Eva felt nauseous. There was a tingling feeling in her toes and fingers that reverberated along her limbs. She briefly wondered if this was what a nervous breakdown felt like but then she realised she been sitting so stiffly, her hands and feet had cramped up.
She flexed her fingers while Tyler swore under his breath for what felt like the hundredth time.
"You were right," She said, her voice a whisper that carried through the tense atmosphere in the car.
Tyler fell silent and turned to her. She ignored his penetrating stare, focusing on the dark road ahead.
He put his hand on hers and she flinched like he had just given her frostbite. He was angry, she could tell but it didn't stop her from slipping her hand out from under his. Tyler has been trying his luck for years and she wondered if he would ever get the picture that she was never going to be interested in him.
He was nothing like him, despite them being related. Tyler always tried too hard and fell too flat. She was certain he had scared off that Lola girl as well with his disturbing intensity and enthusiasm.
Everyone at school only saw the show Tyler put on for them but only the people who got to know him knew what he was really like. Still it burned her up that he had missed his chance with Lola, when the opportunity had presented itself at the party a few weeks ago.
"You should have dated her instead. Dragged her away from Julian and his mess," Eva muttered bitterly.
"She's too plain for me. Even being in the same room with her was a struggle." Tyler looked away, unable to face her after his failure.
Lola had been in his house. Tyler had the perfect opportunity to dig out information but instead he had revealed their biggest secret; that Tyler had a brother who had taught them in school.
Who was now conveniently off the radar. Anybody who really paid attention would be able to put two and two together; that Tyler's brother had gone missing after the exam leak. But everyone had been too occupied with the murders to bother about a substitute teacher's absence.
"Do you think Lola told Julian about your brother?" The answer was obvious, considering they now knew Lola was involved with Julian somehow but Eva didn't want to accept it. She'd locked away all memories of that incident and now everything was crawling back out to haunt her.
"She probably reported everything to him the moment she climbed through her window. She looks like the type," Tyler replied, his tone implying how annoyed he was with Lola.
This was not good. Lennox was supposed to disappear. He was supposed to vanish into thin air. It was what he had promised.
The thought of Lennox made Eva shiver with fear even though she remembered admiring him and confiding in him in the begining. She had been younger and more naive at the time, believing that his kindness was something genuine.
He was the only person who saw through her every insecurity and he had used her trust to fuel his own psychotic desires.
"Does he know?" Eva's voice cracked with vulnerability. "That Julian's back and the case has been reopened?"
"What do you think?" Tyler's bitter resentment for his brother always shone through with his words.
Lennox was better looking, smarter and more charming than Tyler ever would be. But he was also a psycho, something Tyler always seemed to overlook.
"Do you think he's coming back?" The very thought of seeing him again was enough to give her goosebumps.
"Don't you want him back to sort out this mess?" Tyler countered.
"You mean the mess he created in the first place? And the only way he will sort out this mess is through more violence. I don't see how that is going to help us," Eva shot back, feeling angry all of a sudden.
"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice. That group of people know too much now. And there's no need to glare at me. None of this would have happened if you hadn't opened your mouth that night at the motel party." Tyler's voice was low, almost a warning.
Eva wanted to argue. She wanted to say that she had never wanted him to go so far but instead she remained silent. There was no point fighting over the past. It already happened and now it was back in the form of Julian who had the help of Lola, Nalini and that other short girl.
Not to mention Damien and that nerdy guy with the thick dark glasses hiding his face half the time.
She didn't know how he had done it. But while he had been hiding, Julian had managed to gather an entire squad to help him out. A part of her filled with jealousy. She knew if she had been in his place, none of her friends would have helped her the same way.
They would all probably turn their backs on her the first chance they got. Eva was too intense for her friends. She knew they only tolerated her because of her status. The only person who really got her was Nalini but now it was certain Nalini had been helping Julian.
Which kind of made her the enemy but Eva could never bring it in herself to hate the girl, no matter how hard she tried. The very thought of Nalini made Eva feel an intense longing. She wanted to call her and hear her voice if only for a few seconds.
They fell into a bout of silence, neither one having the mood to talk after watching Julian climb into Lola's room earlier that night.
They reached Eva's house after a while and she was surprised to see a text message from her mother.
Waiting for you in your room. Bring him up.
Her fingers tightened around her phone like claws and the gnawing feeling grew in her stomach. She turned to Tyler abruptly, her face hot with anger.
"Have you been telling her everything?"
"She's the only one who can help us out, Eva. She was the only one who helped us before as well, remember?" Tyler said without remorse and then he pulled her phone out of her hand to read the message. "Come on, let's go in."
It was taking every fibre in her body not to kick Tyler out of her house as he followed her up the winding staircase to her room.
She saw her mother sitting inside in the dark. The waning moonlight cast dark shadows across the room and outlined her mother's silhouette making her look like a ghost.
Eva walked in and switched on one light. She then drew the curtains shut, feeling paranoid for some reason.
"So the girls been helping him. That is how he has managed to clear his name and reopen this investigation." Mrs Maximus was straight to the point, her piercing gaze fixed on Tyler instead of her daughter.
"It's not just her. There are four more of his classmates helping him," Tyler answered. He sat down on one of Eva's plush lounge chairs, making himself at home whilst Eva stood by the corner feeling like an outsider to this conversation.
"All my hard work gone down the drain," Mrs. Maximus sighed. "He was supposed to go that juvy and disappear there but that van just had to crash."
"What do you mean disappear?" Eva looked at her mother with wide eyes.
"Oh don't look so surprised, Eva. It was your mess I had to clear in the first place and that boy stood inline to inherit everything. I couldn't just let him come into our lives and ruin it." Mrs Maximus's said it dismissively like it was the most logical thing. "I will not let that happen."
"But don't you think that's too extreme. He was already going to jail, there's no need to mur-"
"But he didn't, did he? And now he's running around, trying to prove himself while the police look for the actual murderer." Her mother cast her a look, making her feel infinitely more guilty that she already did.
"But I didn't do it," Eva protested weakly.
"You might as well have," Her mother snapped, shutting her up. "Now, please come to your senses and be serious. We have to stop this before it gets out of hand."
"What do you suggest, Mrs Maximus?" Tyler whispered.
Eva's mother leaned on her elbow, looking deep in thought. "You're telling me that these five kids are the only ones helping Julian? Are they looking into the murders? I can't believe a bunch of kids have managed to create such problems for us."
"No one else seems to know and I'm not sure if they are investigating but Lola knows about my brother," Tyler answered in a small voice.
Mrs. Maximus sat up straight, looking annoyed and angry. "This won't do. They are getting closer and closer. We need to get rid of them."
"What?" Eva's voice raised a notch and she looked at the door instinctively. The house keepers would be sleeping by now and her father was out of state for business, but all this snooping around made her paranoid. "You can't just kill a group of students and get away with it."
"Do this group of people meet up regularly?" Eva's mother ignored her outburst, focusing her attention on Tyler.
"Yes, in Damien's house."
"Good. Accident's happen all the time. Fires, for an example. You know who to call. Get it done and I will handle the aftermath, as you know we are generous donors to the police quarters. Our contact will be compensated handsomely once again."
"Mom, you can't be serious," Eva said, looking horrified.
"This is serious, Eva. None of this would have happened if you had just stayed at home instead of sneaking into school and stealing those answers with those people. This is all your fault. Now stay put and let me clean up your mess." Eva's mother stood up and left her room without sparing her a second glance.
Eva sunk to the floor, her heart felt like it had been stabbed by her mother's parting words while her mind swirled with worries.
Nalini was a part of that group. The Nalini who lit up her entire day the moment she walked into school and now Lennox was going to be summoned by her very own mother to harm her.
Eva didn't know what to do. Her brain fragmented and she stared at Tyler hopelessly as he picked up his phone and called his brother.