Page 127 of The Design of Goodbye
My bedroom door slammed shut. I jumped. Why had I been so cruel? Had I meant what I said? I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything.
Remember what I always told you.
I screamed into my pillow until I had no air left. I sat there, gasping for breath, until a knock sounded on my door.
My dad peeked his head in, forehead creased with worry. “Hey,” he said. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I lied.
“Then, what’s wrong with Liam?” he asked. “I didn’t even know he was here until I saw him leaving. He was pretty upset.”
My stomach twisted. “We’re fighting.”
He frowned. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Remember what I always told you.
I almost yelled at him to leave, but I stopped myself. The last thing I needed was to lose him, too. “No.”
“Okay,” he said, his frown lines deepening. “Come find me if you change your mind.”
He closed the door softly. I curled on my bed, covering my head with my pillow to try and block out my mom’s words. But I couldn’t forget them. I never would. They were part of my past—part of me.
Remember what I always told you.
Remember.
Remember...
* * *
In the middle of the night, I woke up with an idea.
I got out of bed, sat at my desk, and turned on my laptop. Using the glow from my laptop screen as my light, I typed,Michigan,Strom, andpost officeinto the internet search bar.
It was too easy. Like Tanner had mentioned months ago, the first results were math competitions Liam had won and participated in. But there, on page three of the search results, was an article from a local newspaper one town over.
I read it.
And, suddenly, everything changed.
Liam promised he’d always been honest. He’dpromised.
So, why had he lied?
chapter forty-three
The next morning, I found Liam sleeping on the couch in the school’s library.
I pulled off his jacket he was using to cover his face, and he startled awake.
When his eyes met mine, I said, “We need to talk.”
He pushed himself into a sitting position. Slumped forward and still half asleep, he said, “I’d rather not.”
He was angry. It made me angrier. He hadnoright to be mad at me.
I sat down on the small coffee table. “You don’t have a choice.”
