A String of Secrets

Chapter 4

I wasn't looking forward to the day ahead of me at all, especially since I was still tired.

First I had to deal with Elias and the beginning parts of the project, then I had to go and visit Dad and Keith. At least my evening was free. Dana had class first thing in the morning, so meeting up to get coffee was out of the question. At seven thirty, I left the house and went into my car to drive to the library.

Truthfully, I had no idea how to start digging into a murder case. This was new to me, and I was really going to have to put everything I learned in class and from the media to the test.

I can do this, I thought to myself as I parked in front of the library. Just be careful and do what feels right. One piece at a time.

The library was often busy in the early morning, since that was when students had some free time and wanted to study on campus before their classes. I found Elias on the second floor near the tables we argued over the other day, and I sat down beside him. "How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Twenty minutes," he said without lifting his eyes from his laptop. "Didn't think you'd show up at first."

Of course you didn't. "Sorry to disappoint you," I said, and I was already regretting all of this. Before I could reach into my bag and grab my laptop, he stopped me. "Don't."

I furrowed my brows. "Why not?"

He lowered his voice in case someone was nearby. "Why would we talk about a murder in a crowded library, Reyes? We're going somewhere else."

"We're only studying."

"Just get up. I know where we can go."

I crossed my arms. "Absolutely not. You need to tell me exactly where we're going or we're staying right here." I sure as hell hoped that he didn't expect me to trust him with our new arrangement. Leading me somewhere secluded? I know exactly how that ends.

He dragged a hand down his face, tired and irritated. "Stop being paranoid. We're going to the fountain, for fuck's sake."

"Alright, that was all you had to tell me, for fuck's sake," I threw his words back at him as I stood up and started leaving for the stairs.

He walked beside me, and as we passed some of the other students that I've seen before, they gave us surprised looks. My gut twisted. The last thing I needed were unnecessary comments and rumors again. Once news from the awful party got around last year, I was the topic of everyone's conversation.

"Poor girl."

"So heartbroken and lonely."

"I feel so bad. Do you think she'd ever find love again?"

"I hope she and Christian talk eventually."

It got worse when Christian came up with a sob story to justify what he did, and eventually, Dana and Alex decided to walk with me wherever I needed to go and glare at anyone who got too close or looked too long.

I flexed my hands to shake myself from the memory and focused on the path leading to the fountain in the middle of the campus, which had way less students, but enough people around to blend in.

Elias and I sat down near the thick ledge of the fountain away from most of the water, and right when we did, I heard approaching footsteps.

"Hi, Eli!" A familiar voice shouted, and I really started to regret making the plan of meeting up this morning. My gut twisted as more terrible memories poured in.