, I will never complain another day in my life. This doesn’t even seem real. It’s too perfect, too intimate, too much like a dream. I don’t ever want—
“What the fuck is going on?”
I jolt away from Trent at the sound of her voice. I’d know it anywhere. Hell, it haunts me in my dreams. And when I get up every morning. Slowly, I turn on my heel and face my sister, who looks completely unhinged. I’ve never ever seen her look this angry. And sadly, all that anger is directed at me.
“What in the actual fuck do you think you’re doing, Mackenzie?”
I open my mouth to say something, but before I can get words out, Trent steps closer behind me, resting his hand on my hip.
“Leave us alone. We’re in the middle of something.”
Madison doesn’t acknowledge Trent. Instead, she continues to glare daggers at me. Her anger is written all over her, and I can read every thought that crosses her mind.
How dare you.
He should be mine.
He’s supposed to be mine—they all are.
“God, what did you do, promise him a fucking blow job to get him over here with you? You’re disgusting, Kenz,” Madison spits. “And you …” She focuses her wrath on Trent now. “If you go any further with her, you’re going to regret it come tomorrow morning when you realize just how low you stooped while drunk. I think those shots have you mistaking one sister for the other. Come near her again, and I’ll hurt you, Ainsworth.”
My throat constricts at her words, and tears burn my eyes. How can she be so mean? So vile? We’re sisters, not enemies. Is it really so bad that Trent would want to kiss me instead of her? There are four other friends she can have. Why can’t she let me just have this one thing?
Madison is the queen at everything she does. She has everything, while I’m always shoved in the corner, forgotten about in the shadows.
“Screw you, Mads,” I choke out, fighting back embarrassing tears.
She laughs at me and crosses her arms over her ample chest. “If you don’t go home with me right now, I’ll tell Dad what a little slut you’ve been tonight. How do you think he’ll react when he finds out I caught you having sex?”
I blanch. “What? But I—”
“Who do you think he’ll believe?” She’s right. He’ll believe her. It’s always her.
Blowing out a sad sigh, I turn toward Trent just as he bends down, his lips grazing my ear. “My friends and I will be here all night. Sneak out and meet me at the kissing rock once you can get out, okay?”
I back away and look up at him. I’ve never snuck out before. The thought has never even crossed my mind, but I know tonight will be my first.
“Okay.” I smile secretively before I turn on my heel and follow my sister.
The whole way back to her car, she’s mumbling angrily under her breath. In my drunken state, I should be worried about her driving, but we don’t live far. Our house is only a few blocks away.
“Ugh!” She brusquely growls. “I can’t believe you would stoop this low and do this to me.”
“Me?” I damn near screech. “Why is it so hard for you to get along with me, Madison?” I yell. “Why is everything always about you? You have everything already. Why can’t I have this one thing? He noticed me. Maybe he actually even likes me. Why can’t you just let me have this? Why do you have to ruin this for me, too?”
“Newsflash, Mackenzie, he doesn’t like you. He isn’t interested in you. He wants me. He’s just using you to get to me.”
I laugh darkly. It’s such an odd, foreign sound as it bursts past my lips. “Bullshit. You wouldn’t be so angry if that was true. You hate that he chose me over you. You can’t believe he wants to meet me at the kissing rock tonight and not you!”
She stops walking and turns to me with fire in her eyes. “He told you to meet him at the kissing rock tonight?”
I nod smugly. “He did.”
Her lips curl into a sneer. “Get in the car. We’re going home.”
The drive home is silent and awkward. When Madison parks in the driveway, the look she shoots my way makes me want to cry like a frightened little girl. That’s the power of Madison’s glare. She has the capacity to eviscerate and kill with a single glance.
“You’re going to go inside and be the good girl everyone knows you are. This isn’t you, Mackenzie. Stop trying to be like me.”
“I’m not trying to be you,” I mumble.
“Oh, yeah? Trying to take Trent from me says otherwise. Just get inside before I make the next year of your life a living hell.”
“Where are you going?” I ask as I push the door open.
“To meet Trent at the kissing rock, of course.”
My stomach bottoms out, and my heart shatters. “But …”
She smirks in satisfaction. “We all know I’m the hotter sister everyone wants—might as well give Trent a night he’ll never forget.”
“But he said me. He wanted me. He won’t sleep with you after tonight. I just know he won’t.”
Madison laughs. “He’s drunk, Mackenzie. He doesn’t care about you, or who shows up at the rock. He just wants to fuck, and we all know you can’t do that. Now shut my door.”
With tears swimming in my eyes, I do as she says and shut the door.
When I walk into the house, I know my parents are sleeping because all the lights are off. I climb up the stairs and head straight to the shower. The tears fall in hot streams, and I cry freely without fear my sister will hear and use it against me somehow.
It’s unfair.
Why is it always her?
She gets everything while I get nothing. I’m always the afterthought. The loser. The nobody. I don’t know why I thought tonight would be any different.
I climb into bed, enflamed ankles and all, and sob into my pillow until I drift off to sleep.
When I wake up the next morning, it’s to a shrill scream coming from the kitchen. I run downstairs, and my feet slow on the final steps when I see two police officers, and in the kitchen near the front door, my mom is on her knees with tears streaming down her face.
Sheriff Keller stands in front of her with an expression that makes my stomach sour.
“We’re sorry, Monica.”
His next words have my stomach hollowing out and the blood draining from my face.
Body’s been identified.
Found at kissing rock.
Homicide investigation.
I shake my head, trying to make sense of what he’s saying. It can’t be. There’s no way.
“We’re looking into all possible leads on what could’ve happened to your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Her body showed signs of trauma as well as …” he clears his throat, “as well as signs of assault.”
“What does that mean?” my father asks, voice hoarse.
Keller sighs. “Michael … it means she was raped.”
“My baby!” my mom screams, and the sound of it rains nails down my back. I sway violently on my feet and clutch the banister rail for support as realization sets in.
My sister was murdered.