I hear Brock walking away and Braden stomping up the stairs. I go in my room and wait to hear something from Jackson. After an hour, I text him.
You okay?
Still meeting with the lawyers,he texts back.
I fall back on my bed, frustrated and wishing I could do something to help. Wishing I could find out who did this. Braden seems determined to convince everyone it was Jackson, which makes me wonder ifhe'sthe one who did it. Maybe to avoid being considered a suspect, Braden's pushing the blame on Jackson.
What was Kristen doing Friday night? She wasn't at the football game. Did she go to any of the parties? If she did, someone would've seen her or talked to her. Maybe they could tell us if she did or said something that would hint at who killed her.
My phone rings. It's a local call but not from someone I know.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Bestie!" a girl squeals.
"Peyton?" I say, since she's the only one who calls me that. She calls other girls at school that too. She's strange.
"Who else would it be?" She laughs. "I'm sooo bored. Let's go out."
"Um, Peyton, you know what happened, right? On Friday night?"
"What? Someone did something stupid at a party? I really don't care. I'm so over those high school parties. From now on, I'm spending my Friday nights on a sailboat, drinking champagne and eating caviar." She sighs. "Older men are so much better, in every way. Wealthy. Sophisticated. Know how to treat a woman."
Do I tell her? I feel weird telling her this. Peyton and I aren't really friends, and I know how much she liked Kristen. She was the only person who didn't say anything bad about her.
"Something happened," I say. "I can't believe nobody told you."
"Told me what?"
"About Kristen." I pause. "She died."
"Died?" Peyton laughs. "Yeah, right. You have a strange sense of humor, but I like it. I think it's cute. So anyway, you want to go shopping? It's on me. I have Daddy's credit card."
"Peyton, listen to me. Kristen is dead. Someone killed her. They found her body on the beach early Saturday morning."
The phone is silent. I check to see if she's still there.
"Peyton, did you hear me?"
"She's not dead." She sniffles. "You're lying. Why would you lie about that? What kind of person makes up something like that? I know I might stretch the truth sometimes but I'd never—"
"I'm not lying. Turn on the TV. It's all over the news. Check the internet. The story is everywhere. Even the national news covered it. I can't believe you didn't hear about it."
"I wasn't here. My parents were out of town this weekend so I went and stayed on the sailboat yesterday and didn't get home until just now." I hear the TV in the background. "Oh my God. You weren't lying. She's really gone."
"I'm so sorry. I know you guys were friends."
"Not besties, but yeah, we were friends. We've known each other since we were kids."
"Really? I thought you grew up in LA."
"In Malibu. Kristen used to live there too."
"Malibu. I think that's where Trystan and Braden's mom lives."
"It's where a lot of rich people live. We had a house on the beach."
"Don't you still live on a beach?"
