“Have any of the cheerleaders said anything at all?”
“No, they don’t talk to me. They’ve never really talked to me,” I replied, taking a seat at the desk.
“We just need answers,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “It’s been four days and the detectives won’t tell us anything. Nothing makes any sense. What’s the point of being friends with the Chief of Police if you can’t get answers when you need them?!”
Her voice pierced my eardrum and heightened my anxiety. “I know,” I murmured, swiping at the tears that formed in the corners of my eyes. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“She’s been swimming since she was five years old. She was a lifeguard, for God’s sake! She wouldn’t have drowned in a lake!”
“I know.”
“We just need answers,” Mrs. Yates murmured weepily. “It doesn’t add up. What they are saying doesn’t make any sense and I know someone knows something. This doesn’t just happen without anyone knowing anything. The cheerleaders, the fraternity boys, a neighbor…someone knows something about my daughter. They have to! They’re just not saying anything. But someone knows something.”
I didn’t respond, but as I wiped the tears from my cheeks, I silently agreed. It didn’t make any sense. Someone knew more than they were letting on.
“Tom just got home, but when you see the other cheerleaders, please ask them. And if you see the boys in the fraternity, maybe one of them will tell a pretty girl like you something they didn’t tell the police.” She paused, sniffling. “It just doesn’t add up. She wouldn’t have been out there swimming by herself in the middle of the night. Especially in that dress. It cost a fortune and she loved it. It’s difficult to clean white tulle and she wouldn’t have jumped in a dirty lake! I know they know something! Tom and I can pressure Chief Vick on our end. But…but please see what you can find out on your end.”
“I will,” I whispered.
“Thank you, Brooklyn.” Mrs. Yates took a deep breath before continuing, “I know you two went your separate ways when she got heavily involved with the cheerleading squad, but she loved you. When you moved in the house with her, she told me so.”
“I loved her, too.”
She sighed. “If only she would’ve left with you that night.”
Another wave of sadness hit me.
“Talk to you soon, darling,” she concluded, hanging up before I managed to open my mouth.
My heart was thudding in my chest. I dropped my phone on the desk and I sat back in the chair.
I didn’t tell the police that I’d heard a scream. I didn’t tell anyone—well anyone except Jay. I was contacted by Detective Lynch again and I answered all of her questions. I retold the officers what I knew about the prank, what I knew about the PROs, what I knew about the cheerleaders, why I left the party and when I left the party, but I couldn’t bring myself to bring up the scream. Besides the fact that it didn’t really sound like Carter, the idea that it could’ve been Carter and I ran away killed me.
I was inconsolable on Sunday. On Monday, Jay held me in bed as we wallowed in the depths of sadness. We left the apartment to get my car on the way to the police station on Tuesday. By Wednesday night, I was sullen and angry—angry at Carter, angry at the cheerleading squad, angry at the PROs, angry at that stupid prank, angry at the world, but mostly, angry at myself.
What if I could’ve saved her? What if the scream I heard was actually Carter crying out for help?
Those were the thoughts that hurt most.
For four days, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d heard her die. I couldn’t help but think the last sound Carter made was the catalyst for me to run into the woods. I couldn’t even bring myself to read the details surrounding her death. Each time I tried, I just heard the scream.
I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in ninety-six hours.
Logging into my laptop, I pulled up the schoolwork I’d been brushing off for the last few days. I hadn’t gone to class, but I knew what was due for the week. And even though I was dreading it at first, it was good to get lost in something that wasn’t the shitstorm that was my life. Hours passed by and then I heard the door open.
“Brooklyn?” Jay called out.
“I’m in here,” I yelled staring at the mostly blank page of my last assignment. I glanced up when he appeared in the doorway. “I’ve been doing homework all afternoon.” He didn’t say anything, so I looked back up at him. “Everything okay?”
He looked so serious as he folded his arms across his chest. “Uh…” His lips formed a tight line. “Do you have a minute?”
I stared at him for a few seconds. Worry filled the pit of my stomach. “Yeah…”
“I’ve been wanting to tell you about something I saw yesterday.” He stopped speaking and he frowned. He seemed to be thinking about his next words, but the silence became more daunting.
“What?”
“There was an email that went out to everyone on campus,” he started slowly.
I exhaled, understanding immediately why he was reluctant. “About Carter?”
“You opened it already?”
I nodded. “I can’t believe someone would take a picture of her like that.”
“Yeah, that was fucked up.” Holding my gaze, he moved into the room. “But did you read the whole thing? The part about the dance team convert?”
I sat back in the chair. “Yeah,” I said quietly.
“That means one of the cheerleaders put that out there.”
“Or one of them wrote it.”
His jaw clenched. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know.”
“If they are already putting bullshit out here that makes you look like you had something to do with it, what else are they saying? Who else are they telling that story to?”
“I’ve been trying not to think about that.”
“You have practice tonight?”
“No. Coach cancelled practice this week. She said since the next two games are away games, this would be a time of bereavement.” I bit down on my bottom lip. “She said we’d have a meeting soon.”
“Have you told her what happened?”
I shook my head. “I’m going to try to see her tomorrow after class.”
Jay sighed. “Okay, cool. We can’t just sit back and wait for your boy to verify your story.”
“I know,” I agreed softly.
Jay assessed me, a gravely serious look on his face. “We have to do something now. This is serious.”
“I have my creative writing class tomorrow. I’m going to see if Aiden talked to the police yet and then I’m going to meet with Coach Ainsley.”
“Okay.” With a forced smile, he left the room.
Ordinarily I would’ve called him out on his fake smile and his worried expression, but I didn’t bother. He was probably just mimicking the look that was on my face.
With a deep breath, I stared at the blank page. I had to write a character sketch that used the seven characterization techniques of fiction. I didn’t know what story I wanted to tell so I didn’t have a character in mind. I wanted to write something different than I’d presented before. But with everything going on, I felt creatively stuck.
“Are you hungry?” Jay asked an hour later.
“Yeah, a little. I wanted to finish this before giving myself a break though,” I responded distractedly.
“What are you working on? A story?”
I stared at the screen where I had written and deleted five different ideas that felt inauthentic. “A story about a whole lot of nothing,” I grumbled.
“Well I’m going to eat that leftover pizza. You write your story.”
My eyes jerked up to him. “What did you say?”
His eyebrows crumbled in confusion. “I’m getting pizza. You write your story.”
An idea started formulating in my head. “My story,” I said slowly. “My story.”
/> He looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Okay…” He made a yikes face and left the room.
I spent the next ninety minutes doing a thorough character sketch and story outline. I used myself as the inspiration for the character. Fueled by a lack of sleep and anger, I outlined a story about a woman was set up for a crime she didn’t commit. When I completed my work, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
I padded my way to the kitchen to make a sandwich and found Jay sleeping on the couch. He had long legs and his feet dangled over the edge. I was as quiet as possible as I made and then ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“James Williams,” I sang softly as I shook him awake.
His response was groggy. “Hm?”
“Get in the bed.”
He didn’t move.
I shrugged and went to prepare for bed myself. After a shower and brushing my teeth, I changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top. I hadn’t slept on the futon since I’d moved in because of the physical and emotional pain. But since my body was almost healed, I figured I should start.
“What are you doing?” Jay’s voice cut through the silence like a knife.
I yelped. “Why do you keep sneaking up on me?”
“I’m not.” He rubbed his eyes. “I just got up. You need your ears checked. What are you doing?”
I gestured to where I’d struggled to get the futon to fully extend. “Getting ready for bed.”
He shook his head. “Just get in the bed. If you want a chance at a good night’s sleep, you’re not going to get it on that thing.”
He was right about that.
“I don’t want to overstay my welcome and cramp your style…” I was already moving in his direction.
“Too late. Now get your ass in the bed.”
Smiling, I followed him down the hall.
…
Chapter Six
I crossed my jean clad legs and adjusted my black V-neck top as I sat in my usual seat near the window. Drumming my fingers nervously against my notebook, I glanced up at the door every time someone walked in the room.
“Okay class we’re going to go ahead and get started,” Professor White began, cueing up a video. “We’re going to watch this clip. Pay close attention to everything, but particularly the heroine’s characterization.”
As the video started, I started taking notes on the woman knocking things off the desk and kicking chairs over. I was so caught up in scribbling my analysis of her character that I didn’t notice Aiden until he was halfway across the room. My stomach knotted.
“Hey,” he greeted me as he took the seat next to me.
“Hey,” I whispered back.
The clip ended and the class launched in a group discussion after a short lecture. I kept watching Aiden from the corner of my eye, but there weren’t any chances for me to really talk to him. Usually we workshopped our writing and worked in teams or groups, so the fact that we hadn’t had that opportunity yet was stressing me out.
“Everything you just did as a class is what you’re going to do in pairs. Please pull out your character sketches,” Professor White announced. “You’re going to partner up with the person next to you and take turns doing a full analysis of each other’s character sketches. Go through the entire assignment. If we run out of time after the first person’s assessment, we will pick this back up first thing next week, so the other person also receives feedback.”
Finally.
I turned my body slightly, so I was facing Aiden. I opened my mouth to ask him if he talked to the police, but he started before I could.
“I like your hair like that,” he stated, eyeing the high puff ponytail that sat atop my head. “Looks dope.”
My lips curled into a slow smile at the compliment. “Thank you.”
“It’s like a crown.” His eyes shifted back to mine. “Which is fitting.” He licked his lips and then shifted toward me “Can we talk for a minute?”
I nodded, noticing his cologne. I inhaled deeply. He smelled expensive. “Yeah.”
“I just have to get something off my chest before we get started.”
Uncrossing my legs, I scooted my chair closer to his. My knee bumped his and I ignored the thrill it gave me. “Okay…?”
His elbows rested on his thighs as he leaned into my personal space. “I’ve been thinking about you,” he whispered, the back of his hand grazing my knee. “The way you smile when you like what you’re hearing. The way your face lights up when you’re happy. And the way your skin looks like copper when the sun is setting is one of my favorite things to see.”
My stomach fluttered. I didn’t see that coming.
“Spending time with you this weekend made me realize that I didn’t just want to see you on Wednesdays and Fridays in class,” he continued. “And when you didn’t show up to class on Wednesday, I knew I couldn’t just play it cool. So here I am… asking for your number.”
I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling too hard. “Sure,” I replied before rattling off the number for him.
He pulled out his phone and quickly typed it in. My phone vibrated in my bag a few seconds later.
“And now you have mine,” he returned.
I grabbed my phone out of my bag and saved his contact. “And just so you know, I thought about you a few times too. Between the conversation and the kiss, I was quite pleased. That was one hell of a kiss.”
His tongue ran from one corner of his delicious mouth to the other. “Yes, it was. And being this close to you now is making it hard to not kiss you again.” He sat back, putting some space between us. “I would love to take you on a proper date.”
Oh. My. God.
“I would like that,” I replied, not letting it be known that I was internally freaking out.
“Are you free for dinner this weekend?”
“I have makeup work that I have to do this weekend.” I blinked rapidly as I remembered what I needed to ask him and the heaviness of what I was dealing with. I got so lost in his eyes and his compliments that I’d completely forgotten everything else for a minute. “And I’m trying to lay low.”
“Oh!” His eyebrows shot up as if he just remembered too. “Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry.” His body language changed immediately, and he awkwardly grabbed his papers and shuffled them. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry. The one who… that was the one you were telling me about right? Your ex-best friend?”
I studied his profile. “Yes. She was—that was her.”
When his eyes met mine again, they were full of sympathy. “You’re not like them at all so I forgot you were a cheer—I forgot you were on the team. I apologize for—”
I shook my head. “It’s okay. I accept your apology,” I interrupted. I tried to give him a little smile. “For a few minutes everything felt normal in my life again so that was nice.”
His lips lifted in an attempt at a smile, but the rest of his face didn’t look convinced. “We should probably get started on the assignment.”
“Well, before we jump into that, I have a question. Have you talked to the police yet?”
“No. And I hope to God I don’t have to.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “I thought they were questioning all the PROs.”
“They’ve been questioning everyone that lives at the house. I don’t live there. If they come to me, I’m just going to defer to my lawyer anyway.”
“Defer to your lawyer?” My head tilted questioningly. “Why?”
“Because I can’t be associated with any of that. I have too many things lined up after graduation. If my name gets tossed in there, the whole thing will blow up.”
I thought about how the officer reacted when I gave them my whereabouts.
“I get your concern, but the police already know you were there,” I informed him. “The sooner you can talk to them, the better. They were asking me about my whereabouts, and you are the only person I was with for the last hour of the party. They said they were going to v
erify that with you.”
“Brooklyn…” He shook his head slowly. “As soon as my name gets in it, the tabloids will twist it and make it look like it was my party.”
“I don’t think it’ll be like that. If you tell them the truth, it’ll be clear that you and I weren’t involved with any of the other stuff going on. We weren’t drinking. We weren’t doing drugs. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
He stared at me. Remorse saddened his features. “If I have to give a statement, of course I’ll let them know where we were.”
My mouth opened slightly. IF he has to give a statement? IF? Really?
I leaned closer to him. “Dakota and some other cheerleaders are telling people that I’m responsible for the fire and whatever else happened at the house that night. I didn’t do anything, but they are already spreading that around.”
“Yeah, I told the guys you were downstairs with me so you couldn’t have taken any of their stuff or started any of the fires,” he assured me. “I came back down to the basement to prove to them you were with me, but you were gone.” He paused for a moment. “Where did you go?”
I made a face. “When I heard one of your boys say something about shoving dicks in our mouths, I didn’t feel safe anymore,” I snapped in frustration. Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a shaky breath. “Aiden, you are literally the only person who can prove I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
“My parents worked too hard for me to be splashed on the front page of some tabloid over some bullshit I didn’t have anything to do with. But let me talk to my lawyer. He may be able to figure something out.” He touched my arm. “It’s going to be okay.”
I looked at him. His beautiful face completely oblivious to what was going on. He was so focused on the blowback on him and his family that he wasn’t recognizing how serious this situation was getting for me.
“That’s easy for you to say,” I objected softly, tears stinging my throat. “I didn’t have a lawyer on retainer to speak for me, so I told the police the truth. They already know I was there. They know my phone was in Carter’s possession. They know I ran home because the cheerleaders left me. So that’s a chunk of time I was alone. If for most of the time I was there, I was with you and you don’t want to be involved with it, where does that leave me? Because the cheerleaders are saying that I somehow planned to burn stuff, steal stuff, and sink a boat. That means it’s my word against theirs.”
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