Logan's reveal

‘Aria, love, you’ll be late for work. It’s already 8:30.’



‘…I already called in sick.’

‘Oh, are you not feeling very well?’

‘No…’



‘Oh dear. What do you need? Do you want to come upstairs, or stay in bed?’



‘Edward… Oh God, I’ve done something awful…’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I can’t…’



‘How about I tell Ellis to go on and set off without you? Then we can talk upstairs, once they’ve all gone to work and school.’

‘Okay.’




‘So, what happened?’

‘…Olivia’s dead.’



‘Dead? How?’

‘I did it! I killed her by accident!’

‘Whoa, whoa, what? When?’



‘Last night! I-I went to the karaoke bar but I saw her going into her place, she lives next door! Then I went in to talk to her a-a-and we got into an argument then I pushed her and she fell back and cracked her head!’

‘Hang on, slow down… You went to talk to her? Why?’

‘I still had all these questions about what happened in Bridgeport and I didn’t wanna ask you about it!’



‘Oh, no…’

‘I’m sorry! I was stupid! I just wanted to know for good why it all happened… and it went so wrong! I didn’t mean to do it!’

‘Dear God… what happened after that?’



‘I just left… God, I bet the police are gonna come knocking any minute!’

‘…Did anybody see you?’

‘N-No… as far as I know.’



‘Right… let’s hope that’s the case.’

‘You’re not going to shop me?’

‘Good God, no. That’s the last thing any of us want. After everything we've already been through, do you think I want to tear apart this family even more?’

‘But I’m a killer…’

‘If you’re telling the truth about it being an accident, then it’s manslaughter. Look… anybody else and I would have to report you. But Olivia is no innocent victim, is she?’



‘She said she arranged Tate and Sheri’s marriage as payment for the hit…’



‘…What the…? Jesus, I knew their wedding came quite soon after his death, but I hadn’t realised that was the case…’

‘Sheri never knew about any of it. They just shamelessly married her off to her father’s killer! Olivia had the nerve to claim it was better that she was oblivious!’

‘That’s appalling.’



‘We were right. She admitted she and Tate plotted it together all along, that Tate had already been a hitman for a while-’

‘Oh, fuck.’

‘Yeah… So they killed John for his money, and put Miles in a mental hospital against his will. It was all true!’

‘Just like we theorised…’

‘And I wondered how Miles got her to comply, when he got out, and she said he had demons on his side!’



‘Demons? Did I hear that right?’

‘Yeah! She seemed deadly serious, too! I don’t think she was making that part up. And that’s the only explanation that makes any sense!’

‘Well, it does if you accept that demons exist… But then, sometime ago I wouldn’t have accepted the existence of aliens either, so…’



‘Exactly… We know about aliens and vampires, so why is that too much of a stretch?’

‘You’re right, it’s not.’

‘I wish I’d never gone… I wanted the truth, but not like that! I never meant to kill her! I didn’t even think I’d hurt her!’



‘What were you thinking? You should have left it.’

‘I wasn’t thinking. I fucked up so bad…’

‘Oh, Aria… I pray nobody finds out it was you. No CCTV, or serious police investigation… I certainly won’t be the one to give you up, though. Christ. She deserved it.’



‘What do I do?’

‘We do nothing. Was there anyone else living there?’

‘I don’t know, but it didn’t seem like it. Nobody else was there at the time, anyway…’



‘With a bit of luck, nobody saw anything and it won't ever be linked back to you.’

‘I’m so sorry about this.’

‘Good. You should be. And for God’s sake, don’t tell Ellis. Don’t tell anyone, but especially not him. It wouldn’t be fair to put him in that position.’

‘Of course… I won’t.’




‘Believe me, you don’t have to convince me to vote against your dad. I’d never vote for his party anyway, whether it was him or anyone else.’



‘Definitely not, man.’

‘Me neither.’



‘Thanks. I just wish I could! I’m not eighteen until June.’



‘What’re his chances, realistically?’

‘They’re good. Polls seem to be going that way, anyway…’

‘Well, let’s hope the prick doesn’t get in.’



‘Yeah. It’s really the last thing we want…’



‘Hey, there’s something I wanna say. I’ve got something to tell you two.’

‘Okay?’

‘Alright… I’ve known you both a long time now, and I feel like I can trust you. I’m gonna get straight to the point. I’m not biologically male.’



‘You’re not?’



‘No. I guess you could say I was born a girl, but it’s not really the preferred term… Well, it’s not strictly accurate either, because I’ve always been a guy, just not in terms of sex… Sorry, I’m rambling. Does that make sense?’

‘He’s transgender. He’s transitioning to male, but it doesn’t change anything, alright? He’s still the same person you’ve always known.’



‘Wow! Sorry, I just never would’ve guessed…’

‘No, me neither… I never thought any different.’



‘Heath said you’d talked about puberty hitting me hard over the summer. Actually, I’d just started taking hormones, and it made a huge difference. See, I’d been on hormone-blocking medication before then to prevent puberty. I didn’t wanna have to start having periods, growing boobs and all that.’



‘Holy shit. I mean, no wonder…’

‘…It doesn’t bother either of you, does it?’

‘No!’



‘No, not at all! Were you worried we’d have a problem with it?’



‘I guess so. I mean, I knew you were open-minded, but a lot of people still don’t quite get it. I don’t expect everyone to get it 100% right, so I won’t be mad if you accidentally say something wrong, but I really want… acceptance, more than anything else.’



‘It doesn’t matter to me, Logan. I’m just glad you felt like you could trust us enough to tell us.’

‘Yeah, I do. I kinda wish I’d told you sooner, actually. It does feel a bit like I was lying to you…’



‘It’s not lying. People aren’t owed an explanation. It makes sense to wait for people to prove they can be trusted first.’



‘Heath’s right. I don’t feel like I’ve been lied to. It’s kind of a shock, but it doesn’t make any difference at all!’

‘Yeah, you’ve got nothing to worry about.’



‘Thanks, you guys… I really wanna be clear though: I don’t want anyone to see me as anything but a dude. Even if I don’t have the body of one, and maybe never will. I probably won’t ever get surgery. But I want you to treat me the same way you always have.’



‘Got it, Logan. So… how long have you been transitioning?’



‘Since I was eight. I’m really lucky, to be honest. I’d always known something wasn’t right, and any time my mum put me in a dress or got me girly things, I hated it. She figured I was just a tomboy, but it was more than that. And it kinda escalated from there. I told her I wanted to be a boy, but she didn’t take it that seriously at first. I don’t blame her for it; I was still really little, and she was doing her best. But then one day I cut most of my hair off. She took me to the doctor after that.’

‘Damn… so then what happened?’

‘We saw a specialist. They agreed that I should transition. So, I was fortunate enough to be able to go on the hormone blockers. Mum pulled me out of my old school and sent me to a new one for a fresh start, so none of them ever knew I’d been a girl. We lived a bit further out, so by the time I was ready for high school, nobody here at Sunset Valley High had ever known me either, except for Heath.’



‘Sounds like it was for the best.’

‘Yeah… much as I wanna be proud of who I am, I also don’t wanna risk getting shit over it. I like the way things are now.’



‘I’d never blame you for not wanting to be out at school, of all places.’



‘But hey, just because you’re not out to those people doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proud… Actually, I think it’s really admirable. Living the life you want to, being the person you wanna be.’



‘Thanks a lot, guys. That means a lot to me.’

‘See, I knew you had nothing to worry about.’