Prologue
“I can’t believe it.”
I glance at the bawling girl as I move closer to the school. My eyes narrow as I see the police tape blocking the students from entering.
I look around, trying to decipher what I’m seeing. The bus just dropped me off, so I obviously missed something.
“What happened?” I ask the bawling girl.
I don’t know her name, nor do I care. She’s wearing a cheerleading outfit, telling me she’s part of a life I left far behind me.
“She’s dead. They found her with white powder under her nose and a baggie of drugs next to her.”
“Who? Do you know anything else?” I ask, trying to figure out what she’s talking about.
“Shannon Sinclair.” She sobs. “It had a spiral heart with seven-seven-seven on it.”
“What?”
The sudden sound of his voice excites me and frightens me at the same time. Turning, I take in his pinched expression.
The girl hiccups before answering him. “Shannon Sinclair. She was found in the locker room this morning before practice. Who would do this?”
The girl steps toward him to collapse into him, but he sidesteps as he pulls out his phone and leaves me standing there.
It’s not until the coroner comes out, pulling a gurney, that the reality sets in.
Someone in our school died.
My heart starts to race in my chest. The last time I saw a gurney was when I went to the hospital to see my parents’ dead bodies. I couldn’t even force myself to go check on my best friend, Winter. As soon as I heard she was fine, I just waited for her to come home.
The building pressure in my chest causes my mind to become foggy.
Death seems to follow me no matter where I go. When will it end?
I can feel my knees buckling as I struggle to take in a breath. I didn’t know Shannon, but her death has hit me as if I did.
I feel like I’m about to faint. Then a strong presence is behind me. The feel of heat from his body as his hand presses into my shoulder.
I look up at him, the carefree, cocky look he normally sports long gone.
He glances down at me with anger in his eyes.
What the fuck is going on?
-
One
“Thanks for comingto sit with me. He wouldn’t leave me otherwise. I’m getting sick of him and Nate hovering.”
Willow is still healing, but she looks much better. I knew she would make it. She’s resilient like that. It’s part of the reason I have always looked up to her. I would never tell her that, but long before we became friends, I wanted to be like her.
“I bet. They take overprotective to a new level,” I tell her, rolling my eyes.
“Of course they do. We never got to talk about what happened at the house. What the hell happened?”
I shrug. “You needed out, so I got you out.”
