One of Us Is Next(50)
Brandon is dead.
Brandon Weber is dead.
Brandon.
Weber.
Is. Dead.
I can repeat the words a dozen times in my head, a dozen different ways, and it still doesn’t seem real.
“It must have been a terrible shock,” Liz says.
Sean nods, his head still down. I can’t tell if he’s crying or not. “It was,” he says.
“Did you understand immediately what had happened?”
“We couldn’t really see into the…under the roof. But we knew it was bad when he fell through.”
“And what happened with the second boy? The one who’s injured?”
“That kid—he was in shock, I think. He ran straight for the edge after Brandon, and all I could think was that he was gonna fall through, too. I panicked. I did the only thing I could think of to stop him in his tracks.” Sean finally looks up, his mouth twisted in a regretful grimace. “I punched him. I think I ended up hurting him kinda bad, and I’m sorry about that. But at least he stopped, you know? At least he’s safe.”
“Bullshit,” Knox says quietly.
We all turn toward him. “Is that not what happened?” I ask.
Knox touches the bandage at his temple and winces. “I…don’t actually remember,” he says haltingly. “Everything’s a blur from the time I left Phoebe until I woke up with somebody shining a light in my face. But I can’t imagine myself chasing after Brandon when he just fell through a roof. I mean, I’ve been around construction sites my whole life, you know? That’s not the kind of thing I’d ever do.”
“Maybe you weren’t thinking straight,” Addy says. “I wouldn’t be.”
Knox still looks skeptical. “Maybe. Or maybe Sean is lying.”
Addy blinks. “Why would he do that?”
Knox shakes his head, his face tensing as though the movement hurts. “I have no idea.”
Sunday, March 15
REPORTER: Good evening, this is Liz Rosen with Channel Seven News. I’m live in the studio with special guest Lance Weber, whose sixteen-year-old son, Brandon, died tragically at the abandoned construction site behind the Bayview Mall just ten days ago. Mr. Weber, my heartfelt condolences for your loss.
LANCE WEBER: Thank you. My wife and I are beyond devastated.
REPORTER: You’re here tonight, you told our producers, because you want answers.
LANCE WEBER: That’s right. I’ve been a businessman for more than half my life, Liz, and in business the bottom line is accountability. Yet I can’t get any of the entities involved in this horrible tragedy—the construction company, the mall, even town officials—to step forward and provide details about what I am sure are multiple instances of negligence that contributed to my son’s death.
REPORTER: Are you saying that you believe one of those organizations—or perhaps all of them—are at fault?
LANCE WEBER: I’m saying that something like this doesn’t just happen, Liz. There’s always a responsible party.
One Day Later
Reddit, Vengeance Is Mine subforum
Thread started by Darkestmind
Where the hell are you Bayview2020?
ANSWER. MY. CHATS.
Don’t you dare fucking ghost me.—Darkestmind This isn’t a joke.
I know where to find you.
And I’m not afraid to let this whole thing go up in flames.
I’ll do it just so I can watch you burn, too.—Darkestmind
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Phoebe
Monday, March 16
“I really appreciate the ride,” Knox says.
Emma buckles her seat belt and shifts the car into reverse. “No problem.”
It’s been a week and a half since Brandon died, and nothing in Bayview feels quite the same. On the plus side, Knox and I have been hanging out more, enough that Emma and I drive him home from school sometimes. On the far, far worse side, Jules and Sean are a couple all of a sudden. I thought I was hallucinating the first time I saw them making out in the hallway. “The trauma brought us together,” I heard her tell another girl in English class. Her eyes had the glazed devotion of a cult member. “We need each other.”
From what I’ve heard around school, it looks as though the Truth or Dare game ended with the Knox/Maeve bombshell—which makes me wonder if the whole point of the game was to mess with her. After all, she’s the one who turned the tide against Simon last year. Maybe one of his acolytes decided to get his revenge. If so, job well done, because she and Knox are still barely speaking and it’s making her miserable. Which sucks, but at least nobody at Bayview is talking about that stupid game anymore.
Another possibility, I guess, is that Brandon was behind the game all along and used it to help his friends win popularity points while messing with people he didn’t like. But since the game kicked off with an ugly secret about me while Brandon and I were hooking up, I can’t think about that for too long without wanting to throw up.
Meanwhile, Sean’s started up a weird little bromance with Knox. He’s suddenly calling Knox “my man” and yelling at anyone who tries to make a limp dick joke. Which is confusing for people, since he’s the one who started them in the first place. Knox still can’t remember what happened at the construction site the day Brandon died.