The Key To Andi

Chapter 8, Maybe anwsers?

Max grabbed my hand and helped me up. "Dear God, that's a long drop." I said looking over the edge. He rolled his eyes, "No crap." A small blush rose in my cheeks. "Come on sit down." He shoved me towards the bench. "May I ask why she was trying to kill you?" "I upset her." "Evidently, why exactly?" He prodded.  "I attracted the attention of Wilson." Max immediately stiffened. "I see. What were you doing here?" I decided not to mention my mom meeting up with his dad because that seemed a sore spot. "I came up here when I had nowhere else to be." "What happened with Kalie?" Max said, directing a new subject. "She followed me determined to pick a fight. I wasn't gonna let myself get bullied. If it was me I would've picked a less isolated and high place for a chat." "that's right nothing is ever your fault." He said amused. "HEY! So Andi died here didn't she? I have three possibilities of death suicide, Accident, and murder." "Do you have suspects?" Max asked curiously. "Well since you asked. Kalie, with or without her friends. Wilson because he might've been jealous and" I hesitated. "And?" "You." "Why?" "You never give me a straight answer and you are clearly guilty about something." "You're right about me feeling guilty but you said suicide I might have played into it." "How?" "I'm not gonna tell you." "And you wonder why you're on the suspect list." "I mean I'm gonna paraphrase it."  He paused for a minute and I could tell this was difficult to talk about. "Andi a couple weeks before she died made it clear she had a crush on me... I told her I didn't like her that way. She was more like a sister." "Did you tell her that?" "Might've." "Ouch, that stings." He gave me a look. "Anyway, she got mad at me and avoided me. The day before she died she asked why I had been writing her letters. I told her I hadn't written any letters to her. She asked if I knew who A was. A was the person who signed all her letters. I asked her what he had said. She said they were love letters. I had to tell her it wasn't me and I didn't like her. Which is way worse than the first time. What if she killed herself because I kept turning her down?" "I highly doubt that." "You didn't know her. She was very emotional and impulsive." "Andi was very artsy and crafty. The night she died was a gloomy night. She would've left something behind. Something drastic. I am highly inclined to rule out suicide. So you're off the hook." "Not especially you said accident. Come with me to the edge. I won't let you fall. 10 paces from the bench. 3 paces to the side you can drop down and be perfectly fine." I peered over the side and saw a wide ledge exactly where he had said. "What if she had been aiming for there? I pulled a prank on Bret and Andi, I pretended I fell off the cliff but I landed on the edge. Then I told Bret and Andi how to find it 10 paces up 3 to the left." little did I know how that information would come in handy. "I still don't see how that would be your fault." "Don't you see, she would still be alive if I hadn't taught her how to fall." We argued about it for the next 10 minutes. "Agree to disagree?" I asked. "Yeah, you still didn't tell me why you were here." "I had to escape from my mom and your dad." It came out before I knew what I was saying. "What was my dad doing with your mother?" Max's eyes flamed with anger. "Well my mother and I were walking and your dad showed up and they decided they would rather spend the day with each other." "My mother would be crushed if she knew they were together." I began to get defensive. "Then tell your father to stay away and your mother should tell him too." "It's not that simple." "Why not?" "BeCAUSE my mother can't do anything to stop it. Mom is in a wheelchair she can't walk let alone tell my father what to do. You need to get your mother to leave him alone." Max said exasperatedly as he grabbed my hand. "I'll see what I can do. What's wrong with your mother?" His eyes were as clouded as I ever had seen them. "She's dying." "I'm so sorry Max." He gave a small sad smile and walked down the path.