AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Except you didn’t kill anyone. You can’t even look me in the eyes.”
There’s a moment’s pause and then, with his jaw set, Cole turns back to me. “Then why did I admit to it? Why did I plead guilty? Why did the judge give me a life sentencewithoutparole?”
“Pleading guilty and being guilty are two different things, and I’m going to prove it. I’m going to get you out of here.”
Cole’s gaze is locked onto mine. “Look, I’m glad you finally got your shit together and got the grades to get into law school, but there’s nothing you can do to get me out of here.”
“It’s not law school.” I finally unfold the paper and hold it up to the glass.
As Cole’s eyes flick left to right, the color quickly leaves his face. “Vee, you can’t go there.”
I lower the paper, taking my time to fold it back up and slip it back into my pocket.
“I know you, Cole. Even in self-defense, you wouldn’t have killed someone. Something else happened that night, and if you’re just going to sit there and not tell me what, taking the blame for whatever that was, I’m going to go find out the truth myself.”
“There is no truth. I killed a man, and I’m in prison.”
Staring at my older brother, I shake my head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Whether you believe me or not, James Keyingham University is dangerous. The students aren’t normal. They’re rich and they’re powerful, and they get away with everything.”
“Like murder?”
Cole slams his hand against the glass, and the cool persona I’ve been hiding behind slips as I jump in my seat, nearly dropping the phone. Almost at once, the guard rushes over to Cole.
“You are not going to that college, Vee, I won’t—” Before he can finish the sentence, the guard grabs him and yanks him away, the phone ripped from his hand so that it slams into the glass.
“Miss.” The guard on my side of the room has moved next to me. “It’s time to leave.”
My heart is sinking as I get to my feet and follow the guard back out to collect my things.
This is the first time I’ve seen Cole for years, and I didn’t want it to go like this, but college is starting in two days. I’m not sure what I was hoping for, but his reaction just confirmedsomethinghad happened that night. Something so bad that Cole is serving a life sentence instead of telling the truth.
And if he won’t tell me, then it’s up to me to find out what.
Even if that leads me straight to James Keyingham University.
It’s late when I get home. The prison is in upstate New York, and when we lost everything after the conviction, we moved into a small apartment in New Jersey.
“I’m home,” I call over to my mom. She’s in her usual position on the couch, eyes glued to a mundane TV show with her mouth practically glued to the wine glass as she seems to drink more than she breathes.
It’s not wine in the glass. Judging from the dark amber color, today’s drink of choice is knock-off Jack Daniels. She doesn’t even drink branded alcohol anymore.
As usual, I don’t get a response.
My mom and I are barely on speaking terms now.
At first, it was because I was constantly asking her to take me to see Cole. Then it was because I kept asking questions that she either didn’t know the answers to or didn’t want to.
I head over to the fridge, pulling out a bowl of leftover pasta I’d made yesterday. After heating it up, I spoon it out into two bowls, placing one by the couch—mom won’t eat anything unless I give it to her as she’s usually lost in her drunken haze. I take the other one to my small room.
My life is like a reverse Cinderella story.
Before all this, we lived in a huge brownstone in the Upper East Side. My bedroom was the size of nearly the whole of this 2-bed apartment. Now, to make space, I had a bunkbed with the desk beneath it. The only way I could get the free-standing closet in the room was to cover half of the window, which has a view of the alley below it.
I used to attend a private school which included horse riding in the curriculum. There wasn’t a single item in my bigger-than-this-bedroom closet that didn’t have a designer label on it.
Dad set up a flower import business when he left school, eventually branching out to having depots across the country, and stores along the east coast. He was ready to take the stores nationwide and was even in the process of making them global when Cole got accepted into James Keyingham University—without the need for a scholarship. He’d earned the grades, and my family had the money for the tuition, and the right reputation for acceptance.
