“Someone help me.”
Nobody moved.
Then she looked at Colleen.
That was the moment something changed.
Colleen was crying.
She wasn't defending Adrian.
She wasn't telling Sarah I was crazy.
She simply stood there.
Sarah's expression collapsed.
“Is she telling the truth?”
Colleen couldn't answer.
Sarah's hands began to shake.
Then Adrian appeared.
He stepped into the hallway.
He looked at me first.
Then at Sarah.
For one second, nobody spoke.
Sarah ran toward him.
“Tell me she's lying.”
Adrian opened his mouth.
“Sarah, I can explain.”
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the hallway.
Everyone froze.
Sarah was crying now.
“You're dead!”
Adrian lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“You told me she knew.”
He didn't answer.
“You told me your family had taken care of everything.”
Nothing.
“You told me the funeral was some complicated bureaucratic thing.”
His face crumbled.
“I was scared.”
Sarah stared at him.
“I loved you.”
Adrian's voice trembled.
“I know.”
“You were going to marry me.”
“I know.”
She slapped him again.
“You let me stand here in a wedding dress while another woman was still grieving you.”
Adrian began to cry.
For the first time since I had seen him, he looked less like the confident man I remembered and more like someone who had finally run out of lies.
“I Didn't Know How to Say Goodbye”
Adrian turned toward me.
His eyes met mine.