Page 17 of Deadly Secrets

“Hey, Ander! Come here, man. I want to introduce you to someone.”

I stiffened.

A wave of anxiety washed over me, and my breathing became uneven.

Ander.

It just couldn’t be. There must be a thousand Anders in the US, I told myself. I turned my head so fast that I thought I would get neck whiplash. Then our eyes locked, and the room started spinning. He WAS that Ander. My Ander. He was clearly not my Ander anymore. I last saw him six years ago, and we lost contact when I moved to Switzerland. I was twelve, and he was thirteen. We’d known each other since we were babies because his father, William Scott, and my father were partners at Cos Pharmaceuticals, but when my dad bought him out of the business, Ander and I stopped hanging out. I assumed something big had gone down between our parents, but whenever I asked my dad why I couldn’t hang out at Ander’s house anymore, he would say they had a fight and that it was grown-up stuff I shouldn’t worry about.

“Ander, let me introduce you to Maggie and—”

“Sienna.” Ander interrupted, finishing Noah’s sentence.

“Oh,” Noah exclaimed. “You already know her?” Noah looked surprised.

“Yes,” he snapped. Ander kept staring at me. I couldn’t read his facial expression, although one would say that he didn’t look happy to see me at all.

“Hi, Ander. I wasn’t expecting to find you here, but I’m glad to see you again.” I was being sincere. A part of me always missed him while I was growing up, all because of the stupid way we lost contact. I remembered it as if it was yesterday.

“Sienna, I don’t want you to see Ander anymore. You’re too young to understand. One day, I’ll explain everything to you, but for now, I forbid you to have any contact with any member of the Scott family. I’m dead serious.”

“You can’t stop me from seeing my best friend, Dad. I don’t know what his father did to you, but it’s not his fault!” I ran to my room and slammed the door shut.

The next thing I knew, my dad had enrolled me at Rubin American School. He said it was the best education he could provide for me, but I always suspected that my father just wanted to put miles between our friendship. There had been times when I was curious and checked his name online, but I never found him on social media. He didn’t look like the sweet boy I remembered, yet he looked like my Ander.

I need to stop calling him that in my head.

His dark blond hair was shorter, but his blue eyes could still pierce my soul like they did when I was twelve. Even now, I couldn’t shake off the effect his eyes had on me.

“I wish I could say the same.”

If the music hadn’t been that loud, everyone would have probably heard my heart breaking into a million pieces.

I knew we hadn’t talked or seen each other in a while, and it wasn’t like I expected a hug from him or something. But this? I never anticipated the hatred in his voice. Maybe he was resentful that I didn’t fight hard enough to stay friends, but he didn’t try to contact me all this time either. Life happened—our parents happened, actually—and we were just kids.

I felt tears at the edges of my eyes, so I stepped away without saying a single word. I didn’t want to burst into tears in front of them. I barely knew Noah and didn’t want to give Ander the satisfaction of seeing how his words had upset me. His intention was clearly to hurt my feelings. Much to my regret, he had succeeded. He looked and smelled like him, but he was definitely not my Ander anymore. That boy I remembered would never have treated me like that.

Just as I was about to leave the building, Maggie caught up with me and grabbed my arm.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I sniffed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stormed away without saying goodbye, but I couldn’t stay there for another second.”

“I understand. He was an asshole. Do you want me to walk you back to Aster Hall? I know I talk a lot, but I’m good at listening, too.” She gave me a kind smile.

“Thank you, but I prefer to be alone right now.”

Maggie looked disappointed, probably because her only friend was ditching the party.

“Do you wanna get some coffee tomorrow?” I asked.

Her face lit up.

“I’d love that. Do you want to go to Starbucks? I’m a pumpkin spice latte whore, and it’s been back on the menu since last Tuesday.”

I really liked this girl.

Chapter 8. THE NOTEBOOK

---