Page 21 of I Did Something Bad
I look up at him, but his gaze is trained forward, still resolute in its ignorance. “Not here,” is all he says.
Six
“And… done!” Moh Moh, the makeup artist, announces with a triumphant smile after rubbing the makeup sponge across Tyler’s cheekbones one final time.
Tyler, still in his chair and facing the mirror, flashes a smile. “Thanks, gang,” he says. And then, “Hey, do you guys mind stepping out? I need five minutes with Khin.” When they exchange repressed smirks, he inclines his chin at my reflection and adds, “Your editor still wants to talk to us today, right?”
Once Tyler tightens his smile at my dazed reflection, I understand. “Yes!” I check my watch. “In fact, Clarissa should be calling any minute.”
“Right,” he says, standing and turning to face everyone. “We’ll be out as soon as we’re done.” Addressing Tun, he adds, “Please make sure no one disturbs us,” and the kid nods with such determination that I’m surprised he doesn’t add a little salute.
When they’re gone, Tyler locks the door and joins me on the other end of the couch.
The panic attack that I’ve been staving off since my shower this morning punches me right in the face. “Tyler,” I say, voice already trembling. I willnotsurvive a police interrogation. “What are we going to do?”
“It’s going to be okay,” he says, so calmly that it almost hypnotizes me into believing him. “The fact that they’re interviewing everyone means that they don’t have any suspects.”
“But we can’t let someone else take the fall for this.”
He shakes his head. “Of course not. No one is going to take the fall for this. And no one is going to find out what happened.”
I hug my knees to my chest, fear tightening and twisting my nerves. “I killed a man. Oh my god, I really killed a man.Wekilled a man. But everyone knows I went home early. I was the only one who left.” My eyes start to widen, which is weird, considering my lungs are rapidly constricting. “I’m the only viable suspect.”
He slides closer to me and puts a hand on my elbow. “Even if that is true, as long as neither of us breaks, they don’t have anything concrete. But Khin.” His warm, soft fingers curl around my skin and, to my surprise, the gesture grounds me, preventing me from floating away completely. “You need to trust me, remember?”
I blink, really registering him for what feels like the first time today. “Trust you?” I echo, my body coiling tighter, so tight that it feels as if I’m going to snap clean in the middle.
He seems confused by my question, but nods nonetheless. “I’m not going to tell anyone. You have my word.”
I stare at him, sentences starting and finishing in my head.
“Khin?” Tyler tips his head, trying to get a better read on me.
The filter between my brain and mouth collapses. “We just met. Idon’t know anything about you. You don’t know anything about me. We’re strangers! We could betray each other at any second!” I close then open my mouth. When a sob leaps out, I shutter my face with my palms. “I don’t want to go to jail,” I whisper.
“Khin,” he says, and tries to interlace his fingers through mine, but immediately I startle backward. “Sorry,” he says, raising his hands.
I swallow. “What if they break one of us?”
“They won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because we’re in this together.” And, as though he knows that byWhat if they break one of us,I meant to say,What if they break you,he adds, “I have things on the line, too, remember?”
My heart is pounding so hard, I’m worried a blood vessel is going to pop somewhere. “But—”
“I won’t break. I promise. Youhaveto believe me, Khin.” His upper body straightens as he inhales. “The only way we’ll get through this is if we trust each other. Now I trust you completely. But I…” He pauses. “I need you to do the same with me, too.”
I study his face and body for the smallest tic, anything to indicate that he’s lying—but I get nothing. Either he’sverygood under pressure, or he’s telling the truth. Or he’s someone who acts for a living and is transferring those skills over to his private life; there’s also that possibility. After all, I just watched him lie to Yasmin. He’s had no trouble playing it cool as a small team of artists cocoons him and does his hair and makeup, whereas I still want to scream anytime someone so much as brushes their arm against mine. If it weren’t for my panic attack, he’d already be on set right now, shooting scenes and hanging out with May.
But I also know he’s right. As much as I detest leaving my fate in someone else’s hands, we won’t get through this unless I trust him,even if it’s only the minimum amount required. All I can do is trust himandbe wary of him—that’ll be fun,I think with a silent, rueful scoff.
To his surprise, in one swift and wordless motion, I stand up, walk toward the mirror, and brace myself on the vanity counter. My eyes are red-rimmed and my hair is a flat mess, although I do pat myself on the back for having the foresight to skip the mascara today. I undo my bun and shake out my hair. “He was going to rape me and then he was going to kill me. It was self-defense,” I say to my reflection.
Tyler nods. “Itwas.”
Straightening my posture, I start fixing my hair into a new neat bun. I’m scared and sleep-deprived and a little angry and, overall, exhausted, but I need to rally.Yesterday was the worst day of your life,I remind my reflection as I comb my fingers through my strands.You lived through the worst day of your life, and you’re still here.“We need a plan,” I say with newfound determination. “Starting with the pen. That pen is still out there, and I need to go back to that park and find it before they do.”
