Empire High Betrayal(77)

Crap. I stood up and stepped away from James. “Did you find Isabella?” I asked.

“Yeah, we found her. The cops are on their way. I was looking all over for you.”

I knew he was talking to me, but he was staring daggers at James. And James was wearing a cocky smile. Apparently he had no intention of helping me out and telling Matt that we were just talking.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I came out to find Miller and I ran into James.”

Matt lowered his eyebrows slightly. And I wasn’t sure if it was because of the mention of Miller or James. But he didn’t know that I’d been with Miller. Right?

I felt like I needed to give him a better explanation. “I was having another panic attack.”

Matt’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry I ran off.” He pulled me into his arms. “I wanted to make sure we caught Isabella.”

I nodded against his chest. I knew he was trying to remain calm. Because I could hear how fast his heart was racing.

People started coming out the front door.

“The party’s over,” Matt said to James.

That was a “get lost” if I ever heard one.

James laughed.

God, the last thing I needed was for them to fight again.

“Cool,” James said. “Later, Brooklyn.” He started to walk down the steps.

I held Matt tighter and hoped he wouldn’t read into James’ words. I needed the calm, supportive Matt right now. Not the angry one that got into fist fights. Matt’s heart was still stammering in his chest, but he just held me.

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “James was out here and I was having trouble catching my breath.”

“It’s okay.” Matt rested his chin on top of my head.

Red and blue lights lit up the sky as more people rushed out the front door. Yeah, the party was definitely over early.

“Come on, let’s get inside. It’s freezing out here.” Matt grabbed my hand and pulled me back into his house. I nestled myself into his chest. He held me tightly as he ran his hand up and down my back. We stood like that in the middle of the foyer until the final guests were gone. The red and blue lights flashed through the open door of the Caldwell mansion. Someone turned on the lights in the foyer, making everything a lot less spooky. Although the red and blue flashes didn’t feel reassuring.

“There you guys are,” Kennedy said and wiggled her way underneath one of Matt’s arms too. “We were looking all over for you, Brooklyn.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” I said.

“Where were you?”

“Outside. I needed some air.” I didn’t bother to mention that I’d been looking for Miller or the fact that I ran into James. None of that mattered now. All that mattered was that we had eyes on Isabella. She was pretending to sob in the corner. At least, it seemed fake to me. She had nothing to cry over except for the fact that she’d been caught.

I watched a cop walk into the house and start talking to Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell. Mason walked over and let them know that he saw Isabella go into Matt’s room. Isabella’s dramatic sobs grew louder and I tried not to roll my eyes.

The police officer approached Isabella and she started screaming at him.

“I’m not the one that you should be questioning,” Isabella said. “That little family-stealing psycho murdered my dog!” Isabella yelled, pointing at me. “She’s been out to get me ever since she found out we were related. She’s completely lost it.” Isabella pretended to sob again.

The police officer sighed. It seemed like he knew it was fake too. “Ma’am, if you could please calm down…”

“Calm down?” cried Isabella. “She’s the one with blood literally on her hands.”

I winced. Damn it. She was right. Even though Matt and Mason had caught Isabella before she snuck out of the house, they hadn’t exactly caught her red handed. I was the one with blood on my hands. And Mason had seen what he thought was me going into Matt’s room. There wasn’t any evidence against Isabella. There never was. Honestly, Isabella was right. I looked guilty. Not her.

“This is ridiculous,” Matt said. “I’ll be right back.” He walked over to the police officer.

Kennedy hugged me harder. “Are you okay?”

“No, not really.”

“Matt told me what happened. Did she really kill her own dog?”

I nodded. I didn’t want to talk about this. Just thinking about Sir Wilfred made me want to throw up. “Distract me. How was your dance with Rob?”

“Great. But if I’m being honest?” She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening to us. “Well, how big of a distraction do you want?”

“A huge one.”

Kennedy took a deep breath. “You were right. I’ve had the biggest crush on Felix since freshman year and he’s finally being nice to me. I know I should have told you, but…”

I squeezed her so hard that she actually yelped. “I knew it.”

She laughed. “You’re getting blood all over me.”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” I took a step back but she just pulled me back into another hug.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I guess it’s what I deserve after not being honest with you.”