“What did you do to Willow?” I jumped off the table to confront Dash but ended up trapped between Keiran and the table when he refused to move. I looked up to glare at him and he glared right back.
“Nothing yet,” Dash stated ominously and looked at Keiran. “You ready, bro?”
Keiran ignored him and gripped my ponytail lightly in fist. “Go take care of your friend.” He kissed the tip of my nose and I felt my body soften against my will. “But remember what I said,” he ordered.
He had to go and ruin it.
* * *
They finally left and I rushed to find Willow in the bookcases. I found her crying quietly and immediately wrapped her in my arms. “Willow, look at me.” She shook her head no and kept her face buried in my shoulder.
“What happened? Please, let me help you.”
“Fate must have a sick sense of humor. We were the only two people from our school in the summer program so we gravitated toward each other. He was always so sweet. And charming. Half the time I knew he was full of shit but it didn’t matter because he was funny and down-to earth. I always thought he was just some spoiled rich kid with his nose stuck up in the air. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t fake or phony. He was real – all the time, about everything. Or so I thought.”
“He’s breaking your heart,” I guessed. I was tempted to track him down and kick him in the nuts.
“It’s silly really and my fault. He never promised me anything. He just always made me feel special. And for the first time I wanted to be special for someone other than me. I wanted to be special for him. I cared about what he thought.”
I tried to hide my surprise but I knew my face said it all. For her that was big. Willow was a take me or leave me kind of girl.
“One day I even tried to be normal. I dressed like a square to please or impress him – I don’t know. We were going to hang out and he showed up dressed like I would dress.” She let out a small laugh, her cries finally subsiding. “He looked ridiculously beautiful and proud and I loved him for it. That was the day I gave myself to him.”
“Why were you crying just now?”
“I threatened to get a restraining order if he didn’t stay away from me.” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “He got upset. Really upset. He said it wasn’t fair to try and force him to stay away just because I couldn’t.”
“I get that he is supposed to be engaged with Rosalyn but why were you fighting him before you found out?”
“You know Charles is my adopted father and Buddy’s real father?” I nodded. “My mom doesn’t like to talk about it but my birth father is some rich guy who she fell in love with. Well they were supposed to get married but his family didn’t approve of her. Apparently he was already engaged to someone else. My mom didn’t say much about her just that she came from a rich family also.”
“This is sounding familiar,” I stated dryly.
“Yeah, that’s why I freaked out Saturday– for once I had to admit that my mother was right and it hurt like hell to hear that he’d been playing me.”
Guilt ate at me the more I listened to her because I knew of Keiran and Dash’s plan and in a way I took part in it by saying nothing. At the time I thought it was the right thing to do but now…
I took a deep breath and steeled myself for what I had to do. “Willow, Keiran set Dash up with you so that he could use you to blackmail me. I knew about it but I couldn’t tell you because if I did he would tell Dash to break your heart.” The words rushed out of my mouth before I could think it over.
She shook her head and released a humorless laugh. “He succeeded. My heart is broken.”
“I am so sorry, Willow. I should have told you sooner. Please forgive me.”
“Yes, you should have,” she affirmed. “But I don’t blame you.” I hugged her to me and surprisingly she hugged me back.
“So why get involved with him?”
“I actually didn’t find out until I got back. He came over to my house the second day back. He said he missed me and it was weird not seeing me so I let him in. I introduced him to my mom and she just grew so cold towards him. It was awkward so I apologized and asked him to leave. My mom and I had a huge fight when she forbid me to see him. I demanded to know why and that’s when she told me about my father. I felt so bad for her and it seemed really important to her so I gave in. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Just when I was becoming something with Dash, I had to let go and it hurt. After a while Dash began to remind me of who he really was. He was the popular playboy. He’s different now– not my Dash. But then…he never was mine. He refuses to understand why I have to let him go and why he has to let me go.” Her voice broke at the last.
“So what are you going to do now?” I asked with a heavy heart. It seemed they were doomed to fail from the very start.
“I’m going to stay away. Even if it kills me.”
Seeing her so broken and lost filled me with a burning anger and I finally felt what Keiran must have felt these past few weeks. “Willow?”
“Yes?” she sniffled and looked up at me with fresh tears in her eyes, reinforcing my decision.
“I want to make them pay.”
Chapter Eighteen
I walked Willow to her first class with enough time to make it to English. I was expecting to see Keiran in class but he wasn’t there. I assumed he was running late but he never showed up. He wasn’t at lunch or fifth period either. I was tempted to ask Dash or Keenan where Keiran was but we weren’t exactly friends. I wasn’t supposed to care anyway.
The tables have now turned and it was me who was out for revenge. It was insulting for him to think that after everything he’d done and tried to take away that we could just start over and be friends. Fuck that. I was out for blood. I was surprised at how fast Willow agreed. I didn’t have a plan yet but it was all that was on my mind. He had a lesson to learn and I was going to teach it to him.
I went straight home after school with Willow tagging along. By the time I made it home I knew exactly what I needed to do when I remembered the girl in the photo. But in order for my plan to work, I had to tell Willow everything. Starting with the day at the pharmacy. By the time I finished, Willow had just wished every sort of harm there was on Keiran. Needless to say, our friendship was completely restored after that. She started to blame herself for not seeing it sooner but I told her that was a load of crap. Keiran was a master at manipulation. No one was to blame but him.
“So, what do we do?”
I pulled out the photo and handed it to her. “We find out who she is and how Keiran knows her.”
“Ok, but why?”
I hesitated before answering. “I think he killed this girl.”
“What!” she shrieked.
“Willow, calm down.”
“I can’t calm down. Why do you think he murdered that little girl?”
“I found the locket the girl is wearing in his closet with a gun.”
“Oh my God.”
“We just have to –”
“Lake, are you seriously thinking about crossing him again knowing that he murdered someone?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I don’t have a choice. He threatened my aunt and tried to ruin our friendship. He can’t get away with this.”
“Lake…”
“Dash hurt you too. Don’t you want closure?”
“How does Dash fit into all this?”
“He’s his best friend. For all we know he may have something to do with it too or at least know about it. You know what they say; birds of a feather and all that. If not, then we find another way. Either way, they are going to pay for what they did.”
She put her head in her hands and muttered, “This is crazy.”
“We aren’t doing anything wrong or illegal. If Keiran did not kill this girl then we have nothing to worry about.”
“Lake, I really think this is your anger speaking. This isn’t you. When you said make them pay I thought you meant flatten their tires or something.”