Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

"We need to talk. Now ."

Alison's face is dead serious as she says the words to me. There are bags under her eyes, and I get a quick glimpse of what she might look like when she's much older. Alison seems like the kind of person who was born middle-aged.

"I can't talk," I mumble. "I've got to meet Daisy."

It's not entirely a lie. I do have to meet Daisy. But that's not the reason I don't want to talk to Alison.

"It's important." She tilts her head to look up at me, and I suddenly realize how short Alison is—even smaller than Daisy. There's something about her that makes her look taller, especially since most of the time during lab we're sitting down, but standing up, she barely comes above my shoulders. "It won't take long."

Some quality in her voice makes me feel like I don't have a choice in the matter. One way or another, Alison and I are going to have a talk. I may as well get it over with. "Fine."

The bell has already rung and the kids are filtering out of the school. Daisy is waiting for me by her locker, so I tap out a quick text message to let her know I'm going to be late. I need to concoct a fake story to explain why, but I'll worry about that later.

A few doors down from the biology lab is a classroom that looks empty. Alison grabs me by the arm and pulls me inside. I only start to get really nervous when she closes the door behind us. What is this all about? What does she want to say to me that she doesn't want anyone else to hear?

"What is it?" My voice is filled with irritation to cover up my anxiety. "What is so important?"

Alison looks up at me. The lights are out in the classroom, and even though the windows are providing some natural light, the shadows on her face look ominous. "I want you to stay away from Daisy."

" What ?"

"You heard me."

"Daisy is my girlfriend." Despite everything, whenever I say those words, I get a surge of happiness. Daisy is my girlfriend . I'm the luckiest guy in the world to be able to say those words. "I can't stay away from her."

"Right," she says, "so you need to break up with her."

What? "You're out of your mind, Alison." I shift my backpack on my shoulder. "I'm not going to have this conversation with you. I'm leaving."

I start in the direction of the door. My hand is almost on the doorknob when Alison blurts out, "I saw you kissing Brandi Healey."

Okay, she's got my attention.

I turn around, letting my backpack drop to the floor with a resounding thump. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie about it, Tom." Her voice is seething with hatred—she despises me. "I saw you. Outside the back of the school, just a few days before she disappeared. And it wasn't just a peck on the cheek. You were making out with her."

I'm going to be sick. I didn't think anyone saw that. I didn't think anyone knew except for me and Brandi, and then just me. Now, apparently, Alison knows too.

This is a problem.

"You're the boyfriend," she continues. "The mysterious boyfriend who was meeting up with Brandi the night she was killed."

That is not untrue.

"You're the one the police are trying to find," she says, "except Brandi didn't tell anyone it was you. But I saw you."

I lean against one of the desks, trying to get my thudding heart under control. I drop my eyes, unable to look at her. "I wasn't her boyfriend. It was just that one kiss. It didn't mean anything."

"So why were you meeting with her secretly late at night?"

I don't know what to say to that. I'm not going to lie—Brandi and I shared a very intense kiss. I'm also not going to lie and say I didn't enjoy it. But I finally decided that was as far as it could go. Even though I hadn't worked up the nerve to tell her my feelings yet, I was in love with Daisy. I didn't want Brandi, even though she seemed to want me very badly.

The night I was supposed to meet up with Brandi, I planned to tell her exactly that. But then she never showed.

"Did you tell anyone?" I ask.

"No," she says, "and I'm not going to, as long as you leave Daisy alone from now on."

"She's not going to be happy about that."

"She'll get over it. I'm not going to let you hurt her."

"I would never hurt Daisy."

"Frankly," she says, "I don't know what you're capable of. Everyone thinks Slug is the creep and you're the nice one, because you're polite and smart and good looking. But you're just as bad as he is. No, actually, you're much worse. Because you hide it. He's a creep, but you're dangerous ."

"That's not true," I croak.

"Bullshit." Her eyes flash. "I've worked with you side by side the whole year in biology lab. I see the way you are. How are you so good at the dissections? Nobody is that comfortable just from reading the textbook. You're so… into it. What—did you kill animals when you were a kid and take them apart? Isn't that what psychopaths do?"

Each word she speaks feels like a punch in the gut. I lean forward, resting my palms on my thighs for support as I gasp for air. "Please stop talking."

"Stay away from Daisy."

Even with everything she's saying, even with all the threats, I shake my head. "Don't ask me to do that. I love Daisy. I would never hurt her."

"If you truly love Daisy," she says, "then you know I'm right. You know she's better off without you. As long as you're dating her, her life is in danger—and I'm not going to stand by and let it happen. I love Daisy too."

Her words hit home. I do love Daisy. But I have dreams about her every night that are like something out of a low-budget horror movie. I don't want anything to happen to her, and there is a tiny part of me that doesn't trust myself. I sometimes worry my relationship with Daisy could very well put her life in danger.

"Why didn't you go to the police about me and Brandi?" I ask. "Why come to me first?"

She shrugs, unwilling to answer the question. But I can see the truth in her eyes. Alison is afraid of me. She knows I've covered my tracks very well, and the chief is my biggest fan right now. She's afraid that whatever she tells the police won't be enough to send me to jail, and then she'll have played all her cards. She'll have made a dangerous enemy out of me, and she doesn't want that.

She is that scared of me.

"I'll give you a few days to think it over," she says. "Then I'm going to talk to Chief Driscoll."

If she tells Daisy's father that I was Brandi's secret boyfriend, there's a chance he might not believe it, but there's a bigger chance he'll never let me near Daisy again. That alone will end our relationship. Alison has created an impossible situation for me. I love Daisy, but every path I choose will lead to the end of us.

I don't know what to do.

Daisy is waiting for me by her locker, as promised. When she sees me, her whole face lights up. I recognize the expression, because it's exactly how I feel right now. Every time I look at her, I find myself grinning like an idiot.

"Tom!" She picks up her heavy backpack from the floor—I'm ashamed to admit I haven't offered to carry it again since that first day. "Is everything okay?"

"Sure. Everything is fine. It just took a little longer to clean up after lab."

Everything is fine, except we might have to break up because your best friend caught me kissing that girl who was murdered and she's going to tell the police chief, who happens to be your dad. Other than that, everything is great!

"You look…" She cocks her head to the side. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Uh-huh." I force a very crooked smile. "Let's go."

I follow Daisy outside and we start on the path to her house, without any detours, as I promised her father we would. The weather has gotten considerably warmer. All the snow that had stuck around during the winter is long gone. Usually I'm not a big fan of snow, but now I wish it had stayed around even longer. So I could have had more time before they discovered Brandi's body, even though it was inevitable.

"I'm sorry my father is making you walk me home every day," she says. "I know it's kind of silly. It's not like some guy is going to jump out of the bushes and kill me right in broad daylight."

I reach out for her hand. "I don't mind walking you home."

"Are you sure?"

"It's the best part of my day," I answer truthfully.

Daisy beams at me. "Mine too."

I love you, Daisy. I have loved you since the moment I first saw you. I'd do anything to keep from having to give you up. But I don't know if there's another way…

"My father is trying to convince me not to go away to college." She rolls her eyes. "As if I would stick around here after I graduate."

"Where do you think you're applying?"

She flashes me a shy smile. "I'm not sure yet. Where do you think you're applying?"

"I'm not sure either."

"Well, when it comes time," she says, "we should compare lists. Don't you think so?"

A couple of weeks ago, a comment like that would have floored me. Other guys might want to play the field in college, but that's not what I want. All I want is to spend the rest of my life with Daisy. And now, because of Alison, that's going to be impossible.

Although, to be fair, it was pretty much impossible before. I was deluding myself if I ever thought otherwise.

"I love you, Daisy," I blurt out.

She stops walking, taken aback. Her pale eyelashes flutter as she absorbs my declaration. I don't know why I felt the need to say that. Maybe because I sensed that if I didn't say it now, I would never have another opportunity. Because there is a really good chance that in the next week or two, she's not going to feel the same way about me. In a week or two, she might not be speaking to me anymore.

She might even be afraid of me.

So I had to tell her how I really feel while there is still a chance she might appreciate it. Although looking at her face now, I'm not sure if it was a good idea.

"I…" she says.

Oh Christ, I made a mistake. I should never have said that. Stupid, stupid. "Never mind."

"Never mind?"

"No, I mean…" I pull my hand away from hers because it's gone clammy. "I just… I was being dumb. I shouldn't have said that."

"Yes, you should." She reaches for my hand again, taking it in hers. Her hands are always so soft. How does she get them so freaking soft? She must use a special lotion. "Because I feel the same way. I…I love you too, Tom."

And as Daisy kisses me, I realize that I will never be as happy again as I am at this moment. I try to remember it and savor it, because very soon things are going to get really bad.