He Deserved It

CHAPTER 31 – Tipping Point

Lia hadn’t even wanted to come to the block party. But her mom had practically shoved a Santa hat onto her head, mumbling about “holiday cheer,” so here she was—half-freezing under strings of white lights, hugging a paper cup of cocoa like it was a life preserver.

The whole street smelled like cinnamon, grilled corn, and plastic from all the inflatable decorations posted between stalls. Kids wove through the crowd, waving neon snowflake wands. A brass band tried and failed to stay in tune on “Feliz Navidad.”

Lia was contemplating escape when she spotted Savannah.

Pale coat buttoned to her chin. Perfect hair tucked into a white beret. Smiling politely at someone’s mom near the pan dulce table—but scanning the crowd like she was waiting for an ambush.

Lia’s stomach flipped. For half a second, she wanted to pretend she hadn’t seen her. But then Savannah looked up. Their eyes locked, and suddenly there was no pretending left.

So Lia sucked in a breath and walked over.

“Hi,” Lia mumbled.

“Hey,” Savannah replied softly.

Before either of them could say anything else, Mila stormed up from the churro stand, hoodie splattered with paint, glaring at the blinking lights like they’d personally offended her.

“Hey,” Mila said. “We need to talk.”

Silence fell like a curtain dropping.

Savannah pulled her coat tighter. “We’re talking right now, aren’t we?”

Mila rolled her eyes. “This isn’t talking. This is pretending everything’s fine.”

“Typical. Leave me out of whatever you guys are planning. What are you all hiding?” Imani’s voice cut in as she slipped through the crowd, navy puffer jacket zipped high, clutching a foil tray of brownies like a shield.

“What we’re hiding?” Mila shot back. “Maybe we should ask you the same question, Imani.”

Imani slammed the foil tray onto a folding table with a metallic clang that turned heads.

“Can we not do this here?” Savannah hissed.

“Where then?” Mila snapped. “The cops have been posted outside my house for days. Maybe they should be talking to you instead of me.”

Savannah spun on her. “Why? You’re the one with Jordan’s name written on your damn walls.”

Mila’s eyes flashed. “At least I’m not hiding behind my perfect princess act!”

Before Savannah could reply, a new voice cut through the cold:

“Oh my God. Imani West?!”

They all turned as a girl in a red puffer jacket bounded over, cheeks pink from the cold. Her hair was shorter now, a sleek bob, but something about her grin was instantly familiar.

Imani blinked. “Vanessa?”

Vanessa beamed. “Oh my God. It is you! I thought I saw you by the Santa booth. Wow, I haven’t seen you since graduation. Remember Mrs. Moreno’s chem class? And the time you—”

Imani’s voice turned tight. “Hey, Vanessa. Kind of not a great time—”

But Vanessa barreled on. “Wait. Are these your friends? Because Imani and Jordan used to hang out all the time senior year. Until, you know—”

“Vanessa,” Imani hissed.

Vanessa blinked. “Sorry! Just… you know, until that whole thing with your cousin and the video. And that money you loaned him? Like five hundred bucks? I still can’t believe he ghosted you after what happened. I’d be so mad. Like, I’d want him—”

Imani’s face went pale. “Vanessa. Seriously. Stop.”

Vanessa clamped her mouth shut, eyes going wide. “Okay. Wow. Sorry. I’ll… uh, get some churros.”

She scurried off, leaving silence and the sharp scent of cinnamon lingering in the cold air.

Lia felt like the sidewalk had dropped out from under her.

Mila was the first to speak, voice dangerously soft. “What video?”

Imani shook her head, hair brushing her cheeks. “It’s nothing.”

Savannah crossed her arms, eyes like broken glass. “Kind of doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“It’s private, okay?” Imani snapped.

Mila stepped closer, voice low and jagged. “So private that Jordan could blackmail you over it?”

Imani’s jaw clenched. “f**k you. I’m not the only one keeping secrets.”

Savannah’s voice went cold. “So what, Imani? Did you finally decide to shut him up?”

Imani scoffed, voice shaking. “Oh, please. Like you didn’t have plenty of reasons to want him gone.”

Savannah’s jaw twitched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’d do anything to keep your perfect image,” Imani fired back. “You don’t give a damn about the rest of us if it makes Mommy and Daddy look bad.”

Savannah opened her mouth, then closed it, her eyes wet and furious.

Mila’s voice cracked through the silence like breaking glass. “You’re all acting like murderers.”

Imani shot back, “Please. You’re the one who can’t keep her rage under control. You’d go nuclear if someone crossed you.”

“Oh, I’d go nuclear?” Mila’s voice was shaking now. “I covered up a message under the overpass that was threatening you, Imani. Written huge for the whole town to see. And I didn’t tell anyone because I thought I was protecting all of us.”

Imani blinked. “What message?”

Mila’s voice cracked. “ASK IMANI WHO SHE’S PROTECTING. That’s what it said. Right there in giant letters. You think I wanted to be part of this s**t? Someone dragged your name into it. And I’m not the one keeping secrets.”

Savannah stared at Imani, pale. “Imani… what the hell is she talking about?”

Imani swallowed hard. “So I’m a murderer because some random asshole spray-painted my name?”

“I don’t know, Imani. Are you a murderer?”

Imani’s voice wavered. “f**k you, Mila. You don’t know anything about me. Besides, how do we even know you weren’t the one who put that message up there just so you could ‘find’ it later?”

Mila recoiled. “You think I’d do that?”

The silence that followed was deafening. Lia felt her pulse banging in her temples.

Mila threw up her hands. “I didn’t do anything!”

Savannah’s voice was low, deadly. “You’d lie if you did.”

Mila lunged forward like she might actually hit her.

Lia scrambled between them, cocoa sloshing over her fingers.

“STOP. All of you.”

The girls froze, breath steaming in the cold air. Christmas lights blinked red and green above them, bright as sirens.

Nearby, a kid dropped a candy cane and wailed. The brass band shifted into “Silent Night,” but it felt almost cruel.

Lia’s voice broke. “We can’t talk about this here. People are staring.”

Mila jerked back, eyes shining. Savannah swiped at her face and turned away. Imani pressed her lips together like she was trying not to scream.

One by one, they drifted into the crowd, swallowed by laughter and music and neon snowflakes.

Lia stayed frozen where she stood, cocoa cooling in her cup.

She stared after them until the swirl of people blurred into moving lights.

Sometimes it wasn’t the secrets that killed you. It was how alone they made you feel.