Lies We Tell (Thistle Cove 3)

She flounces off and heads down the hall. Alice leans against the wall outside the yearbook room. She dyed her hair blue over the holidays, it makes her skin even paler than before.

“So…Juliette Chandler.”

“What about her?”

She shrugs. “I guess with Rose out of the way, you’re going after the next best thing.”

I walk past her and into the room. “This again?”

“It’s endlessly fascinating. Not only is Rose’s disappearance not enough for you to stop obsessing over them, neither is almost being killed by Monica Chandler.”

“Jesus, Alice,” I say, walking into my office. I toss my bag on the floor. “I’m not the one obsessing. I’m the one getting on with my life.”

“By repeating the past?” she accuses. “Finn? Ezra? Ozzy? Now Juliette? What is this, eighth grade again?”

Although Alice makes me angry, so angry, I know that she’s hurting and refuses to admit it. She’s too stubborn to apologize. Too bitter to take a step back. “I think you’re th

e one stuck in the past, Al, not me. The rest of us are looking ahead, including Juliette.”

She stands in the doorway, arms crossed, green and gray striped socks pulled up to her knees. Always the Slytherin.

I sigh and walk around my desk, sitting in the swiveling chair. She starts to leave but I call her back and ask her to shut the door.

“I overheard you talking to Coach Chandler about some yearbook information. I didn’t assign you to sports.”

“I swapped with Henry. He was overwhelmed studying for the ACTs.”

I give her a wary look. “You should have told me.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Alice, I know the administration decided not to do anything about the accusations against him, but he’s still…well, a predator.”

“Says who? Rose? She’s gone. Kayla James? She denied it. Anyone else?” She tilts her head. “It seems like you’re the one making accusations.”

“Monica admitted all of it!”

“You mean the deranged killer who could be lying about anything and everything?” She laughs. “Look, I’m fulfilling my obligations to the yearbook and helping out a fellow staffer. What’s so wrong with that?”

“Is this your way of rebelling?”

She walks over and leans over the desk. “You mean like you fucking three boys at once?”

My jaw drops. “I am not!”

Not yet, at least.

Her grin is smug, she knows the truth.

“I know you, Kenley Keene, better than anyone else in this town. I may be the only thing that saved you from going down the same path as Rose. You like taking risks, and those three? They’re happy to oblige. For a long time, I thought they were using you, but then I realized that you’re probably just using one another.” Her eyes narrow. “Don’t you dare tell me who I can and can’t talk to. Part of me wonders if you’re just jealous that Coach Chandler never tried to hit on you.”

Rage rushes through me and I stand, my chair rolling back against the wall.

“Get the fuck out of here, Alice.”

“Gladly,” she says, lips twisted in a smirk. “I’ll have my assignments turned in by the end of the week.”

She opens the door and walks out, her shoulders back and confident. I’m not exactly sure what just happened, but Alice seems to have been paying more attention lately than I’d given her credit for.