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

Twenty-Nine

I can't get the image of Drew and Xander fighting out of my head.

As make our way outside, I drink in a few gasps of ocean air. Something inside me is still shaking.

"That was bloody intense!" Iris says. "I mean, what the fuck—right? Drew's lost his mind. Did you see the way he was staring at Xander? Like he blames him for what happened to Kate."

Now that she's said it, that's exactly what it looked like. Drew was enraged. When Xander asked where he was last night, he even countered back with the same question.

But I know better. Kate had Ava's phone. Either Drew was the one Ava was texting—as Xander believes—or Kate told him about what she saw. No matter which it is, Drew knows more than he's letting on. He has to.

All the things I want to tell Iris rise in my throat, but I stop them from coming out. Xander said to keep what we know to ourselves. At least, for now.

"What I don't understand is why Xander let Drew get to him like that. He's always so careful to stay out of trouble."

Iris shrugs. "People can only take so much. Xander may seem like he's got his shit together, but how much do you really know about him?"

Not much, obviously. I haven't been around long enough to have discovered all his nooks and crannies. But when Xander told me about his family, and how he's at Maliseet Bay because of them, I believed it. That need to be here. To graduate and go to college to fulfill his mother's dying wish, shown like a beacon in his eyes. The past few years, that drive and determination has kept him focused on his path.

So, what the hell happened today?

"Let's go see Theo," I suggest, trying to keep my mind occupied. If I don't, I'll get stuck there; asking the same questions over and over; reliving the same scenarios. It's like a maze in my head, and no matter where I turn, all I do is get more lost.

Iris lets out a groan. "I know you want to talk to her, but can't it wait? Things are so tense right now. You see the way it's affecting people around here. First, with Drew kissing you. And then whatever the hell happened to Kate. Now, the fight. Everyone's acting like they've gone mad. "

But Theo's voice snakes its way back into my brain. A couple days before Ava died, I saw her and—

And what? I need to find out what she was going to say.

I shake my head. "I have to stay busy. And I want to make sure I'm around when Xander is done talking to the headmaster." He has some explaining to do.

Iris recoils before agreeing. "Fine. But only because I love you."

"Hey, Iris—wait up!" a voice calls out. When we turn toward it, Khalil is waving at her from across the courtyard. As he reaches us, he leans over and plants a kiss on Iris's cheek and her eyes briefly flutter closed. 

"Hi," she says, giving him a shy smile.

He smiles back. "I need to get off campus for a while—shit's too heavy around here. You want to head into town with me? We can hit up the shops on the main strip." When Iris turns to me, he adds, "Mia's welcome to come, too."

So much for our plans.

My shoulders sink, but I try to play it off. "I have some things to do here, but you should totally go," I tell her. She doesn't want to see Theo anyway. And even though I'd prefer not to go alone, maybe this is better.

Iris looks guilty, yet relieved. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Go and have fun. I'll be here when you get back."