His face darkens. “You’re sorry? Tell that to Garrett’s parents. He was their only child.”
“Garrett’s death was tragic. But I’m still confused as to how you believe I’m to blame. You need to explain how it’s my fault.”
Lucas links his fingers and puts his hands at the back of his neck, spreading his elbows wide. “You know what? I don’t want to talk about this with you.”
“Oh, no, no, no. You’re accusing me of a person’s death. You can’t drop a bomb like that and not explain.”
He stares long and hard at me. Just when I think he won’t respond, he drops his arms by his sides and says, “When I got kicked out of school and couldn’t get into any colleges, I fucking lost it. Thought my life would be over. If I couldn’t study law, I didn’t know what the hell I’d do.”
“What about your family’s fashion house? Isn’t that where you were going to work?”
He shakes his head. “No. I never wanted to work for the business. I was planning on breaking out on my own. But after what happened, I had no choice but to join the family business. Thankfully, my hobby of photography turned into my passion and things worked out.” Dropping his head, he scuffs the toe ofhis boot into the dirt. “I drank and partied hard. Garrett deferred going to college because he didn’t want to leave me in the state I was in. He was trying to pull me out of the hole you pushed me in.”
Tears sting the backs of my eyes. My chest tightens. One stupid mistake turned Lucas’ life upside down.
“The night of the accident, I was drunk, and I called him to pick me up from a party. He didn’t hesitate. Never did. On the drive home, a storm hit, he lost control of the car going around a sharp bend and crashed into a tree. I walked away with only a few scratches and a broken arm. Garrett…” His voice cracks on his name, “You know the rest.” He digs his fingers into his eye sockets like he’s trying to wipe away the image.
How hard it must have been to watch his friend die. This is something that will affect him for the rest of his life. “It was a terrible accident. I still don’t understand why you’re blaming me.”
He pins me with a hard stare. “If you hadn’t pulled that stunt with the drugs, Garrett and I would have been in college. I wouldn’t have been drunk and calling him to pick me up. He’d be safe with his nose buried in books. Not fucking buried in the ground.Youdid that.”
Blood drains from my body, leaving an icy trail. He’s right. It is my fault. It was a stupid thing to do. I shouldn’t have listened to Claudia. She’d given me the idea and the cocaine. But she’s not the one who went through with it. I did.
“Lucas, I’m sorry. Never did I imagine things going so far.”
Anger pinches his features. “Why did you hate me so much? Why did you set me up? I thought we were friends. I would never believe you’d do such a thing if I hadn’t overheard you talking to Claudia about it.”
My legs shake and I sit on the nearest boulder. I had wanted to be more than friends with Lucas. That was until I learnedthat his ‘friendship’ was only a joke. A guy like Lucas Alessi—the hottest guy in school, rich, smart, and athletic—doesn’t fall for the overweight, poor girl. None of the popular kids looked twice at me or ever dated me. I always wondered why Lucas talked to me. Until I learned his attention was all a sham. A fun game for him and his buddies.
“You humiliated me in front of the entire school,” I say. “Pretended to be my friend when I was only entertainment for you. You took naked photos of me at the beach party and spread them around to your friends until everyone in school saw them. Do you know how traumatic that was? Knowing everyone had seen me naked? I wanted revenge.”
Lucas’ eyes grow wide, and his mouth drops open. “You think I took those photos?”
“You took photography classes and owned a fancy camera with a super-zoom lens. You texted me to tell me about the party at the beach. The one you never showed up to.”
“Just because I owned a camera you think I took naked photos of you?”
“Your friend Travis told me you did it. He said you both laughed at how gullible I was.” My face burns with embarrassment. It’s something I’ll never forget.
It should have been a night of fun; taking risks and being young. Claudia dared me to go skinny-dipping with her. Being so self-conscious about my body, it’s something I never thought I’d ever do. But I wanted to break free from my shell. Live a little. If Lucas saw how fun I could be, he’d look at me differently. Not just as the girl he sat next to in math class.
“I never took those photos,” Lucas says. “And Travis wasn’t my friend. He was a jerk. I only tolerated him because his parents were friends with mine. Did you ever think he might be lying? Why didn’t you ask me for the truth?”
I never thought to ask him because I had proof. “Travis showed me your camera with my photos on it.”
Lucas blows out a frustrated breath. “I used to lend my camera out to people all the time. Travis used it often. It’s possible he took the photos and shared them around. He probably deleted them before he gave it back to me, because I never saw them on it.”
“Why would he want to hurt me? I hardly knew him.”
Lucas scratches the back of his neck. “Who knows? He enjoyed causing trouble and playing pranks. Believe me when I tell you I never took those photos.” His shoulders sag and he sits on the boulder next to me.
“It really wasn’t you.” It’s not a question. I know the truth. I can see the sincerity on his face. If only I had asked him when it happened, things would have turned out a lot differently. And like Lucas said, Garrett would be alive.
Lucas scrubs his hands over his face. “I didn’t take the photos, but I sent the text. I never made it to the party because—” He stops speaking and frowns like he’s remembering something. “Travis called me because he was stranded at a party and couldn’t get back. He said he’d been drinking and didn’t want to call his parents to get him.”
“Did you pick him up?”
“I went to the house, but he wasn’t there. When I called him, he didn’t answer. I assumed he’d gotten a lift and forgotten to tell me. Then the shitstorm happened with your photos and the drugs, and I never asked him about it.” He slaps a hand on the rock. “He set us up!”