Page 1 of I Knew You
Prologue
Bram |December 20, 2008
“Dracula, think fast!”
I turned at my best friend’s voice behind me, just in time to catch the football he threw at my head.
“What the hell, Whit?”
I gripped the ball, my large fingers spreading over the pebbled leather, and threw it back to him from where I stood behind the porch railing. He caught it easily. Whitaker East was the star quarterback at the University of Alabama. Nobody expected anything less.
“Keeping you on your toes.” His smile was bright against the darkness as he walked up the driveway full of parked cars. He was holding the hand of his new girlfriend, someone whose name I didn’t bother to remember because the position changed so frequently.
Yet it wasn’t just Whit and his girlfriend who had arrived at Bentley Clark’s Christmas party. Whit’s sister Julianna trailedbehind the couple. I froze at the sight of her. Julianna never showed up at any parties. She was only a year younger than Whit and me, and a senior in high school, but she didn’t have a social bone in her body. Her arms were crossed tightly over her torso, her gaze shifting everywhere, her expression dour. My whiskey-tinged breath came out in puffs around me. It was freezing, but she was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt. Where was her coat?
I’d spent half my life living at the East house with Whit, his grandmother, and Julianna. I was familiar with Julianna’s mannerisms. I could tell she was uncomfortable.
“Why do they call you Dracula?” Whit’s girlfriend asked me when they got closer.
I just stared at her, unamused. I’d come outside for a moment to catch my breath because inside was full of bodies writhing against each other, too-bright multi-colored Christmas lights, the stench of weed and alcohol, and so much noise I thought my ears would bleed. Even outside, I could hear the rock Christmas music echoing throughout the block.
“Because he’s out for blood on the field,” Whit quipped as they came up on the porch. “Ain’t that right, Bram?”
I did not attempt to answer.
“Pretty sure it’s because his name isBramlike Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, but whatever.” Julianna’s mutter went unnoticed by her brother and his girlfriend, but I heard her. I smiled her way, but she averted her gaze, holding herself tighter and shivering.
I took off my jacket.
“Julianna, think fast.”
Twill blue flew through the air, and she caught it. She looked from the jacket to me and back again. Whit glanced at the action, ready to say something, but the unnamed girlfriend tugged at his sleeve. “Come on, Whit! My friends are here, and I want you to meet them.”
Julianna started to put on my jacket as Whit and the girlfriend walked in the front door. It was obviously smaller than what she needed, and a part of me wished I hadn’t given it to her. I didn’t want her to struggle with the size.
Alcohol clouding me, I walked up and took the half-on jacket off her completely. A blush swept over her cheeks. I wrapped the jacket around her shoulders, skipping the need for her to put her arms in the sleeves. I brought it together in the front and tugged to make sure she was sufficiently covered.
She looked up at me with her chocolate brown eyes sparkling in the porch light. I took in her heart-shaped face framed by her long, flowing chestnut hair, soft and glossy. Seeing her standing in the dark and cold with the strains of Korn’s “Jingle Bells” pulsing in the background was so wrong, it was laughable.
Julianna was shy and quiet, usually hiding inside her books. Her intelligence and wit were unmatched. She was full of emotion, but she didn’t let it show too readily, although I thought I was good at reading her. She did not belong at this party.
“Why are you here?”
“Under duress,” she said, and her eyes flipped to my lips, and then back up to my eyes. “Whit promised a quick trip to get some pie, and here I am. I had no choice.”
I took a deep breath, annoyed at Whit, but selfish enough to be glad Julianna had come. I’d had a secret thing for her for a while, even though I’d tried not to. I didn’t want to complicate family dynamics. Yet she was everything I wanted in a girl. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, even after Whit and I had left for college. We were home for holiday break, and I wanted to spend time with her. This was the perfect opportunity.
“Does he do this all the time?” she asked, pointing toward the door Whit had disappeared into. “At college? He’s barely spoken to me all night. I wasn’t trying to be a third wheel. Wepicked that girl up on the way to pie, which I didn’t even get, by the way.” She blew out a breath, a gray cloud releasing around her.
“He’s figuring things out, I guess.” I couldn’t think of any other excuse to give for my best friend. “Want to go inside?”
“Not really, but I’m freezing, and I’m sure you are, too.” Julianna looked at her feet.
Before I could stop myself, I walked up to her and threw my arms around her, pulling her tight to me. Even though I feigned nonchalance at her closeness, I was trembling inside.
“Better?” I asked.
“Um, what are you doing?” The words sounded curious, but she made no move to extract herself from me.
