G U I L T : a bloom in her chest, blossom stained with crimson & rotten with decay. ( DO NOT HURT BROOKE !) the truth sits on the girlish pink of her tongue, coating her mouth with a foul taste & the burn of often told lies. (tell her the truth ! but she’ll never forgive you ! ) ❛ of course i was worried, riley ————— i love you. we all do. ❜ the warmth in her friend’s gaze is enough to heat the chill on her skin, enough to bring the hints of a delicate simper to petal lips. ❛ but that’s not your fault. you were A T T A C K E D ————— you survived. you’re one of the final girls in lakewood : don’t feel guilty for that. ❜ the mention of piper cracks a porcelain exterior, breath stuttering & gaze dropping to the floor. ( PIPER IS DEAD ! I SHOT HER ! ————— yet the nightmares never cease. ) ❛ piper… piper tried to K I L L me. she’s not my sister. ❜
riley sighs quietly and glances down at the ground as emma’s words sink in. the urge to know why had plagued her for WEEKS, like an unrelenting illness that kept coming back no matter how hard you fought it. there were so many questions : why was she the one that was attacked ? why did she survive ? why didn’t she listen when she was advised NOT to text tyler back & told NOT to leave the police station under any circumstances ? there were so many questions & not enough answers. & if she was being honest, she KIND OF wished emma had left piper alive so she could get some ( answers, that is ).
❛ i guess,
❜ she replies uncertainly, DOUBT still slithering its way into her words. that’s what she was made of lately ————— doubt, guilt, anxiety, & anger. all of those emotions compressed into a body that science said already contained about 65 percent oxygen ( the irony is in the fact that riley barely felt like she could breathe these days )18.5 percent carbon, 9.5percent hydrogen, 3.2 percent nitrogen & a bunch of other elements that eventually added up to 100 percent.
all those elements, not to mention the four emotions she had to balance on top. she was a ticking time bomb & a final girl : there was no claiming one and not the other.
❛ alright, em. i guess. it’s just
————— it’s really hard for me not to feel that way when so many others didn’t make it.
i’ll work on it.
❜
almost as soon as the words leave her mouth, she regretted them. just because biology said they were sisters didn’t mean they were. they were two completely different people : emma wasn’t a murderer. piper was. even still, riley was a girl of science & science said that piper & emma were sisters. riley didn’t say it though. she just nodded.
❛ i’m sorry emma. i didn’t mean it like that. i mean, i did, but i didn’t ? anyway, what i’m trying to say is that i’m sorry !
❜
