The Other Girl

Her smile was resolute. “You’re not ready.”

The day Dr. Leighton overdosed on the same medication she was feeding her patients was the day she told me I was ready. I felt bad that I had to leave her in that state, but I knew she’d recover. And I knew she’d reach out to me…eventually.

We’d spent so much time together, and she was my mentor, after all. She taught me much of what I knew about psychology and the mind. She taught me how to blend and adapt. I adopted her characteristics, and that helped form the basis for a new identity.

I knew she’d stay with me. She wouldn’t leave.

That was Dr. Leighton’s gift to me; a chance to start over.

Lanie Masters had been admitted, but Ellis Montgomery was set free.

13

Return to Sender

Ellis

Susan Canterbury is more beloved in death than she ever was alive.

Black streamers decorate the halls of Black Mountain Academy. Students with puffy eyes and red noses shuffle through the school. Mr. D. held an assembly to honor the respected teacher that has been with them for over a decade, where the Cougarettes—the dance team—performed a reverent tribute to the belated teacher.

It was a tragic accident, the headline of the local newspaper read.

And I agree—it was such a tragic accident. Tragic that Sue took that one step too far.

Carter traces his mouth across the back of my hand, placing delicate kisses to my skin. “I can’t believe what happened to Ms. Canterbury,” he says all of a sudden.

It’s been all anyone’s talked about this week since her body was discovered at the base of the staircase. A horrible, tragic accident…that no one was around to witness.

“Maybe she did it on purpose,” I wonder aloud.

He rolls onto his side, head propped on his hand. “Why would she do that?”

I shrug against the blanket as I stare into the canopy of branches above. “She seemed lonely to me.” And desperate. Sue stank of desperation. Had she not been so intrusive and miserable, she’d probably still be alive, teaching her class, tormenting Carter.

Two birds, one staircase.

We’re camped out on the bluff near the waterfall. A blanket spread beneath us, the sound of the cascade a buffer between us and the world. It’s an overcast afternoon, and we’re taking advantage of the half-day—a day given to faculty and students to grieve.

“I love that I have you all to myself,” Carter says. He loops a strand of my hair around his finger as he gazes down at me.

I turn my head toward him and take in his beautiful features. “I love that you have me all to yourself, too.”

His lips twist into that sly grin right before they meet mine in a slow and sensual kiss.

After his fight with Sully, Carter’s temperament has been much calmer. Maybe it’s the cooling of the season, or the fact that a threat to his student career has been eliminated. Or that he’s falling in love, and everything else is just a distraction.

His eye still has a tinge of purple beneath it, and I swipe my thumb over the tender skin.

“I would fight to keep you,” he says.

This display of obsessive protectiveness should be worrisome, as it’s another indicator of his possible disorder. But I’ve come to realize the violence within him is perpetuated by his strong emotions, and this is how he conveys them.

“Who would you fight?” I ask, my voice teasing.

“Anyone. Everyone.” He kisses me again, and I try to douse the spark of suspicion that his statement has some basis.

“Has someone said something, Carter?” He looks away, and I reach up and draw his gaze back to me. “Tell me.”