I watch the sorority girls hover near the building, waiting for the fire department to release their home. Apparently, the place has been deemed safe again, so they’re just busy finalizing some paperwork as well as making sure no one actually goes into the burned-down room. Obviously, the place will need some renovation, but that’s definitely not enough reason to keep a bunch of girls away from their precious things.
A girl I recognize jumps to the front of the queue, and when they’re finally given the go-ahead, all the girls stumble over each other to get back into their housing like they haven’t been there in ages.
Guess it’s about time I visited someone.
I get up from my comfy bench and march toward the girl’s sorority, but instead of going inside in the regular fashion, I slip to the backside of the building and go up a fire escape. One of them connects to a particular balcony that I frequently hop onto, and I crawl in through the window without a second thought.
A loud shriek stops me from placing my second foot on the ground.
“Jesus Christ!” Kayla looks at me like she’s seen a ghost. “Alistair?”
I put my finger in front of my mouth as I put both feet onto the floor and come to a stand.
“Why didn’t you just ring the doorbell?” she asks.
I raise a brow at her. “Like they’d let me in.”
She makes a face. “Good point.” She sighs. “What are you doing here anyway? I haven’t seen Penelope here if that’s who you’re looking for.”
I shake my head. “I actually came here to talk to you.”
She frowns. “Okay, now I’m really confused.”
“You’re her best friend. I figured she might have told you something about why she suddenly ran off?”
She tilts her head. “Wait a minute.” She points at me. “I thought she was staying at your frat house.”
I rub my lips together. “She disappeared and hasn’t responded to any of our texts or calls.”
Her face contorts. “Oh no, that’s not good.” She sits down on the bed. “Oh God, what if something’s happened to her?” She clutches a necklace hanging around her neck. “She must be around the school grounds somewhere, right?”
I shrug. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “This is all because of you three boys. Always causing trouble wherever you go. First with Eve, and now with Penelope.”
I avert my eyes. “Yeah, well, we kind of attract the violent ones.”
“Violent?” she scoffs. “Penelope?”
“You don’t know her like I do,” I say, crossing my arms. “Anyway, any chance I could check the burned-down room?”
Kayla rolls her eyes. “Whatever. I’m not gonna stop you. But if someone catches you, it’s your fault. Don’t drag me into it.” She points at the door. “It’s down the hall and to the left. Can’t miss it because there’s tape all over it.”
I nod. “Thanks.” And I walk past her.
“Hey,” she says, and I glance over my shoulder. “If you see Penelope again, tell her to call. I’m worried.”
I nod and continue through the hall, passing by several open doors where students are putting their clothes back and rearranging their stuff like they just came from a long holiday. No one seems to notice me slipping by, which is a good thing.
I head to the room in the back with the taped-over door, but I tear it all down and go inside, closing the door behind me. The place is completely blackened, and the taste of soot lingers on my tongue.
I sit down on the bed where a new student already made her home, but to me it’ll always be Eve’s. But it collapses underneath me, and I struggle to even stand among the rubble.
My eye catches on an odd-looking piece of crust in the wall behind the bed, almost like a loose plate that’s been pulled open and pushed back several times without anyone noticing. But the fire has singed the edges and maybe …
My fingers hook underneath the plate, and it cracks as I pull it away, pieces of the burnt paint falling off.
Behind is a small crevice, and on the bottom lies a laminated kind of image that’s survived the blaze. I fish it out. It’s a photograph of Eve and Penelope with an adult man and woman with their hands on their shoulders.
But what makes my brows furrow is the surname on the back …
“The Ricci family,” I mutter, frowning.
That’s strange.
She told us her name was Richards.
Is this picture a fabrication?
Or did Eve … lie?
Penelope
“Here it is,” my mom says as she hands me Eve’s phone. “I haven’t touched it since … well, you know.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“What do you need it for?” she asks.
I avert my eyes. “I just need to know some things.”
She clutches the front door and leans in to whisper, “You’ve found something, haven’t you?”
I nod. “Please don’t tell Dad. Not yet.”
She quickly pulls me in for a hug. “Only when you’re ready.”
“Thank you,” I reply. “I just need to know for sure first.”
“Of course,” she says.
“But yes, I have found the people responsible for her decision,” I say as I lean back.
My mother grabs my face, and our foreheads collide for the most intimate of gazes. “Pen, give them hell.”
Her words emblazon my soul. “Oh, don’t fucking worry. I intend to make it hurt.”
“Emilia? Who is it?” Dad calls from across the hall.
My mother pushes me back. “Go. Before he sees you. We’ll talk later.”
I nod and quickly run off the property right before my dad shows up.
I’m normally not the type to run like that.
I love my dad to bits, and he has a heart of gold.
But if he knew the truth … Lord have fucking mercy on the souls of Spine Ridge U.
I go to the bus stop and hop on. I know where I’m going, but my eyes focus only on one thing.
Eve’s phone. Damaged. The screen almost peeling off.
But I still managed to load up the phone with my portable battery.
The noises in the bus make it hard to concentrate, but I still go through every image, every text, every file meticulously. Something my mother didn’t want to do because it was too painful to even look at it, let alone acknowledge a sliver of her still existed, like a still in time, an unreachable image, left somewhere out in the open.
My sister’s phone is a gateway into her memories, and I will sift through it without stopping, even if my life depends on it.
Until I find the answer to my question.
The why.
Why she needed to end things. Why the dean wanted her gone. Why she never told them the truth.
An email, sent to herself with a picture attached on the day of her death. Just in case someone would try to empty her phone, she still left crumbs of proof scattered throughout. Because she knew I would see this one day. That I wouldn’t stop until I uncovered the truth.
The phone almost crushes in my hand.
Until I find the email she sent to the dean.
On the image included is a test with two pink lines. The same image she sent to herself for safekeeping.
I guess the saying is true …
A picture says more than a thousand words ever could.
Just as the havoc I will wreak.
I grab my phone and call my mom. “I know the truth now. She was pregnant.”
She begins to sob.
“Mom, don’t cry.” I swallow back my own tears. “It’s okay.”
There’s a pause, and she sucks in a breath. “You know what I told you a long time ago?”
“The story about how you and Dad met?”
“Yes.”
I gulp. “I promise, I’ll make things right.”
“Good,” she says.
I hang up the phone and immediately contact Jeremy. “Hey. It’s me. Do you have a minute?”
“Penelope? Of course. Where have you been? I haven’t seen you at school. I thought you got expelled or some shit.”
“Just taking a small break,” I muse. “Hey, I have a question about your dad’s business.”
“Wait, my dad?” He snorts. “You need gas or something?”
“I’m serious.”
“Okay, what do you want to know?”
“I’m going to need you to help me out here. How much does it cost to buy a couple of barrels and get them delivered?” I tuck Eve’s phone into my pocket. “Asking for a friend.”
Dylan
That night
In the middle of the night, my door slams open and hits the wall so hard I fall out of bed with my head on the carpet.
I groan. “Fuck … who the fuck—”
“Wake the fuck up, Dylan,” Felix snarls as he pulls my pillow away from my face. Boy, that angry face of his was the last thing I wanted to see after that wet and wild dream about Penelope I just had.
“Why?” I mutter. “Why are you here?”
“Look out your goddamn window,” he growls.
He nearly drags me up from the floor. I jerk free of his grip and adjust my gray sweatpants. “All right, all right, Jesus. I’m going.”
Right as I take a step, Alistair walks into my room. “Have you guys seen it?”
“Seen what?” I mutter as I glance at him over my shoulder, but when I turn around again and approach the window, my jaw literally drops so hard I can almost pick it up from the floor.
The main school building …
It’s completely engulfed in flames.
