The last thing Sarah said to me was "I love you, little sis."
I didn't say it back. I was too angry about something stupid she'd borrowed my favorite sweater without asking, or maybe I was mad she was leaving for college again. I can't even remember now. Isn't that pathetic? I can't remember what our last fight was about, but I remember every detail of the phone call that came two hours later.
"There's been an accident."
Those four words destroyed my family.
The police said Sarah lost control on a wet road. Single-car accident. No witnesses. She died instantly at least they told us that. "She didn't suffer," they said, like that was supposed to make it better.
They returned her belongings in a plastic bag. Wallet. Phone. Keys. And the silver locket our grandmother left her, the chain broken from the impact.
I've worn that locket every day for two years. A reminder. A punishment. A promise that I'll never let anyone that close again.
Until today.
Today, I got a text from an unknown number: "Your sister's death wasn't an accident. I can prove it. Come to Riverside University. Find the truth before they find you. - A Friend"
I stared at that message for three hours before I made the decision.
Tomorrow, I leave for Riverside.
Tomorrow, I find out who killed my sister.
Tomorrow, everything changes.
The text came again as my bus pulled into Riverside University: "You're here. Good. Don't trust anyone. Especially not the boys with pretty faces and dark secrets."
My hands trembled as I clutched my phone. Three days of these cryptic messages, each one more unsettling than the last. But this was the first one that mentioned boys.
I grabbed my suitcase and stepped off the bus into chaos. Move-in day at Riverside was like controlled insanity students everywhere, parents crying, cars blocking every pathway. The campus was gorgeous in that old-money way: brick buildings covered in ivy, manicured lawns, students who looked like they'd stepped out of a catalogue.
I didn't belong here. But neither had Sarah, and she'd made it work.
"Emma Chen?"
I spun around at my name. A girl with a clipboard and a "Riverside Welcome Committee" t-shirt smiled at me. "I'm checking people in. Let me get your dorm assignment."
While she scrolled through her tablet, I felt it that prickling sensation of being watched. I scanned the crowd, but there were too many people. Too many faces.
"Whitmore Hall, Room 304," she said cheerfully. "Just across the quad. Need help finding it?"
"I've got it, thanks."
I started across the cobblestone pathway, dragging my suitcase behind me, when I heard it.
"Emma? Emma Chen?!"
My heart stopped. That voice. I knew that voice.
I turned slowly, and there he was.
Kai Sullivan stood twenty feet away, camera hanging around his neck, looking like every memory I'd tried to bury for three years. He'd grown up filled out, gotten taller, his auburn hair longer and artfully messy. But those green eyes were the same. Warm. Familiar. Home.
"Kai?" My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
He closed the distance between us in seconds, and before I could think, before I could stop him, he pulled me into a hug. He smelled like darkroom chemicals and mint, exactly like I remembered.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, pulling back but keeping his hands on my shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Riverside?"
Because telling him would mean talking to him. And talking to him would mean explaining why I'd cut him out of my life. Why I'd ignored every call, every text, every letter for three years.
"It was last minute," I lied. "I transferred."
"Transferred?" His brow furrowed. "Emma, we need to talk. I've been trying to reach you for three years"
The roar of an engine cut him off. A sleek black Mercedes came out of nowhere, swerving onto the pedestrian path so close I had to jump back. My suitcase toppled over, spilling clothes across the cobblestones.
"What the hell!" Kai shouted, stepping protectively in front of me.
The driver's door opened, and out stepped someone who looked like he'd been photoshopped into reality. Tall easily 6'3" with dark hair, sharp cheekbones, and ice-blue eyes that could cut glass. His tailored suit probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.
"You're blocking the loading zone," he said, his voice smooth and commanding.
"You almost killed her!" Kai shot back.
Those blue eyes finally focused on me, and something shifted in his expression. Surprise. Recognition. Something I couldn't quite name.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked, and his voice had changed softer, genuinely concerned.
"No, I'm fine." I bent down to gather my scattered belongings, mortified.
He crouched beside me, picking up my worn copy of Jane Eyre. When he handed it back, our fingers touched, and I felt it electricity, heat, something that made my breath catch.
"Adrian Blake," he introduced himself, his eyes never leaving mine. "And you are?"
"Emma Chen."
"Emma Chen." He said my name slowly, like he was tasting it. "The transfer student. Literature major. Full scholarship."
How did he know that?
"How do you"
"I make it my business to know who's on campus," he said, standing and offering me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet effortlessly. "Especially when they're this interesting."
"She's not interested," Kai said, his voice tight. "Back off, Blake."
Adrian's gaze slid to Kai, and he smiled cold and amused. "Sullivan. Still taking pictures of things that don't belong to you?"
"Still buying things you can't earn?" Kai countered.
The tension between them was thick enough to choke on. They clearly knew each other. And clearly hated each other.
"Do you two have a problem?" I asked.
"Yes," they said in unison, glaring at each other.
"Well, take it somewhere else." I grabbed my suitcase. "I have a room to find."
"I'll help you" Kai started.
"Let me carry that" Adrian said at the same time.
They looked at each other, then at me, and I saw something pass between them. A challenge. A competition.
Oh no.
"I don't need help from either of you," I said firmly. But when I tried to pull my suitcase, one of the wheels had broken in the spill.
Adrian picked it up like it weighed nothing. "Whitmore Hall, Room 304. I'm heading that way anyway."
"Of course you are," Kai muttered. He turned to me. "Emma, we really need to talk. There's something you need to know about"