Page 147 of Inbetweeners
Phoenix shook his head. “Don’t wish that. You’re perfect.”
He wasn’t. But it was a nice thing to hear.
“What were you writing?” Phoenix asked.
“Letters to people the inbetweeners wanted to contact.”
“Anonymously.”
“I put your name at the end.”
“Funny. What are the fortune cookies for?”
“I just thought they might be fun.” He ripped open the packet, took one out and broke it open. When he read it, he laughed.
“What does it say?”
“Give someone a computer with a slow internet to see just who they really are.” Emmett nodded. “That’s true.” He broke open another one. “No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels it was his fault.Cheerful.”
Emmett pushed the bag towards Phoenix. “You have a go.”
“Enjoy yourself while you can.” Phoenix chuckled. He broke open another. “Don’t ignore what’s in front of you.Okay.”
Emmett broke another. “All it says isAsk him.Hmm. Where’s my chocolate?”
“The answer is in the next cookie.” Phoenix broke it apart and paled.
“What does it say?”
“It’s not over.”
“We know it’s not.”
“Yeah, but that was a bit—”
Phoenix was interrupted by a loud thud, then a crash of pans. They sprang to their feet and Phoenix shoved Emmett behind him.
Mo, the inbetweener who’d disappeared, stumbled into the kitchen and Emmett frowned. Mo could have walked through the door and the pans without making a sound. Something wasn’t right here. Emmett grabbed a knife from the block and turned, holding it behind his back.
“I made a mistake,” Mo said. “I should have moved on. Will you help me?”
“It’s a trap,” Emmett called out, but Phoenix had already stepped towards Mo.
Before they knew it, Greyson had forced his way into the kitchen, ramming a knife into Phoenix’s chest. But Emmett was the one who cried out as Phoenix staggered back. Greyson stabbed him again and again, and as Phoenix went down Emmett rushed Greyson and drove his knife down into the man’s back.
“Fucking bastard! Die, you fucker!” Emmett stabbed him again and when he didn’t fall, he kept stabbing him and stabbing him until Greyson did go down.
When he sat in a sea of Greyson’s blood and he was sure Greyson wasn’t going to move, Emmett slid to Phoenix’s side.
“Wake up,” he whispered.
Phoenix didn’t move.
“I’m sorry.” Mo was curled up on the floor, hugging his knees. “He found me. He made me go with him. I don’t want to stay here.”
There was a tight pulsing knot of anger in Emmett’s chest. He struggled to pull himself together. “Just go then.”
“You asked the others if they wanted to send messages. Will you do that for me?”
