Sage’s lips purse. She leans back in her seat, crossing her arms. “I thought it was a bit weird, you asking me here. I don’t think we’ve done homework together since sophomore year. You’re not even going to order a drink before you give me the third degree?”
I glance up at the counter. “Fine.” I grab my wallet, hoping she doesn’t pack up and slip out before I finish ordering.
But when I return a few minutes later, she’s still at the table, though she’s not typing quite as furiously. “Sage, how did you get that video of Bram? Did you take it?”
“I can’t share my sources,” she says without looking up from the screen.
“Because your source is a complete idiot for sharing it with you instead of the police?”
Her head tilts. “Let’s just say a friend may have been excused from class to go to the bathroom, but they were actually hiding out and recording a cute little video for social media. And then that video got more interesting when this friend spotted shady behavior down the hall. Oh, and this friend may also want Bram to go downfor his crimes as much as my family does.”
Which of Sage’s friends would hate Bram enough to want the footage leaked?
Immediately, I know the answer.All of them.
Though Adam’s injuries cast him in the spotlight last year, the fact that Mariana had been Bram’s girlfriend was never forgotten. “You should let the police handle it,” I say. “If they thought Bram was guilty of something, they would’ve arrested him.”
“Oh.” Sage finally glances up with a devious grin. “That’s coming. Soon, now that the public has the video footage. They’ll be putting extra pressure on the detectives to make an arrest.”
My jaw clenches. “You have to take that post down.”
“Why would I do that? I’m finally getting people to call in to the station. Finally, others are helping with what my family has been trying to do for a year.”
“Please, Sage. Bram is my friend.”
“Is he?” she asks condescendingly. “Deep down, I don’t think you believe that.”
“He didn’t do this,” I plead.
Her expression softens, no longer self-satisfied and victorious. Instead, I see pity as she picks up her coffee. “We bothknowyou don’t believe that.”
And though I should try, I can’t find the words or the will to argue. Instead, I say pathetically, “We used to be friends, Sage. Can you take it down for me?”
She sips her coffee, and for a moment, I think she’s going tocomply.
But then she sets her cup down and looks me in the eye. “We stopped being friends because my cousin was murdered, and you tooktheirside, not mine. Or have you forgotten?”
She pulls her headphones back on, ending the conversation.
BramLast October
“The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me, with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.”
—Draculaby Bram Stoker
“There you are,” Bram said, finding Mariana on the path up to the mansion. Her curls were windswept, and when he got closer, he saw that she’d been crying. “What’s wrong?”
When he reached for her, she shrank back. “Stop, Bram.”
“What happened?”
She sniffled. “I can’t be with you anymore.”
Bram stood there in the mottled shade of a birch tree, stunned. “Okay,” he said, the word stretching like the shadows of the branches on the path. “Are you going to tell me why?”
“You already know why,” she said, wiping at her nose. A leaf had fallen into her hair, and Bram had to resist the urge to tug it free.
“I’m lost here, Mar. Can you tell me where you went?”
