I couldn’t believe I lost him so easily. When I’d been close—so close.

“Don’t let me stop you,” Jordan said, then added, “freak.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say something cruel or cutting to her back, but I stopped myself. I flicked a glance at Julie, no longer paying attention to our standoff. She gazed over toward the food court.

I tried to breathe normally. “I know you’re not going to believe this, Jordan, but I’m not seeing Stephen. We’re not together in any possible way. I’m not interested in him.”

Her lips thinned. “Like I care who you might be interested in.”

“I think you care too much.”

“And I think you’re an idiot.”

“Nice.” I rolled my eyes. “You know, sometimes pulling your head out of your own ass helps improve your clarity. You should try it sometime.”

I was sympathetic to her pain, but I refused to be completely defenseless here.

“It sucks,” Julie said.

Jordan glanced at her. “What does?”

“Everything. My life, it’s just so depressing.”

Jordan eyed her. “Join the club.”

“Sometimes—” she sniffed and dragged her hand under her nose “—it all gets so overwhelming. Like today. I felt good when I got here. I felt good until just a moment ago. And now I feel...so sad....”

“Stupid Stephen,” Jordan said. “He put everybody in a bad mood.”

“You know how much I hate seeing you so hurt over that jerk.”

Jordan flicked an uncomfortable glance at me, before returning her gaze to Julie. “Let’s talk when we have more privacy, okay?”

Julie let out a shaky breath and turned to face us. Her eyes were filled with tears. “You shouldn’t let him get to you, Jordan. You shouldn’t. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t. It’s just like me and...and Colin....” Her bottom lip wobbled.

“You’re not into Colin, are you?” I asked. I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t while she was in the midst of this impromptu meltdown.

“I didn’t think so, but now that I think about it.” She inhaled shakily. “Just another example of someone I thought wanted me who only wanted to use me.”

“We were going to forget about that,” Jordan said pointedly.

“I can’t forget! And—and now with the modeling agent and you saying how ugly I am.”

Jordan gasped. “I never said you were ugly!”

“You said that a real modeling agent wouldn’t want me. Wouldn’t care about me. That I am so ugly that nobody wants to be my friend. I know it. It’s been like this all my life. It’s why my mother left us.”

Jordan and I exchanged a worried glance. This was going from bad to worse.

“Relax, Julie. Seriously.” She held her hands out. “Let’s go get a coffee downstairs and chill out. It’s been a stressful day, but there’s no reason to freak out.”

Julie was crying now. I just stared at her in shock. I hadn’t heard any rumors that she was unstable in any way, but this was definitely unstable behavior, to say the least. And her massive mood change seemed to have come out of absolutely nowhere.

“Sometimes,” Julie said in shaky bursts, “I hate life. Everything about it. It’s too hard. I wish I was dead.”

“Don’t say that. Come on...” Jordan reached her hand out.

Julie just shook her head. “Goodbye.”

Before we could do anything, say anything, or even make a move toward her, she took hold of the railing...

And threw herself over the edge.

Chapter 10

Jordan’s ear-piercing scream sliced through me like a knife. I raced to the railing to look over with horror. Julie had crashed onto a food court table and now lay there, her limbs at awkward, unnatural angles.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered, my throat closing. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, what I’d just witnessed happen right in front of me.

Chaos swept through the first floor, through the whole mall. Screams and cries of horror filled the air, and a rush of bodies swarmed around Julie.

“Why?” The anguished word wrenched from Jordan’s throat as she gripped the railing next to me. “What happened? Why would she do that?”

I couldn’t speak. And nothing I said would help this make any sense.

I stayed with Jordan as we hurried downstairs, but it was too late. The fall had killed Julie. The ambulance attendants confirmed she was dead. Jordan started to sob, and she clutched onto me tightly as if she needed something—anything—to anchor her.

Making everything that much worse was the fact that down here, so close to the swell of people who’d witnessed Julie’s suicide, my hunger didn’t let up for a moment. My heart pounded, and I put some distance between myself and Jordan and everyone else as soon as I could, trying to think. Trying to rationalize what happened.

I failed.

Nothing could explain this. Nothing could make it better.

The police arrived and asked Jordan some questions.

“I don’t know why she did it.” Jordan’s words were raspy, her face tear stained. “She was fine. All day. All week. She wasn’t upset or anything. But she—she just lost it.”

The police officer took her statement, then they took mine, which was basically the same thing. A teenager had committed suicide in public.