Sweet Deadly Lies (A Dark Academia Mystery) Watty Winner ✔️

Thirteen

"Bloody hell—don't tell me you've got a thing for Stone Carter, too!"

Iris flings herself across the bed like the tragic heroine of a Shakespearean play. Her hair is gathered in a ponytail on top of her head, the ringlets spilling over the band like coils of shiny black silk. She's in her flannel pajamas and elephant slippers, and has a clay mask smeared across her face. It reminds me of day-old avocado.

"What do you mean by too?"

"Every girl on campus has crushed on him at one point or another—with the exception of yours truly." Iris grins and dramatically bats her lashes.

I roll my eyes. "Well, I've never even seen him, so to answer your question—no. But Xander said he and Ava went out a couple of years ago."

The mask puckers between her brows. "Interesting. I didn't peg your sister as someone who'd fall for gormless knobs."

"Gormless what?"

"Knobs," she replies with a laugh. "Believe me, it's not good."

I snuggle into my pillow and tuck the blanket under my chin. "Anyway. When I questioned their relationship, Xander said she eventually realized he wasn't worth the trouble. What do you suppose that means?"

Iris flips onto her stomach and crosses her ankles, the trunks of her elephant slippers flopping around like dislocated limbs. "Stone is a huge flirt. Scratch that—he's the Eros of Maliseet Bay."

"Eros?"

She nods. "You know, the Greek god of lust and sex."

"I know who Eros is. I'm just surprised. Back home, Ava couldn't stand guys like that. I remember when she went to a party in seventh grade, she refused to kiss Brandon Jeffries during a game of Spin the Bottle because he was on his fourth round. She said she didn't know where all his lips had been."

Iris arches her brows. "I guess her hormones finally caught up with her. It happens to the best of us."

"I suppose."

She eyes me carefully. "Stone isn't on the suspect list, is he? If they dated—what, their sophomore year?—that was ages ago."

"Everyone's on the list until I can prove they're innocent."

"You know, in most legal systems it's believed that someone is innocent until proven guilty."

I prop myself up on my elbow, and the blanket falls away. "Yeah, well most legal systems are flawed."

Iris shrugs and, for once, doesn't argue. "So. What was up with Drew?"

"What do you mean?"

Her eyes brighten like they're holding onto a juicy secret. "Don't tell me you didn't notice! Or maybe you didn't. You were too busy staring at Xander."

"I was not staring," I say, a defensive edge cutting into my tone. "We were talking. Of course I was looking at him."

"Well, then. You missed quite the show."

"There was a show?"

"From where I was sitting, yes." Iris curls a fallen lock of hair from her ponytail around her finger. "You only had eyes for Xander, and Drew only had eyes for you. And he was sitting with Kate Baxter, no less—his girlfriend since forever. And he did not look happy."

"Oh." That's right. I did catch Drew watching me. And Iris is right; he didn't look amused. "I don't think he likes Xander. Any idea why?"

Her lips pull down at the corners. "Nope. But come to think of it, I never see them talking. And they're in Latin club together, so it's not like they don't know each other."