He comes over to me, lowering his voice. “Remember that girl I found dead?”
“Andrea?”
He eyes me suspiciously. “How’d you know her name?”
My mind rushes to find an explanation. “Someone at school was talking about her.”
“Who?” he says, like he doesn’t believe me.
“Peyton,” I blurt out. “At the game last night.”
“Why would she bring up Andrea?”
“She was talking about the parties around here and how they can get a little crazy. She said some girl died at one and when I asked more about it, she said it was a girl named Andrea and that she used to date Braden.”
Trystan chews on his apple as I anxiously wait to see if he believes my story. He tosses what’s left of his apple in the trash, then walks over to me. “Did she say it was an accident?”
“It didn’t come up,” I say, not wanting to tell him what she said. “She changed topics and we never went back to it.”
“You gotta watch out for that girl. What Braden told you is true. Peyton lies all the fucking time. She does it to get attention. She’ll make shit up and spread it around school just for the fun of it. Did you tell her anything?”
“Like what?”
“Did she ask you about Andrea or what happened that night?”
“No. Why would she askme? I wasn’t here when it happened.”
He turns and walks the other way, rubbing the back of his neck. “Peyton,” he mutters. “I wasn’t even thinking of her.” Trystan leaves the kitchen, and I hear him yell, “Braden, get your ass down here!”
I race out of the kitchen and find Trystan at the bottom of the stairs. “Tell me what you were going to say. About Andrea.”
Braden appears in the upstairs hallway. “What do you want?”
“Get down here,” Trystan says. “I think I know who might’ve told.”
“Told what?” I ask. “What are you talking about?”
Braden comes down the stairs, stopping in front of Trystan. “Yeah? Who is it?”
“Peyton. You know how she makes shit up all the time, and last night she was telling Rumor stories about Andrea.”
Braden’s eyes dart to me. “What’d she say?”
I shrug. “Not much. She was telling me about the parties around here and said a girl from school died at one.”
“That’s it?” Braden asks, sounding annoyed.
“Peyton told her it was Andrea,” Trystan says. “And said you were dating her.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Braden says. “Peyton talks about everyone. The bitch never shuts up.”
“Yeah, but why would she be talking about Andrea? Why now? And why tell Rumor?”
“She was just talking about parties getting out of control,” I say. “It didn’t have anything to do with the new evidence.”
They both look at me, and I realize I just admitted knowing something I shouldn’t.
“Evidence?” Braden says. “I never told you there was new evidence.” He glances at Trystan. “Did you tell her?”
