the texts and they seemed totally innocent, but the way she acted when they came in... I don't
know. It wasn't right."
I smirked. "You checked her texts?"
"Hey. Nobody's perfect, "Trey said, spreading his arms wide.
As he jogged up the steps and disappeared into the library, my mind scrolled through all the
people I'd ever met or even heard of, searching for an S.O. Of course it came up blank. But at least
I now had something new to go on. Maybe the answer to all my problems would be as easy as
IDing S.O.
65
THAT RUSH
As I walked into the post office that afternoon, Jason Darlington was walking out. I automatically
opened my mouth to say hi--we were in the same English class and we'd hung out before the
Billings fundraiser debacle. He automatically went to hold the door. But when he saw it was me,
his normally friendly face shut down entirely and he let the heavy door slam closed behind him. If
not for my catlike reflexes, I would have been crushed.Guess that was one more person who
wasn't talking to me.
Trying to ignore the ever-growing hole in my heart, I swung the door wide and walked inside. The
post office was jam-packed with chatting students, the excitement in the air palpable. They were
all holding little blue cards and passing them around to check out the names they contained.
Everyone was there for the same reason I was: to find out who they would be gifting at the
Holiday Dinner.
Steeling myself for another wave of glares, stares, and whispers,
66
I rolled my shoulders back and wove through the crowd. Sudden pockets of silence followed me all
the way to my box. I thought back to the way the campus had felt after we had all heard about
Thomas's murder last year. How eerie it was, with everyone wondering who among us might be a
murderer. But this felt totally different, because this time everyone had already decided it was me.
So instead of an eerie vibe, there was more of a growing sense of animosity toward me. A focused,
sizzling, unifying hatred--like eventually, these people might organize and decide it was time to
take me down.