The Idiot's Wedding

I swallowed the last pill. My stomach burned like fire, and the pain was vicious.

I tossed the empty bottle aside, climbed onto my small bed, and curled into a ball.

The tablet on the nightstand suddenly lit up. I pulled it into my arms just as a new message appeared.

The group was called "The Four Without the Idiot".

Calvin Dawson had tagged everyone.

[Whose turn is it tonight to slip the sleeping pills into the little idiot's milk?]

My sister, Selena Parton, had replied.

Selena: [It's Nisha's turn, isn't it? Use a little more today. Tomorrow's your wedding. She can't be there to see it.]

Nisha Jones had posted a video.

Nisha: [Don't worry. Josh's already got everything ready for me.]

In the video, a pair of hands with sharply defined knuckles dropped sleeping pills into a glass of milk, one after another.

A small cartoon pear was tattooed on the right wrist.

My left hand had been burned in the fire, and the scar had made me a target for mockery.

Joshua Summers had beaten up someone who laughed at me, then designed the tattoo himself.

Half of the pear covered the scar on my left hand. The other half was tattooed on his right wrist.

He had laughed and told me it meant we would never come apart. Two halves made one pear, and a pear was a pair.

I had understood, or thought I did, and laughed along happily, grinning like an idiot.

But the boy who had promised we would never part had long since shut me out of the world the four of them shared.

Tears fell onto the tablet and blurred the screen. I fumbled to wipe them away.

Someone knocked hard on the door twice. "Loretta, are you in there?"

Panicked, I shoved the tablet under the blanket.

The next second, the door swung open.

The moment Joshua saw me, he strode over, pulled me off the bed, and checked me over from head to toe.

Once he saw that I was fine, his frown eased slightly, though his tone remained sharp. "Loretta, do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you? We thought you'd wandered off and gotten hurt."

Instinct told me to apologize, but the tears came first, and I couldn't stop them.

My sister hurried over to wipe them away and scolded, "That's enough, Josh. Why are you snapping at her for no reason? She's fine, isn't she?"

Calvin handed me a tissue with a grin and teased me the way he always did. "Little idiot, you're one lucky girl. Brain fried, and people still can't stop worrying about you."

Nisha gave a soft laugh and held out a cup of milk. "Lori, stop crying. Everyone's just worried about you. You had an upset stomach today, so I made a special trip to get you lactose-free milk."

She held the cup out to me. A trace of powder still clung to the rim.

Everyone smiled as they always did, waiting for me to drink it so they could take turns telling me bedtime stories.

I swallowed the ache in my chest and reached for the cup.

Before I could get a firm grip, Nisha secretly dug her nail into my hand. The sudden pain made me flinch, and I shoved her away on instinct.

The cup hit the floor with a clatter, and Nisha fell right after it.