Page 29 of The Stolen Dagger
“Um, well, it’s complicated,” I muttered, unsure what exactly to tell her.
“Oh, my God,” Leah squealed. “You’re together, aren’t you? I knew it! I knew when he wanted to come with us to Jerry’s last night it was just an excuse to see you. He said it wasn’t, but I knew it was because he even?—”
“Whoa, baby, calm down.” Tyler stepped forward and put his arm around Leah’s shoulders. “You’re going to run out of breath before anyone else gets a word in.”
Leah giggled. “I’m just so excited. My brother and my best friend. It’s perfect!”
“Drew and I aren’t together,” I said quickly.
We weren’t together in the way she thought, but she couldn’t know the real reason.
Leah’s brow creased. “Then where did you guys disappear to last night? And why did he drop you off this morning?”
I didn’t want to lie to Leah, but it was the only way to keep her safe. I said the first thing that came to mind.
“Car trouble!” I rushed out. “Yeah, my car broke down, and I was having trouble with it last night. Drew offered to take me home. I completely forgot to come back and tell you, but it was a whole thing. And then Drew offered to drive me to school this morning.”
“Huh, okay,” Leah said, defeat clear in her tone. “I thought for sure there was something more going on.”
I grasped her hand in mine. “Come on, surely you know by now if anything were to happen in my love life, you’d be the first to know about it.”
Leah squeezed my hand in hers. “I better be the first. Otherwise, we’d have some serious issues.”
I laughed it off, but knew that was something Leah was very serious about: honesty. She’d even mentioned it the first day we met and became friends. That was why it hurt even more to lie to her. If she found out on her own or from someone else, she’d never forgive me.
But for Leah’s safety, lying to her was necessary.
“As much as I love you both,” Tyler tilted his head toward the direction of their classes, “we should probably get to class now, or we’ll be late.”
Leah groaned. “You’re right.” She turned and kissed him. “Why do you have to always be right?”
“It’s a gift.” Tyler gave her a gentle kiss of his own.
I chuckled. They were high school sweethearts and had been together for years now, but they still acted like they were a new couple. I envied that.
“Yeah, I’m probably late for class, too, but I’ll see you both at lunch?”
Tyler entwined his fingers with Leah’s and pulled her toward their first class.
“Yes, I’ll text you!” Leah shouted out after me.
Relief washed through me as they walked away.
It hurt knowing I was keeping so much from them, but it had to be this way. At the moment, it was the one thing keeping them out of arm’s reach from Adrian.
The more they were in the dark, the safer they’d be.
The morning passedby in a blur of nervous thoughts. I couldn’t focus on molecular biology or the themes ofMacbethwhen I knew Adrian was after me.
And I wasn’t sure about Drew’s plan to wait. I couldn’t stand the idea of just sitting here until Adrian made his move.
I had to do something.
Now, as I sat in the lecture hall of one of my classes, my mind went back to that night. I couldn’t help but think that all of this could have been avoided if I hadn’t run.
But where would I be if I had stayed? Stuck beside Adrian in fear because of what I had witnessed? What kind of future was that?
I shook my head and tried to rid myself of those thoughts. I couldn’t change the past, no matter how much I wanted to.
