The Haunted - Jessica Verday [90]
“What?”
I wanted to yell, to scream in his face that I knew, and he needed to stop lying, but I saw Caspian shaking his head. Counting to three, I said very slowly, “I know that you and Kristen were dating, and that you wanted her to keep it a secret from me.” Ben took a step toward me, and even though I felt like flinching, I held my ground. “What are you talking about, Abbey? Kristen and I never dated.” His earnestness threw me for a loop. “But your first name is Daniel, and she was seeing someone named D.”
“She was?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I mean, no. I mean… You should know. You’re D.” He shook his head. “Sorry, Abbey. But it wasn’t me.” Caspian watched us, and I stole a glance at him, trying to keep my focus. “I know it was you. She wrote that you guys were meeting at secret places, and… and how do you know so much about her if it wasn’t you?”
Ben blushed a little. “Because I liked her.”
“How do you explain all the personal stuff you know about her?”
“We shared a couple of study halls, and I asked her some stuff.” I searched his eyes, trying to see if he was lying.
He wasn’t.
“Why didn’t she ever tell me?” I asked.
“I don’t know. But I was going to tell you about my feelings for her. That’s what I’ve been trying to talk to you about.” He glanced down, looking embarrassed. “I thought that maybe I had feelings for you.… But then I realized—” He broke off and looked up at me.
I stayed silent.
“Then I realized that I, uh, I didn’t really have those… uh, feelings… for you,” he said. “It was always Kristen. I guess it was just a temporary transference type of thing.” I unclenched my fists and stared down at my palms. “Where were you?” I asked. “The night she went missing?”
“Out of town. With my dad. We went on a fishing trip upstate. Ask him if you want.” I studied him again. Looking for something… anything. “It’s not you?” He shook his head. “I almost wish I was this guy. Then I could give you some answers.
But I’m not. In fact, one of the reasons I was so upset at her memorial was because I missed the search-and-rescue teams. I would have… helped.” He looked so miserable that I knew there was no way he was faking it.
“You’re not D.,” I whispered. Half to Ben, half to Caspian. Hanging my head, I felt empty now and drained. “I’m sorry, Ben. I’m just… sorry.”
He nodded once, and turned away from me to go back to his dad. I didn’t know what to say, so I let him go. Now I was even worse off than before. I still didn’t know who D. was, and I’d possibly cost myself a friend.
The next day at Uncle Bob’s shop was long, and I didn’t think I’d make it through till the end. My brain and fingers were disconnected, and I felt clumsy and slow. Several times I dropped the scooper onto the floor mid-scoop, and I had to stop each time to get a new one.
Then I hit the wrong button on the register as Aubra was showing me how to use it (“for the fifty-third time!”), and even Uncle Bob couldn’t figure out how to fix it. For the rest of the day everyone automatically got their ice cream at half price.
Thursday wasn’t much better, and Ben missed our tutoring session. He called me later and said he was sorry, he just got busy, but I knew it was because of our awkward meeting at the tree farm. He wasn’t sure how to act around me now.
But at least I had one bright spot at the end of each day. Caspian would come over and stay for an hour or two while we lay on my bed, just talking about nothing at all. Sometimes we didn’t talk, but listened to music instead, and that was nice too. Just knowing that he’d be there waiting for me was what kept me going.
Friday, though, was the toughest day of all. Aubra was in rare form, even for her. At first I thought it was just a PMS thing, but she kept taking all these breaks to go text on her phone, and when she’d come back, her eyes were red.
Then I just figured it was a Vincent thing. He didn’t exactly seem like the best boyfriend on the planet, so it was no surprise that he’d be making her cry.
I tried to steer clear of her, and actually went to hide out in Uncle Bob’s