Chapter 5

The stage lights were so harsh that Gemma couldn't even open her eyes.

"Gemma, you landed me in the hospital for two days and made me fall behind in school. I'm under a ton of pressure with the college entrance exam coming up, you know." Rachel sat in the front row with her arms crossed, looking every bit the bratty delinquent.

She drawled, "I heard that sickly mom of yours needs a family member to sign off before the hospital can start emergency treatment. Tell you what—since you're the school's resident clown, I'll let you go as long as you can make me laugh. How about it?"

"Are you insane? My mom could die any minute, and you want me to stand here cracking jokes for you?"

Panic tore at Gemma. Once her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she locked onto Rachel with a burning stare.

Just then, a figure appeared in the doorway, backlit by the light from the hall. Gemma immediately latched onto him like he was a lifeline.

"Harry, my mom's in critical condition. They need a family member to sign. Tell them to let me go, please. She's running out of time!" she cried. She was on the verge of tears, and her eyes were rimmed red.

Harry stayed silent for a beat. Then, the corner of his mouth lifted in a mocking curve. "She's your mom. What's that got to do with me?"

Gemma's breath caught. "How can you even say that? Did you forget how my mom always cooked for you and bought you gifts when we were kids—"

"Enough!" He suddenly exploded. "When you posted videos online making a joke out of my mom jumping off that building, did it cross your mind that she treated you like you were her own, too?"

His chest heaved with rage, his roar echoing through the empty theater.

Gemma froze. She suddenly remembered what Rachel had told her—that she'd made a burner account pretending to be her.

But no matter how she tried to explain, Harry refused to believe her. He just lounged beside Rachel, flirting with her as if nothing had happened.

"Didn't I already get back at her for you? Wasn't that good enough?"

"Some things only feel satisfying when you do them yourself. What, you can't bear to hurt her?"

"What, you jealous?"

"As if!"

The next second, Harry grabbed the back of Rachel's head and kissed her.

All color drained from Gemma's face. Harry wasn't just refusing to help while Melinda was on the brink of death. He actually…

It felt like someone had taken a chisel to Gemma's heart and carved a hole straight through it. The pain made it hard to breathe.

Just then, the hospital called again, urging her. Before she could even answer, one of the thugs snatched the phone right out of her hand.

She screamed herself hoarse, but nobody cared. In the end, for Melinda's sake, she had no choice but to give in. She stood under the stage lights, swallowing her humiliation, rattling off jokes while her mind burned with panic.

But Rachel was clearly determined to torment her. No matter what Gemma did, she acted dissatisfied. Then she had someone bring over a pile of foul-smelling clothes and a heap of cheap makeup.

"Ever heard of an ugly-outfit challenge? I'll let you pass as long as you make yourself look absolutely disgusting."

There was no clock in the theater, so Gemma had no idea how much time had gone by. All she knew was that Melinda was still waiting for her to save her life.

She didn't even stop to think. She started throwing the clothes on one layer after another, gagging from the stench. She smeared every color of eyeshadow across her face in a chaotic mess.

Harry just sat there the whole time, watching her humiliation with a cold, detached gaze, as if he were enjoying the show.

Finally, after Gemma had layered on so many clothes she lost count, Rachel took out her phone and spent ages taking pictures and videos of her, laughing as she said, "That is seriously disgusting."

With that, she smugly hooked her arm through Harry's and sauntered out with the thugs.

Gemma didn't dare waste a single second. She snatched her phone off the floor and bolted for the hospital like a madwoman. She didn't even have time to rip the clothes off.

She ran as fast as she could, praying over and over that Melinda would hold on just a little longer. But when she finally made it to the ward, she saw the nurse pulling a white sheet up over Melinda's face.

It was like someone had hit mute on the entire world. All she could hear was the harsh rasp of her own breathing. Her legs felt like they were filled with lead.

With trembling hands, Gemma slowly peeled the sheet back. Melinda lay there with her eyes closed, like she was just asleep. But when Gemma pressed her hand to Melinda's cheek, it was ice-cold.

She didn't have a mother anymore.

"Mom!" Her raw, grief-stricken wail tore its way out of her throat.

…

Gemma sat outside the morgue until sunrise. In the reflection of the glass, the colors smeared across her face had blended into a grotesque mess. Combined with the emptiness in her eyes, she looked almost frightening.

She called William again and again, but he never picked up. Finally, after declining yet another call, he sent her a message. "So your mom died. It's not that big a deal. Just take her body to a crematorium and have her cremated. Once Lena and I are done with our little getaway, we'll head back and get married. Don't go jinxing us."

Gemma stared at the message. Her mother was dead, and her father just said it wasn't that big a deal and that she could just have her cremated. Melinda had barely gone cold, and William was already eager to marry another woman.

The hand gripping her phone suddenly went slack. Gemma went home and scrubbed herself clean.

She spent the entire next day handling Melinda's funeral alone. She ran her fingers over the letters on the tombstone. In just three more days, she would've been able to take Melinda away from this place.

But now, she was the only one left.

She sat leaning against the headstone for a long time, only moving when she got a text from her homeroom teacher, Greg Black, telling her to come to school.