The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,21

repeated. Could the officer hear that fake note in her voice? “We’ve been looking for my bracelet almost all morning. We weren’t doing drugs!”

The officer studied her, but she must have looked frightened and believable enough, because after a hard look at Will, he nodded and looked back at her. “You two get back to class. Look for your bracelet after school.” He eyed Will one more time, then turned and went to his police car, the last one left.

Will stood there for a long time after the police had driven off with his friends. Annabelle trembled so hard she couldn’t make herself let go of his arm. She had lied. To a police officer. She had lied to a police officer for Will.

Slowly, he turned to face her, breaking her hold of his arm. His face was unreadable when she met his eyes. Was he angry? Was he grateful? Had she done the wrong thing?

“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked.

She automatically looked up at the school, but just the thought of going in after what she had done and what she had witnessed made her sick to her stomach. She looked back at him and nodded slowly. He studied her for another moment, then wordlessly turned on his heel and headed to the student parking lot. She followed him to the convertible and climbed in, still shaking.

They were silent as he drove. She couldn’t stop trembling, but beside her, Will was calm and firm. She was grateful for his steadiness, because she was a complete mess. The radio blared some hard rock music she only vaguely recognized, but somehow the background noise helped drown out the screaming in her head at what a horrible thing she had done. She had lied to a police officer. Wasn’t that an offence she could get arrested for? What had she been thinking? Will could have gotten himself out of trouble. No one expected her to jump in and help him. And if he was guilty, he probably deserved to get into trouble for it.

Didn’t he?

Will finally stopped the car, putting it into park and killing the engine. She looked around warily, eyeing their surroundings. They were next to a two lane road in what appeared to be a small forest, but she couldn’t remember ever having been there before, even though she had lived in New Kingston her entire life. Will had pulled off onto a dirt shoulder that looked like it had been made to park on, and as he climbed out of the car, she followed slowly, hesitantly. She wasn’t the least bit afraid of Will, but being out in the middle of nowhere with someone who wasn’t her boyfriend—even someone who was—didn’t seem particularly safe.

“Where are we?” she asked, as he started walking through the trees.

“The overlook.”

The… what? She followed him through the trees, confused. She had definitely never heard of the overlook.

The trees thinned, and to her surprise, opened up to reveal, just as Will had said, an overlook. She sucked in a breath at the beauty they stood over, dazzled by the scene. They were above the town, which looked small and impossibly far away. Beyond the town she could see an expanse of forests, and in the distance, large snow-covered mountains completed the sunny scene.

“It’s beautiful!” she gasped, turning to Will. She felt all of her fear and anxiety fade as she looked out over the bluff, a hidden little recluse undiscovered by others.

Will smiled slightly. He hopped up onto the edge of the stone wall, leaning against one of the pillars. She hesitated, peering over the edge. There was a small platform under it, jutting out from the hill, but it was still a long way down. Despite her fear, she steeled herself and carefully lifted herself up as well, leaning against the pillar opposite Will. Even with both of their legs stretched out, they didn’t quite touch.

“Do you come here a lot?” she asked.

He let out a slow breath and looked out over the valley. “Yeah,” he admitted.

She couldn’t hold back the smile that turned her lips up. He looked almost reluctant to tell her, in a boyish, shy way, but at the same time, he seemed so pleased with his space. “I can see why,” she said, looking back over the bluff. “It’s really nice here. Peaceful.”

He said nothing in response, but unlike normal, she didn’t mind the silence. She could hear the wind rustling through the trees, and