Sweet Deadly Lies (A Dark Academia Mystery) Watty Winner ✔️

Fourteen

When I walk into physics the next morning, Drew's already in his seat, and Kate is eyeballing him from across the room. As I pass her desk, she releases an audible huff and turns away, her auburn hair spilling over her shoulders like waves of molten lava.

God. I can't stand that girl.

Thankfully, her boyfriend doesn't share the same opinion of me. A smile plays at the corner of Drew's mouth as I slide into my chair.

"No offense, but you look like hell warmed over," he says, his ice blue eyes tinged with something that resembles concern.

"Perfect. That's the look I was going for," I deadpan.

He shifts until he's facing me. "Didn't you get any sleep?"

"Barely."

I laid awake half the night, unable to get the orb of light out of my head. I went through all the possibilities of what it could be—some sort of giant glowing insect, or maybe a UFO with a habit of spying on students from Maliseet Bay—but nothing I came up with seemed very likely. The most absurd theory of all is that it's appearance is somehow related to my sister.

But what if...?

I swallow hard and tuck my hair behind my ears. "I saw the light last night."

"The light?"

"You know. On the cliffs."

"Oh. Shit." Drew's face drains of color. "I can't believe Iris told you."

I shrug.

"I'm sorry. She shouldn't have said anything." A line of unease creases his forehead. "It was inappropriate."

"I'm glad she did. I'd rather know what everyone's talking about than be left in the dark."

"Well just so you know, they're wrong." His sullen gaze drops to the floor. "It's probably ball lightning, or something. Have you ever heard of that before? It takes the form of a glowing sphere and floats above the ground during a storm."

"Yeah, we learned about it last year in science." It's said to be a rare phenomenon possibly caused by a vortex of radioactive gasses trapped inside a plasma bubble. Of course, no one knows for sure. "But there was no thunderstorm last night, and the sky was crystal clear."

There's a hardness in his eyes when they reconnect with mine. "I refuse to believe that when we die, that is what happens to us. If all we're destined to become is random balls of light, what's the point in any of this?" he says, gesturing around us.

It's then that Mr. Plavik pokes his bald head into the room. "I'm in the middle of a situation, but I'll be back in about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, I want you to finish reading chapter three of your textbook." And then he's gone.

Fighting back a yawn, I reach into my bag and pull out my physics book, opening it to where we left off.

I'm in the middle of reading a paragraph when Drew whispers in my ear, his warm breath caressing the length of my earlobe. "What's up with you and Lim?"

The little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, but I don't bother looking up. "Nothing."

"I saw you eating dinner together last night."

"I wasn't eating."

"Ok-ay." There's a hint of irritation in his voice. "I saw you sitting with him and there was a plate of food in front of you."

When I turn to face him, Drew's watching me, his determined expression taking me by surprise. At first, I'm not sure what to say, so I go with the truth. Or, at least, part of the truth. "I'm thinking of joining the visual arts club and I was asking him about it." I shrug and shake my head. "Why do you care so much anyway?"