Page 33 of The Layover
I open my mouth to say something – about his plan, this little speech he’s going to give, if he’ll give his parents a heads-up.
But instead what comes out is a soft, ‘What makes you think that’s going to change anything?’
‘Huh?’
‘Marcus. If she doesn’t marry him. If the wedding doesn’t go ahead.’ I lift my gaze to his. Leon’s eyes are the same colour as his sister’s. They’re warmer, though. More … human. ‘What makes you think she’s going to be the person you all want her to be? What happens if she’s not? If it’s not him? What if she’s still that bitch, and the only difference is that you’re all finally starting to realise it?’
Leon regards me for a long moment, letting my words sink in, turning them over in his mind to make sense of them. My heart is racing under his steady scrutiny, and there’s an acrid taste in my mouth. Did I just say that? Am I really doing this? No, of course I’m not, I’m Kayleigh’s best friend, why would I be sat here saying any of these things, even suggesting it?
ButI am.
The complete and absolute conviction Leon has that the reason his sister is acting out is because ofMarcus, and not because she’s just that person at her core … The fact he’s willing to lose any chance of a relationship with his sister to fight for her, the fact he’s planning to break up the wedding at the last second to ‘save’ her …
She doesn’t need saving.
She doesn’t deserve anybody fighting for her.
She’s a liar, a master manipulator, every bit the self-serving and self-centred, stuck-up, nasty piece of work her whole family think Marcus is.
If Fran can sit there and say that Kayleigh deserves to know if her fiancé has feelings for someone else, aren’t I entitled to say Kayleigh’s family deserve to know if they’re chasing a ghost?
And Leon – poor, lovely Leon who’s just trying to do the right thing for his family – is staring at me as if he can’t fathom a world in which his sisteristhat bitch.
‘What makes you think,’ I say, and I can barely hear my own voice over the roaring in my ears, ‘that if he’s not on the scene, she’ll come home to visit more, and be nicer to everyone, and stop acting entitled and too good for you all? Do you think she’ll stop getting rid of the birthday presents you all give her, stop whinging about having to come visit when she’d literally rather be doing anything else, stoplyingand making up excuses so she doesn’t have to waste her time on you all, unless it suits her?She’s been taking you all for granted since long before Marcus was around. You just didn’t want to see it.’
‘That’s not—’
But the floodgates have opened, and I can’t stop.
Half a lifetime of resentment, of feeling less-than, of getting knocked down every time I think I can stand on my own two feet, of that horrible, bitter, black hole in my chest … That fucking phone call before the flight out, letting me know she’d stolen the promotionIworked for, the one that wouldn’t even exist if not for me, just one more thing she’s taken from me and expected me to turn the other cheek over … It all comes pouring out, to the last people on earth I should be telling.
I don’t know who I’d be without Kayleigh. I don’t know hownotto be her best friend.
But I hate her. I hate her.
And I can’t – stop –talking.
Chapter Seventeen
Leon
‘No,’ Gemma snaps at me with a sudden vehemence, her eyes blazing, jaw set. ‘It’s true. Just because you’re all in denial, doesn’t mean it’s not true. I’m telling you, the Kayleigh you all think you know and love – she’s not real. She’s good atseeminggood, and she’s good at presenting a bit of a front when it suits her. Like how it suited her to be this precious, darling, golden child who had parents that doted on her and thought the world of her. It was neverherfault if she got in a bit of trouble at school, then, was it? It was neverherfault if a party got a bit out of hand and she was home late. She’d have been helping tidy up, or looking after somebody – right? I can tell you for a fact that’s a lie. She’s aliar, and she always has been.’
I scoff. ‘Please, every kid tells a couple of little white lies to avoid getting into trouble with their parents. That doesn’t mean anything.’
But the words sound hollow, and it’s like they’re coming from somebody else.
My brain feels fuzzy, foggy, and Gemma’s words are a harsh static tearing through it. I hear what she’s saying, but none of the words connect, I can’t process them enough to make sense of it.
The only coherent thought I have is,Why is she saying this? Why does she look so upset?
I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever known Gemma to be upset. And most of those were when we were at school, when she was just a kid. She’s always so in control.
She’s Kayleigh’s best friend. They’ve been thick as thieves since they first met at twelve years old, and that’s never changed. They’ve lived together, worked together. Their lives are so entwined that you couldn’t separate them if you tried. Isn’t Gemma supposed to go to bat for her, defend her, stand up for her?
Why is she tearing Kay apart now?
Gemma is barrelling on, though. Her voice shakes, but the look in her eyes is unyielding. I can’t look away.
