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

Twenty

Trigger Warning: This chapter mentions mental health issues and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

My face hovers above the rim of the toilet.

Iris holds back my hair back as my stomach heaves once again, the contents erupting like a bitter wave into the porcelain bowl.

Shame washes over me, a prickly heat taking over my face and neck. I've been doing so well not drinking, and one little setback is all it took to throw me back to my old ways.

But it wasn't little. News of Ava's mental health was like a kick in the gut, making me second guess everything I thought I knew. All this time, I've been convinced Ava would never take her own life. But what if she did? What if she'd finally had enough and couldn't do it anymore?

"That's right, lovebug. Let it all out," Iris murmurs near my ear.

Sweat dots my hairline and I lean into the wall for support. Wipe the sleeve of my pajamas across my lips. "I think I'm done."

"You said that fifteen minutes ago."

"I mean it this time."

"If you say so." She rubs gentle circles into my back. "Are you ready to get back to bed?"

I nod, my flushed cheek still pressed to the wall, the cool paint soothing against my skin.

Iris helps me stand and guides me to my bed. When my head sinks into the pillow, she tucks the blankets around me until I'm swaddled like an infant, and brushes the hair from my face. There's something nostalgic about her mothering me this way. It reminds me of when I was little, before reality complicated everything.

Iris sits on the mattress next to me and the blankets pucker beneath her weight. "So, what made you decide to get completely wankered last night? Last I heard, you didn't want to drink."

I shrug under the covers. "Guess I changed my mind."

"Obviously." She rolls her eyes. "But why?"

My stomach churns, only this time it's not the alcohol. "I don't want to talk about it."

And I don't. Not about Ava, or what my mother said. And not about Drew. I threw myself at him and he pushed me away. What was I thinking? I like Drew, but he's with Kate. And even if I don't care for her, I'd never get involved with someone else's boyfriend. It just felt so nice to have someone care for a change. To be in someone's arms...

Iris shifts until she's facing me and tucks one leg beneath the other. "I wanted to give you more time, but I don't think you can afford to wait," she says, releasing a weary sigh. "What's going on with you? And don't tell me it's nothing because I can clearly see there is."

I swallow hard and close my eyes against the ache fermenting behind them. When I open them, one lonely tear sneaks out and rolls down my cheek. "It's a long story."

She gives me an encouraging smile. "If you're willing to talk then I have all the time in the world to listen. So, you should probably start at the beginning."

The beginning. I spend most days trying not to think about that. But maybe Iris is right. She's never given me a reason not to trust her.

A breath shudders through me as I work up the courage to spill my life story—a story I've not shared in a very long time.

"Growing up, Ava was my best friend," I begin quietly, the thought intensifying the void in my chest. "We did everything together. She didn't care that I was her annoying little sister, or that I copied everything she did. She was cool about it, and she'd even let me tag along when she went to play with her friends."