Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman Read Free Book Online Page A

in the almost-dark. He stretches his arms above his head, and there it is: on the inside of his left wrist, a tattoo of a bright red apple with a bite taken out of it, a single green leaf hanging from the brown stem.
    “I’m Del Sugar,” he says. “Who are you?”
    My breath catches in my throat. “You weren’t at dinner.”
    He squints at me, confused. Behind him, Columbo is closing in on the killer. “ See, there’s just one thing that doesn’t make sense to me here. Just one thing I need you to explain to me, ma’am … ”
    “I wasn’t hungry.”
    The explanation seems so simple, so obvious. “Oh.”
    “ You stupid old man. You’re right—I did poison his marmalade. Just like I poisoned the marmalade you’re eating right now! ”
    “Sorry to interrupt your time with—what’s his name? Your boyfriend?”
    “Ethan. And he’s not my boyfriend.” I shake my head. “You shouldn’t be out here. Why are you still awake?”
    His lips curl into a slow grin. “One in the morning and a girl in my dorm’s telling me I shouldn’t be out here? And just who are you?”
    “Emily Meckler.” I swallow. The room seems very bright, even though I know it’s not. I’m embarrassed to be wearing Stephanie’s old glasses. Everything still feels a little off-kilter, but more focused now, my gaze steady as Del and I stare at each other.
    “Meckler,” he says, sitting up a little bit straighter, interested. “Like Dr. Meckler?”
    “My dad,” I say.
    “Mmm.”
    “Why are you starting school here now? Nobody ever starts late.”
    “ Ma’am, this isn’t the marmalade that you made. You see, my wife likes to make marmalade, too. I switched her marmalade with yours just before you served it to me. So you see, ma’am, I won’t be dying. Not today, anyway. ”
    “My parents,” Del says. “They were my foster parents for three years. They finalized my adoption two days ago.” His smile widens. “And then they sent me away.”

chapter four
    There are more than a few rumors going around about Del Sugar. There’s the rumor that he’s some kind of genius, and that Stonybrook is the only school in the country with any hope of giving him a good education. There’s the rumor that he was a juvenile delinquent when his parents adopted him, and that after only a few days of his being their real son, they were too scared of him to keep him at home. Someone—Beth Slapinski, who’s in my civics class—heard that when he was at his old school, he dented someone’s skull with a baseball bat just for talking to his girlfriend. Supposedly Del didn’t kill the guy—he just hurt him badly enough to get kicked out.
    I’m not sure how much I believe any of the rumors. If any of them were true, aside from the one about Del being a genius, my dad would have given me some inkling of it. Besides, my dad wouldn’t let someone in if they’d done some of the things that Del is supposed to be responsible for.
    But it’s true that he’s gorgeous, with his mussed blond hair and tall, thin build … and that tattoo . Where does a seventeen-year-old get a tattoo ?
    All the girls want him. My roommates, my friends—even me. How can we not? He always seems bored and disinterested. He doesn’t talk very much. But there’s no question that he’s smart as can be: he’s in math and chemistry with Stephanie, and she says he barely stays awake in class, but all of his test scores are 100 percent. With, like, zero effort.
    “I got to be his partner today,” she tells me as we’re walking back from school together.
    “Really? Did he pick you?”
    “Well … no. We were assigned.”
    “Oh. Did he talk to you?”
    “Kind of. We talked about chemistry, mostly. Emily, he’s brilliant . He barely had to do the experiment, and he figured out most of the calculations in his head. And he told me that the four of us” (she means our quad) “should sit with him at dinner tonight.” Stephanie is almost shaking with excitement. She