The Complete Burn for Burn Trilogy: Burn for Burn; Fire With Fire; Ashes to Ashes (30 page)

When Alex gets up to go get the Tabatskys some coffee, Rennie sits up straight. “Lil, what was Reeve saying to you up there? On stage?”

“When?” I ask, not meeting her eyes.

“Right before he kissed you,” she says flatly.

I feel my cheeks heat up. “Nothing. I don’t know. He wasn’t making any sense.”

“From where I was standing, it looked like you kissed him back.”

“No, I didn’t! He practically attacked me!” I lower my voice. “He didn’t know what he was doing, Ren. He must have had a lot more to drink than the rest of us.”

Rennie nods. “He definitely didn’t seem like he was in his right mind.” She chews on her fingernail. “But you know how I feel about him.”

“I swear, Rennie. I didn’t kiss him back. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

Rennie bites her lip and nods. A few tears fall down her cheeks. She wipes them away, then goes to sit near Reeve’s brothers. I get up and go to the soda machine. I want to turn my phone on and make sure Kat and Mary are okay, but using a cell phone at the hospital is against the rules. I guess I’ll have to wait until I can slip away.

What on earth are we going to do now?

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

KAT

W
E’RE SITTING OUT ON THE DOCK BY MY BOAT
. M
ARY
is quiet again. She hasn’t said a word since I finally managed to get her into my car. She just cries every few minutes. I sit next to her and pick broken glass out from the sole of my boot.

Around midnight I get a text. It’s Lillia.
Where are you?

I text back that we’re at my boat and for her to get over here ASAP. I have no idea what to do with Mary. Is she having a breakdown? Should I take her to a hospital or something? She’s not hurt or cut anywhere, but the look in her eyes, it scares me.

Twenty minutes later Lillia comes running down the dock. She’s breathless. I stand up. “How is he?”

Lillia bursts into tears. “He’s in the ICU.” She sits down and hugs her knees. Her hair is falling out of its bun. “How did everything get so messed up?”

I look away. “It was my fault. I thought we took out enough votes.”

Mary wipes her nose on her arm.

Tonelessly she says, “I gave the drugs to Reeve. I’m the one who took homecoming away from Rennie. I’m right at the center of everything.”

“Don’t worry,” I interject. “No one’s going to suspect you of anything.”

Lillia’s staring out at the water. “I don’t even know what to think right now. Reeve might be freaking paralyzed, you guys.”

Mary makes a small noise.

“He’s not paralyzed,” I say, as confident as I can. “Trust me, Lil.”

“You didn’t see him. You don’t know.” She shakes her head, tears running down her cheeks. “I should go home. I’m sure my mom’s waiting for me.”

I almost say,
Wait. Shouldn’t we get our stories straight first?
But then Mary finally speaks.

“This is all my fault,” she says.

Lillia sighs and shakes her head again. Wiping her face, she says, “It wasn’t your fault.”

Mary’s shivering, curled up in a ball. “It was,” she says, looking up at me. “I know it was.”

I fish my lighter out of my purse and light up. Inhaling deeply, I say, “It was all of us.” I take another drag. I let the smoke seep through my body. “I just hope we get away with it.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To the JAR ISLAND HIGH Class of 2012

PROM QUEEN: Zareen Jaffery

PROM KING: Justin Chanda

CLASS PRESIDENT: Carolyn Reidy

CLASS VICE PRESIDENT: Jon Anderson

VALEDICTORIAN: Anne Zafian

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY PRESIDENT: Julia Maguire

MOST OUTSPOKEN: Paul Crichton

GLEE CLUB: Lydia Finn, Nicole Russo

PEP SQUAD CAPTAIN: Chrissy Noh

PROM COMMITTEE CO-HEADS: Elke Villa, Michelle Fadlalla

EDITOR IN CHIEF, JAR ISLAND HIGH CHRONICLE: Lucille Rettino

CLASS PHOTOGRAPHER: Anna Wolf

MOST ARTISTIC: Lucy Cummins

YEARBOOK COMMITTEE CHAIR: Venessa Carson

EDITOR OF THE LIT MAG: Katrina Groover

FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS OF AMERICA: Mary Marotta, Christina Pecorale, Jim Conlin, Mary Faria, Teresa Brumm

MOST SCHOOL SPIRIT: Emily van Beek

PRESIDENT OF THE MODEL UN CLUB: Molly Jaffa

DEBATE TEAM CAPTAIN: Jita Fumich

MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED: Riley Griffin

JENNY HAN
and
SIOBHAN VIVIAN

met in graduate school in New York City and have been inseparable ever since. They share books, pretty dresses, and a love of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
. The idea for
Burn for Burn
began over cupcakes, as the best ideas usually do.

JENNY HAN
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Summer I Turned Pretty
,
It’s Not Summer Without You
, and
We’ll Always Have Summer
. Visit her at
dearjennyhan.com
.

SIOBHAN VIVIAN
is the author of
The List
,
Not That Kind of Girl
,
Same Difference
, and
A Little Friendly Advice
. Visit her at
siobhanvivian.com
.

Also by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty

It’s Not Summer Without You

We’ll Always Have Summer

Shug

Also by Siobhan Vivian

A Little Friendly Advice

Not That Kind of Girl

Same Difference

The List

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com
.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
www.simonspeakers.com
.

Book design by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Jacket design by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Jacket photograph copyright © 2012 by Anna Wolf

The text for this book is set in Stempel Garamond.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Han, Jenny.

Burn for burn / Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.—1st ed,

p. cm.

Summary: Three teenaged girls living on Jar Island band together to enact revenge on the people that have hurt them.

ISBN 978-1-4424-4075-3 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-4424-4077-7 (eBook)

[1. Revenge—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. High schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Islands—Fiction.] I. Vivian, Siobhan. II. Title.

PZ7.H18944Bu 2012

[Fic]—dc23

2011050036