Broken Trust: A Dark High School Romance(57)

I chuckled, because it was hard to imagine anyone having larger arms than Beck and Dylan.

“He was up for absolutely anything,” Dylan added, and the mood was somber again. “It didn’t matter if you phoned him at three in the morning, Oscar was always the perfect wingman. He would never let you down.”

“Never,” Evan whispered. “He was the one who introduced me to anime, so it makes perfect sense that his sister would share the same love.”

The tears couldn’t be stopped any longer, and I decided just to let them fall. I might not have “known” Oscar, but through these four, I felt the connection.

“He was our best friend,” Jasper added. “And the fact that I still don’t know what happened to him, kills me every fucking day.”

The silence pressed onto me, questions hovering on the tip of my tongue. “Do you think he killed himself?” I finally asked, my voice a breathless quiver of sound in the still air. “Is that possible? We know there’s no other way out of Delta.”

I waited for their anger, because it felt disrespectful to suggest such a thing when they all had such fond memories of him. But I knew that suicide, depression, grief … it didn’t just happen to poor, lonely, sad people. It happened to people from all walks of life.

It happened to anyone and everyone without prejudice.

“Oscar had times when he was introverted,” Dylan said, kneeling down then, pressing his hand to Oscar’s grave, as he had done with his sister. “Where he would retreat from us, go into his own head, and be aloof for a few days. We always just knew that was his way, and we’d let him go. Giving him the time and space he needed.”

“And he always came back,” Beck added, voice growly. “Always. Until we got that call.”

“So you think he did kill himself?” I pushed, needing to clarify it.

“Not a chance,” Beck bit back, crouching down next to Dylan. “Oscar was murdered. I’m certain of it, and I’m equally as certain that it was someone in Delta that did it.”





23





I couldn’t get anything else out of them about Oscar’s death, so I instead spent the rest of my time there, silently talking to my brother. It was much more painful than I’d expected, and by the time we left, I was emotionally spent.

The five of us ate dinner together in my apartment, because it seemed to be the central gathering point, and then I crawled into bed, only to be joined by Beck ten minutes later.

He held me close, and even though we didn’t talk, there was some more healing happening between us. I ended up sleeping soundly for most of the night, and it was only when I woke that I realized how long it had been since I had a nightmare.

The next day at school passed quickly, and just as I was wandering across the parking lot with Evan, Eddy sprinted out of the school and pretty much tackled me into the grass next to the front stairs.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Edith,” Evan cursed, peeling her off me so I could stand up again. “Riles still has bruises and shit, ease up you psycho.”

Eddy rolled her eyes at him, like he was another annoying brother, and plucked some grass off my plaid skirt. “Sorry, girl. I was just so freaking excited!” She demonstrated this by bouncing up and down a little with a grin so wide it showed almost all her teeth. “I’m moving in!”

My jaw dropped. “What? Holy shit! That was quick!” I’d only mentioned it to her the day before.

Eddy beamed. “I know! I really didn’t think they’d say yes but with Jasper already living there, they didn’t have much to say. But also, like, they don’t care that much about me.” She shrugged, as though that fact didn’t bother her. “I mean, I have to live in his apartment. But at least we’re on the same floor, right?”

“Good enough!” I agreed, returning her hug on impulse. I wasn’t a big hugger ... like, at all. But it was hard not to get caught up in Eddy’s excitement.

“What did I miss?” Jasper called out, jogging up to us and grinning. “Why are we all hugging? I’ll take one if they’re going free.” He snatched me out of Eddy’s embrace and snuggled me tight, making me laugh.

Evan answered for us. “Eddy’s moving into your apartment,” he informed Jasper. “Didn’t you know?”

Jasper froze, but didn’t release me. Not that I minded, Jasper gave great hugs and these days I found I was craving that caring human contact more than ever before. Maybe it was having to live without them for so long. Having to hold onto that anger which ate away at my insides.

That shit was so behind me.

“Eddy’s doing fucking what now?” he demanded, turning what-the-fuck eyes on his sister.

She smirked at him, with more than a touch of evil. “Eddy’s moving into your bachelor pad, big brother.”

Jasper gasped dramatically and buried his face in my hair, pretending to sob as he wailed “Noooooooo!”

We were all laughing at his expense when Beck approached and peeled me out of Jasper’s grip and tucked me into his side. I was just about to make a comment about how I was getting tossed around like a dog chew toy when— “Slut,” someone spat, and my head snapped around to see who it was.

There. Walking past us was a group of cheerleaders, with Katelyn Huntley’s shining blonde head in the thick of them all.