Page 64 of Little Buried Secrets

But when?

And why?

“When did you learn Margot was dating Sebastian?” I asked.

“Must have been a couple of months after she started working at the coffee shop. I went in after school one day, and she was more excited than usual. I asked her about it, and she started telling me about Sebastian. She thought I’d be happy for her. When I wasn’t, she was shocked.”

“Do you think she was shocked because you brushed her off at school, and you never made her aware of your feelings?”

“When she started rambling on about Sebastian, I straight-up told her I liked her … because it made me mad. She should have talked to me before she got with him, and I told her so.”

“How did Margot respond?” I asked.

“She tried to say she thought we were just friends. There’s no way that was true. She knew I liked her. She just refused to admit it.”

It was easy for Isaac to point fingers, knowing Margot wasn’t around to defend herself.

“How did the conversation end?” I asked.

“I stopped going to the coffee shop. We avoided each other at school. Then I graduated, and I didn’t see her for a couple of months, not until the night I was invited to the party at Sebastian’s house.”

The night everything changed.

“You knew Margot was dating Sebastian,” I said. “So you knew she’d be there.”

“I did. Figured it wouldn’t be a big deal, but when I walked in and saw them together, all the memories we’d shared at the coffee shop came rushing back. She belonged with me, not him.”

“You were seen spending time with Margot at the party.”

“Yeah, we talked. She acted weird, almost like she didn’t want to be seen with me, which made no sense.”

“Maybe she acted the way she did because she wasn’t used to you talking to her outside the coffee shop.”

“Who knows?”

“What can you tell me about the party?” I asked.

“It was just like every other party. I hung out with friends, stayed until the party was over, and I left.”

It sounded innocent enough, if not for the fact he’d left out one crucial part of the evening’s events.

“Sebastian and Margot broke up the night of the party,” I said.

“I heard.”

“You were the one who caused the split.”

He leaned back and grinned. “I’m not sure who you’ve been talking to, but you don’t have your facts straight.”

“Cut the crap, Isaac. I know what you did. You set Sebastian and Kaia up to look like they’d been inappropriate with each other when they hadn’t even come close. This, in turn, played a role in Margot and Sebastian’s breakup.”

I noticed a glint of mischief in his eyes.

“I mean … I may have orchestrated a little something so Margot could see Sebastian wasn’t the right guy for her,” he said.

“It wasn’t about him being the right guy or the wrong guy. It was about her picking him over you. What did you think—they’d break up, and she’d run to you for comfort?”

He grinned even wider. “What can I say? They broke up. My plan worked, didn’t it?”

---