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“Howis that possible?”
"Idon't know," she replied, her eyes darting between the phone and me. "Buthe's sending it to me."
Justas she finished speaking, her phone chimed with a new message.Poppyunlocked it, andImoved beside her as she played the video.Adrunk girl stumbled into the frame, belligerently swaying to the music and declaring her inebriated state.Someonepointed the camera at her, possibly intending to document the provocative dancing.
“There.”Poppyzoomed in to the top right corner of the screen. “It’sRose.”
Thevideo turned slightly grainy when enlarged, but we could make out enough details.Rosestood on the second floor in the backdrop, her side profile visible as she shook her head at something not captured on film.
“Whatis she looking at?”Poppymused aloud.
Itried to placeRosewithin the layout of the house and decipher what might have caught her attention.Nothingcame to mind.Tearsstreamed downRose’scheeks, and she stifled a sob with a hand over her mouth. “Orwho is she looking at?Theyclearly freaked her out.”
“No,”Poppycontradicted softly. “Roseisn’t spooked.Sheis devastated.Lookat how she backed away as if hoping whatever she saw wasn’t real.”
Poppywas right.Rose’sface was raw with pain.Inher devastation, tears blurring her vision and judgment,Rosewalked backward to distance herself from the distressing situation.Therewas a fateful moment of realization when the railing hit her lower back.Rosehad backpedaled too quickly and lost her balance.Hermouth opened wide in a scream just as she stumbled over the railing and fell to the floor below.
"Shit,"Icursed under my breath.
“Itwas an accident, after all,”Poppyconcluded.Thephone beeped again, prompting her to tap on the message icon. “NickunlockedRose’sphone.Herlast few texts were…”Hereyes searched the screen before looking up at me. “Theywere from you.”
Istiffened.Thephone beeped persistently with more incoming texts.Poppyquickly glossed over the new messages, searching for the truth.Ibraced myself becauseIknew what was coming.
“Therewere so many texts between you two.”Poppyheld up the damning evidence, face contorting with ire. “Someof these are from years ago.”
Theaccusation was true, thoughRose’sintention and mine differed. “Ididn’t respond to most of her messages.”Myvoice was measured asIspoke.
“Shewouldn’t have pursued you this hard, not unless there was history between you two.”
Ishook my head. “Iwas never interested inRose, nor didIencourage her advances.”
Poppyscanned the texts. “Butyou did encourage it for an invitation to this party.”
Iknew where this was headed. “Ican explain before you jump to any conclusions.”
“Letme guess.Youflirted withRoseto get into the party,” she surmised. “That’show you got through security.Someonefrom the inside let you in.”
Theassessment was spot-on. “Yes, however, the messages weren’t flirtatious, at least not on my end,”Iexplained delicately.Rosewas the closestPoppyhad to a sister.MakingRoselook bad to defend myself would work against me.
Poppy’sgaze returned to the phone.Herexpression morphed as if another piece of the puzzle clicked. “Youdidn’t shut the bedroom door,” she stated, her voice filled with realization.
Itried to comprehend the abrupt change of topic. “Excuseme?”
"Lastnight," she clarified, gesturing toward the video. “Youdidn’t close the door after kickingSophieout of the room.”
Aftercatching them in the act,Ifuriously hauledSophieoff the bed and shoved her out of the room.AblindfoldedPoppywaiting for me on the bed had obliterated my reason.Iwasn’t thinking straight, let alone worried about shutting the door.
Poppypulled up the video from before.Sherotated the phone, studying the spatial configuration of whereRosestood and the layout of the scene.Thetruth hit us simultaneously like a ton of bricks.
“IfRosewas standing here, and my bedroom door was open, she was probably staring inside my bedroom when she fell,”Poppydecreed. “Shemust’ve come to find me and caught us in bed together instead.That’swhy she was upset.Becauseshe has been in love with you for years.”
Thiscouldn’t get any worse. “Itried my best never to lead her on,”Iadmitted instead of denyingRose’sfeelings.
“I’llneedRoseto confirm that.”
“That’snot exactly possible at the moment.Youhave to take my word for it.”
“Takeyour word?Youselectively omitted to mentionRose’sfeelings for you, though you clearly knew about it.Infact, you took advantage of her feelings,”Poppyaccused. “Afterflirting with her to get into the party, you slept with a random girl, then left the door open forRoseto see.”
