Page 76 of Bound to a Killer

“We’ll be in contact with your mother,” said the thinner of the two, handing me a plastic bag, my phone buried inside.

The phone I left in the house that night.

My shoulders stiffened.

I tried to push down the doubt, to smother the anxiety crawling up my spine as I walked them to the door.

What if she answers and tells them something different? Tells them that I lied and was never with her?

Okay…ifshe answers.

She hasn’t even texted me back since she took off with my car, so odds are she’ll miss their call entirely. Just another voicemail rotting on her phone.

In the end, the Shaw case was closed. Ruled a suicide. Kelsey flew back to Florida soon after the news broke, off to live with her aunt.

The only mystery left…was me.

Where I’d disappeared to. Everyone wanted to know.

The police officers might’ve bought the story, eager to wrap things up and move on, but Clara would know better.

She knew all about my fractured relationship with my mom, even if we’d never talked at length about it. She also knew my grandmother died years ago.

Guilt knots in my stomach. I’d reappeared out of nowhere, expecting us to pick up where we left off, like nothing ever happened. I gave her nothing. No explanation. My lies wouldn’t have worked on her.

Even if Icouldtell her, where would I start? From the beginning?

I’d have to explain why Ledger was there in the first place. Which meant I also had to explain what was really behind Mrs. Shaw’s death.

I wouldn’t just lose Clara to my silence. I’d lose her to something even worse.

The truth.

She’d think less of me. I’m sure of it. Anybody would.

I spot her just a few feet away, leaning over Jayce’s locker, twirling the ends of her ponytail while he talks to her. She’d finally cut me off only to slide in with the same group she used to complain about. She never liked them. Any of them. And now she moves through their group like she’s always belonged.

My lungs burn as I hold my breath, watching them.

How long did it take for them to get this close?

She told me she was worried. Said I’d shut her out. That I’d kept too much from her. But if she was so worried, how’d she have time to cozy up with Jayce and the rest of them?

My mouth opens like I’m considering calling out to her, but the words don’t come out. They never do.

I used to hide in the bathroom to avoid moments like this. These days, I just stay put, trying to numb myself to the sting of being left behind.

Then, as if she senses me, her eyes flick away from him and land on mine. Her smile drops.

My mouth goes dry. Fingers twitch against the sketchpad clutched to my chest. The hallway noise dulls, and all I can hear is my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

And then…she looks away. Just like that.

Like we were never friends at all.

I thought time would dissolve the tension between us, that eventually we’d find our way back to how things were. But I was clinging to a delusion. Time doesn’t always heal all wounds. That much is becoming clear.

With trembling lips, I turn toward the bathroom, trying to convince myself that I don’t care. If she doesn’t want to speak to me again, then fine.