Chapter Thirty-Seven

Shawn

I knew something was wrong the minute I had the first sip of my drink, and it wasn’t because it tasted funny; it was because Jessica was the one who’d handed it to me. But she was friends with Alexa, not super close, but I figured if Alexa at least trusted her not to poison her, I should too, even though I wanted to rip her black hair from her head.

“Sorry about today.” Jessica tapped her cup to mine. “I just— He makes me crazy. It’s not you. It’s me. Trust me. I used to crush on him really hard, and it kind of sucks being led on for three straight years.”

Three. Years.

There it was again.

I tucked my hair behind my ear then took another sip while Alexa left me to dance with some guy in a baseball cap. “Three years?”

She smiled. “Yeah, three long years. He broke up with his girlfriend then she died in this tragic overdose that kind of shook the school. I mean, you don’t expect a girl like that to fall prey to drugs, but I guess it could just happen to anyone.”

“You mean she wasn’t a druggie?”

“Recreational user.” Jessica shrugged. “Like most college kids, her biggest drug was the fact that she had three of the hottest guys on campus panting after her, Knox especially. When that guy falls, he falls so hard he ignores everything around him. Important things.”

“Like you?” My eyes narrowed as the room started spinning.

“No, silly.” She rolled her eyes. “Like class. I think he almost failed his freshman year because of her.”

“Oh.” I grabbed her for support when a pretty brunette bumped into me from the side, causing the rest of my drink to fall to the ground.

“Sorry.” The girl winked.

“Bitch!” Jessica yelled and steadied me on my feet.

I had beer dripping down the blouse I’d borrowed from Alexa.

“Hey, you all right?”

I briefly saw two of her and slowly shook my head no. “I need… I think I need air or something. I don’t feel right. I don’t have my… phone…” Wait, what had happened to my phone? It wasn’t funny, but I wanted to laugh and cry all at once. And now my clothes were ruined and smelled like beer.

Jessica grabbed my hand. “I’ll take you upstairs. You can borrow a shirt before you search for Alexa to take you home.”

“Yeah…” I went with her and was suddenly thankful she was stronger than she looked as I leaned on her. The stairs felt taller than normal stairs, my body heavier. Was it the alcohol? I hadn’t eaten much that day, and I’d been practicing a lot. I frowned as my brain worked ten times slower than normal.

We walked down the long hall and into Jessica’s room. The lights were off and the moment she flicked them on and shut the door behind her, I felt like I was going to puke.

“Oh no, you don’t.” She shoved me toward the bed. “You puke, and the drugs go out of your system.”

“Drugs?” I slurred. “Why are you drugging me? Where’s Alexa? Knox!” I started screaming as tears ran down my face.

“Shut up, or I’ll make this painful rather than peaceful, bitch.” She grabbed something in a bottle then a needle.

My words weren’t coming out.

But my mind was moving, calculating.

The overdose.

Knox’s name on her phone.

Three. Years.

“You.” I stumbled back onto the bed, my body barely moving. Each limb felt too heavy as I tried to get away from her choking presence. “You drugged… her.”

Jessica’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow, even the police didn’t catch that one. Then again, that’s the danger in drugs, isn’t it? It makes all good girls go bad, and it’s so common, you know. Overdoses on college campuses…”

I gagged.

Then tried to put my finger in my mouth. I retched a bit before she could reach me then kicked her in the ribs as hard as I could while I tried to puke more.

“Nice try,” she laughed. “It’s already in your system. It takes a good solid seven minutes. That’s what our story time was about downstairs, you know, though I was a bit worried that you didn’t get enough since your drink spilled.”

“No.” I was so scared I started shaking. This was not how things were supposed to end. I was supposed to have a fresh start. Find someone that saw me, not my skin; find someone who loved me for me. I was supposed to have a life. To graduate.

I saw Knox in that future.

His smile.

I saw my friends Leo, Finn, and Slater.

I saw that stupid bright unicorn.

“You k-killed her.” My voice was laced with so much fear that the words came out shaky.

“Hey, she was depressed. All I did was hand her the packed needle. She’s the one who shot herself up. I just gave her a little bit too much. How was I supposed to know she’d stop breathing?”

“You’ll go to prison.” I tried kicking at her again, but my feet were basically lead at that point, my legs weighted with sand as she filled the needle with a substance I didn’t want to acknowledge.

As a metallic taste filled my mouth.

As the sound of death rang in my ears, and people all around the house partied like I wasn’t fighting for my life.

“Help!” I screeched with the last of my energy. “Help!”

“They didn’t hear her. What makes you think they’re going to hear you?” Jessica sneered before grabbing a tourniquet and wrapping it around my left arm.