“All right. Might has well.” She might be miserable right now, but it would made Liam happy. One of them should be.
The place was bustling when they arrived. So busy that they had to swoop in and grab a dirty table as the students seated there got up to leave.
“You sit and hold the table. I’ll go up and order.”
“Bring back some napkins so I can wipe down the table,” she called after him.
Waiting for Liam while surrounded by students made her feel every one of her forty years. She watched as he got quite a few interested glances from the female students, while anyone who happened to look in Natalie’s direction basically ignored her. Like she was a parent intruding on their space. Not worth their attention except as an annoyance.
She couldn’t comprehend why Liam loved this place so much,. It must be the memories of good times in days gone by. Natalie didn’t have those memories and definitely did not have the appreciation for it that he did.
The overwhelming noise in The Well was nearly a roar. The din made hearing any one conversation nearly impossible, until a group of girls came to hover near Natalie’s table.
She glanced up and noticed they were doing the same thing she and Liam had. Stalking the table nearby where a pair of students were obviously finishing up and hopefully on their way out.
They talked, while they checked their phones and their hair in the reflection of a glass-framed poster hanging on the wall.
“I can’t believe they just came in and arrested her. For murder,” one said.
Another shook her head. “I heard the police just wanted to question her.”
“No. I heard there were actual handcuffs,” the third one said.
“Stop. Mia’s not arrested. She’s back in her room. Her roommate Jen was in my last class and told me all about it. They searched the room. Like they looked at everything, Jen’s stuff included. And then they took Mia’s computer and her phone for like a whole day,” the fourth one said.
“No phone or computer for a whole day? Oh my God. I’d die.”
“I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had killed him. I’ve wanted to kill Graves myself a few times. He’s so mean. I’m sure I’m not alone.”
“Shhh. You can’t say things like that anymore.”
“Why not? Because we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead?”
“No, because you don’t want the police taking your computer and cell. Do you?”
“The whole thing was ridiculous. Mia couldn’t kill anyone. I mean she’s so sweet. Plus Graves gave her like straight As. Why would she kill him?”
“Why would anyone kill him? Sure, he can be mean in class but like that’s not enough to make anyone want to actually kill him. Like dead.”
“I don’t know. Mia’s boyfriend really hates Graves.”
“Peter? He doesn’t even go here anymore. He graduated.”
“Yeah, barely. He almost flunked out of Graves’s class his senior year. Peter really hates him.”
“Yeah. And remember at that party before Christmas break? Peter was drunk and he was ranting for like an hour about how much he hated Graves. Peter called Graves a thief.”
“Why? What did he steal?”
“Some book idea or something like that. I don’t know. I got bored and went to play beer pong.”
Liam’s arrival back at the table startled Natalie and interrupted her eaves dropping.
She spun to face him as he paused with the two beers and the stack of napkins in his hands.
Liam took in her expression and asked, “What happened?”
She pressed her finger to her lips. “Shh.”
