Co-Ed(54)

My words weren’t coming out.

But my mind was moving, calculating.

The overdose.

Knox’s name on her phone.

Three. Years.

“You.” I stumbled back onto the bed, my body barely moving. Each limb felt too heavy as I tried to get away from her choking presence. “You drugged… her.”

Jessica’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow, even the police didn’t catch that one. Then again, that’s the danger in drugs, isn’t it? It makes all good girls go bad, and it’s so common, you know. Overdoses on college campuses…”

I gagged.

Then tried to put my finger in my mouth. I retched a bit before she could reach me then kicked her in the ribs as hard as I could while I tried to puke more.

“Nice try,” she laughed. “It’s already in your system. It takes a good solid seven minutes. That’s what our story time was about downstairs, you know, though I was a bit worried that you didn’t get enough since your drink spilled.”

“No.” I was so scared I started shaking. This was not how things were supposed to end. I was supposed to have a fresh start. Find someone that saw me, not my skin; find someone who loved me for me. I was supposed to have a life. To graduate.

I saw Knox in that future.

His smile.

I saw my friends Leo, Finn, and Slater.

I saw that stupid bright unicorn.

“You k-killed her.” My voice was laced with so much fear that the words came out shaky.

“Hey, she was depressed. All I did was hand her the packed needle. She’s the one who shot herself up. I just gave her a little bit too much. How was I supposed to know she’d stop breathing?”

“You’ll go to prison.” I tried kicking at her again, but my feet were basically lead at that point, my legs weighted with sand as she filled the needle with a substance I didn’t want to acknowledge.

As a metallic taste filled my mouth.

As the sound of death rang in my ears, and people all around the house partied like I wasn’t fighting for my life.

“Help!” I screeched with the last of my energy. “Help!”

“They didn’t hear her. What makes you think they’re going to hear you?” Jessica sneered before grabbing a tourniquet and wrapping it around my left arm.





Chapter Thirty-Eight


Knox

I prayed we wouldn’t be too late.

I had such a bad feeling, even though I’d called the cops and told them to rush as fast as humanly possible.

Because Jessica had been there in the beginning.

Jessica had been pursuing me before Sophie, during Sophie, after Sophie.

They had been best friends.

I’d held Jessica’s hand while she bawled her eyes out at the funeral. I’d held her hand while she spoke in front of the student body about the danger of drug use.

I’d held her body when she decided she needed to use our services to feel better. I’d held her close and hugged her tight when she told me she missed Sophie because she was the only one who’d ever understood her.

I’d held her while she lied.

I had held her.

And even if she hadn’t done anything herself, she’d still sat there and watched while her friend had taken a lethal dose of something.

It was too damning.

“Can you drive faster?” I screamed at Leo, who finally pulled up to a nonexistent parking spot.

Slater and I jumped out and started running towards the house.

“Where would she take her?” I asked, searching the crowd for mocha skin as tears pricked the back of my eyes.

Slater searched the room and started asking people where she was, holding a picture of her up on his phone.

I found Alexa dancing with some guy. “Where’s Shawn?”

“She went home, bro.” The guy dancing with Alexa looked vaguely familiar. Then again, I knew everyone on campus.

Alexa just shrugged, her eyes glassy.

Shit.

I turned and started making my way toward the stairs when my neck prickled with awareness.

I turned to see Slater give me a wide-eyed look like he felt it, too.

It intensified the moment I hit the first stair.

And when I took another, I could smell it.

Smell her.

Sophie.

I ran like hell with Slater behind me.

I kicked open the first two doors with no luck then the third… just in time to see Jessica leaning over Shawn with a needle.

Sirens sounded outside.

Jessica jerked away from Shawn and gave me a saucy smile. “Almost late to the party. Did you want to do the honors first?”

“I don’t do drugs.”

“Weird, since your girlfriend clearly does. You think this is my shit? She just wanted to feel better.”

“Liar!” Shawn’s voice sounded different. “Drugged, she drugged… me… killed… She killed…”

I ran to Shawn’s side and pulled her into my arms while she sobbed against my chest.

“You bitch!” Slater roared, charging Jessica. Leo and Finn held him back before he could hit her. “You killed her!”

“Whoa.” Jessica dropped the needle on the nightstand and wiped it. “That’s a hefty accusation considering her drug use. Don’t you think?”