“I don’t understand. What club?” Mountain, who’d been observing quietly, finally asks.
I catch Mountain up, filling in all the gaps.
“When we were looking up info on Sam’s mom, we found a photo of all of our moms. Which was a shock because she didn’t know her mother was a student at SKU,” Gracie interjects.
“Your moms?”
“Yeah. Sam’s, mine, Kane’s, Alex’s, and Christina’s. They were part of some club called the Aurelian Circle. But everything we looked up about it is either nonexistent or vague. It was shut down in ’05 after a student killed another student.”
“Wait. Killed. Who?”
My gaze darts to Kane’s. To tell Mountain anything more would be sharing something that isn’t mine to tell. Gracie knows, but only because she was there when I found out. And when I told Kane what we found, filled him in on his mother being named in Emily’s death, he didn’t take it too well.
And I get it. Everyone has a version of the people they love that they want to cherish, and in a matter of minutes, that viewpoint was altered. It leaves more questions that he’ll probably never get the answer to.
“A girl named Emily Croswell, and apparently the person who killed her was my mother,” Kane answers.
Alex shoots up, perplexed, but he doesn’t speak. The room quiets as we give Kane the space to work through whatever he’s feeling around that confession. After a beat, he opens up, sharing about his mother’s mental health struggles, and how hard it’s been.
And like the good friends that they are, neither of them questions him. Instead, Alex walks over to Kane and pulls him into a hug. I watch the tension leave his body as relief enters it.
“Sorry to hear that, bro,” Mountain says. “I can only imagine what that’s like, but know that we have your back. Always.”
Alex releases him, but we remain silent, none of us knowing what to say next. So much information has been shared and we’re still no closer to understanding it all.
“So what are we going to do? Clearly someone’s trying to scare her, and I’m convinced my father has something to do with it,” Alex says while taking a seat on the arm of the sofa.
“He does,” Kane blurts.
We turn our attention to him.
“Your dad is involved.” Kane stares at me, something akin to remorse steeped into the lines above his brow. Then he looks away, his shoulders slumped, fingers curling into fist. “A little while ago, he called me to his office. It was late and he wanted to talk.”
Alex frowns. “About what?”
“He had a video of you and Sam outside the admin building.”
“That’s how you knew about Alex kissing me?” I say in a whisper, but not low enough. All eyes point to me, and I feel the moment Mountain grows a little uncomfortable.
“Shit. Security cameras,” Alex mutters. “But what did he call you for?”
“He asked me to keep Sam away from you. Said that she was digging into some stuff that could get her hurt and he didn’t want you to get caught up with her. Asked me to watch her.”
As soon as he starts to explain, memories of the night he showed up at my dorm drunk off his ass rush to the front of my mind. Now it makes sense. I couldn’t put it together that night how he knew or why he was acting the way he was. My blood boils, the anger starting to fester. He played me and I fell for it.
“So all this time he knew we broke in. But why did he ask you? Why not just come to me? Or go to Sam?”
Kane shrugs. “He knew about Sam’s and my history, about our mothers both being patients at Wyndmoor around the same time. Figured because I knew her before, I could convince her to stay away from you.”
“All this time, you knew I was in danger and said nothing?”
I can’t believe him. All that talk about having me, about keeping me safe, and the whole time he’s known. I don’t know if it’s the lie that hurts or that I fell for it. I jump to my feet and move toward the kitchen, needing to put some much-needed distance between Kane and me.
“Sam. It’s not like that.” Kane stands and reaches for me, but I jerk away. “I didn’t tell him anything and I was never going to. I don’t even think I fully believed him. But I got a weird vibe and told Sam to stay away.”
“We all keep secrets, Sam,” Gracie chimes in, stopping me in my tracks. “I get this came out of left field, but you can’t really blame him when you’ve done the same. The look on Mountain’s face tells me he didn’t know about any of this until this very moment.”
“It’s not the same.”
