Jennifer Armentrout - Don’t Look Back

Veronica’s complexion turned a ghastly white under her tan. She lifted her head and turned to me, her eyes wide and wet.

A low murmur picked up, rolling like a wave through the class. The text was from Lauren and just six words. Six words that should’ve changed everything, but there’d been a part of me that had been expecting it.

Maybe I already knew.

They found Cassie’s body. She’s dead.

The rest of the morning was a blur. Cassie was dead. That was all I could think about. She was dead. And there was a part of me that had been expecting it, waiting for it, even. Tendrils of fear curled around the lump of sorrow that had formed in my chest. It was tight, impossible to unravel.

Carson was subdued in bio, asking once if I was okay and then not saying too much the rest of the class. Del was waiting for me by my locker. He pulled my stiff, unyielding body into his arms and murmured something sympathetic in a choked voice.

I thought of the photo of them together—Cassie in his lap, his hand on her hip.

Cassie—the best friend I couldn’t remember, the dead girl.

People were staring at us. I hated it.

I let Del lead me out of the school. No one stopped us. Every face we passed mirrored a mixture of shock and dismay. Everyone knew her, whether they wanted to or not. In a numb, detached way, I wondered if they grieved for her, or just for the fact that death didn’t care about petty things like age.

“Don’t you know? Fear and popularity go hand in hand,” a soft, feminine voice whispered in my ear. “Let’s rule with an iron fist.”

I jerked around, gasping. My eyes darted around the pavilion. No one was there.

“Come on,” Del said, eyeing me with concern. “We’re getting out of here.”

Following him around the school, I kept glancing over my shoulder. Had I really heard that voice, or had it been a memory wiggling free?

Maybe I was seriously going crazy. That was always a possibility—a likelihood.

There were several concrete benches on the patio behind the school between the football field and a smaller rec building. Everyone I knew was out there, sitting on the cold, hard surfaces.

Veronica, Candy, and Lauren took up one of the benches. Scott and Julie occupied another while Carson had one all to himself. I sat with Del, wholly aware of his hand around mine and the way Carson stiffened, focusing on the field behind us. I had to fight not to pull away from my boyfriend. He didn’t deserve the cold shoulder, not from me.

“I can’t believe she’s dead.” Veronica was the first to speak, sniffling daintily. “I mean, the longer she was missing, I knew it was going to end this way, but I hoped she’d be like Sammy.”

That she’d just show up somewhere.

Lauren wiped under her eyes with two fingers as she clutched an oversize white purse to her chest. “It’s just so horrible thinking about her being there. …”

“In the water,” Candy whispered, shuddering as she continuously ran her fingers through her hair. “I don’t think I can ever swim in that lake again.”

Julie’s brows arched as she glanced at a tight-lipped Scott. I wondered why they were even here. I knew they weren’t close to Cassie or anyone else here. So what else didn’t I know? Everything, it seemed.

“Did anyone say what kind of condition … she was in?” asked Veronica. “I wonder if the casket will be open.”

Scott sat back, shaking his head. “She was in the lake. Who knows for how long? An open casket is probably going to be the last thing anyone is thinking of.”

Veronica’s eyes narrowed. “I’m just saying that Cassie wouldn’t want anyone to see her unless she was …”

“The most beautiful girl in the room,” I murmured.

Del’s hand tightened around mine. “What did you say?”

I shivered. Again, I had no idea where those words had come from. Everyone was staring at me, waiting for an explanation. Shaking my head, I pulled my hand free.

“You said ‘most beautiful girl in the room.’” Veronica stood, smoothing her hand down her dark jeans. “That’s exactly what Cassie would’ve said. What you would’ve said. Have you … remembered something?”

Clasping my hands together, I fought the urge to start biting my nails. “No.”

“Then why did you say that?” she demanded, eyes flashing.

“I don’t know—sometimes these words just kind of come out.” I glanced at Del, but he was staring at his hands.

“What? Like Tourette’s?” Del laughed under his breath.

My cheeks heated with embarrassment and something far stronger. “It’s not like Tourette’s, asshole.”

“What?” He looked up, his smile fading. “I know it’s not. Come on, calm down.” He reached for me, but I scooted across the bench. “Sam, it was just a question.”

“A stupid question,” Carson said, his jaw clenched tight.

Del’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. “Why are you even here?”

“Good question,” he muttered, but he leaned back, stretching out his legs and crossing his arms over his broad chest. Carson wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

“Wait. Why isn’t Trey here?” I asked.

Candy pulled out a nail file. “He didn’t come to school today. I think he was sick or something.”

“Do you think he knows?” Julie asked, wrapping her arms around my brother and pressing her cheek against his shoulder.

“Of course he does.” Candy rolled her eyes, filing away at one of her nails. “Everyone knows.”

Julie shot the girl a look like she wanted to punch her in the face. I wanted to punch someone, but mostly out of frustration. “You know what I find strange?” Julie said, closing her eyes.

“I guess we’re going to find out,” muttered Candy, swiping the file back and forth.

“Knock it off, Skittles,” Carson said.

Candy flipped him off with a perfectly manicured middle finger.

“What do you find strange?” I asked, ignoring the two.

“Besides the fact that Cassie would’ve been anywhere near the lake this time of the year? She was a great swimmer.” Julie opened her eyes, glancing at me. “The girl was part fish.”

Veronica settled back down, on the edge of the bench closest to Del. “Well, I doubt she went there to go swimming.”

“That’s not what Julie means,” I said, remembering the vision I had of falling. “If Cassie was in the lake, she should’ve been able to swim, right?”

Del cleared his throat. “There are some hellish rip currents and superdeep parts, but she knew that lake and which areas to avoid.”

“Then maybe she was already … out of it before she hit the water.” Or dead, but I couldn’t quite say that.

“Well, you had to have been with her,” Veronica said, snatching the file away from Candy and shoving it in her bag. “That’s so annoying, not to mention unsanitary.”

“How is that unsanitary? I’m just filing my nails.”

“It’s gross. Little bits of your nails are flying all over the place.” Veronica shuddered as if that was more disturbing than a body in a lake. “I think there are pieces on me.”

Smiling at the absurdity of it, I glanced up and caught Carson’s eyes. They glimmered in the light. When I looked away, I realized Del was watching us. A pang of guilt flashed through me. “Did anyone see her that day?”

“Besides you?” said Veronica, and there was no mistaking her tone.

I sat back. “What are you trying to say, Veronica?”

“I’m not saying anything, Sammy .” She pulled out an oversize pair of sunglasses and put them on. “She was obviously with you. You were walking down the road that leads to the lake.”

“She knows that,” Scott said, leaning forward. Contempt dripped from his voice. “But she has amnesia , if you haven’t figured that out yet. I can probably give you a definition if you’re still confused.”