I Knew You

Prologue

“ D racula, think fast!”

I turned at my best friend’s voice behind me, just in time to catch the football he threw at my head.

“What the hell, Whit?”

I gripped the ball, my large fingers spreading over the pebbled leather, and threw it back to him from where I stood behind the porch railing. He caught it easily. Whitaker East was the star quarterback at the University of Alabama. Nobody expected anything less.

“Keeping you on your toes.” His smile was bright against the darkness as he walked up the driveway full of parked cars. He was holding the hand of his new girlfriend, someone whose name I didn’t bother to remember because the position changed so frequently.

Yet it wasn’t just Whit and his girlfriend who had arrived at Bentley Clark’s Christmas party.

Whit’s sister Julianna trailed behind the couple.

I froze at the sight of her. Julianna never showed up at any parties.

She was only a year younger than Whit and me, and a senior in high school, but she didn’t have a social bone in her body.

Her arms were crossed tightly over her torso, her gaze shifting everywhere, her expression dour.

My whiskey-tinged breath came out in puffs around me.

It was freezing, but she was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt. Where was her coat?

I’d spent half my life living at the East house with Whit, his grandmother, and Julianna. I was familiar with Julianna’s mannerisms. I could tell she was uncomfortable.

“Why do they call you Dracula?” Whit’s girlfriend asked me when they got closer.

I just stared at her, unamused. I’d come outside for a moment to catch my breath because inside was full of bodies writhing against each other, too-bright multi-colored Christmas lights, the stench of weed and alcohol, and so much noise I thought my ears would bleed.

Even outside, I could hear the rock Christmas music echoing throughout the block.

“Because he’s out for blood on the field,” Whit quipped as they came up on the porch. “Ain’t that right, Bram?”

I did not attempt to answer.

“Pretty sure it’s because his name is Bram like Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, but whatever.” Julianna’s mutter went unnoticed by her brother and his girlfriend, but I heard her. I smiled her way, but she averted her gaze, holding herself tighter and shivering.

I took off my jacket.

“Julianna, think fast.”

Twill blue flew through the air, and she caught it. She looked from the jacket to me and back again. Whit glanced at the action, ready to say something, but the unnamed girlfriend tugged at his sleeve. “Come on, Whit! My friends are here, and I want you to meet them. ”

Julianna started to put on my jacket as Whit and the girlfriend walked in the front door. It was obviously smaller than what she needed, and a part of me wished I hadn’t given it to her. I didn’t want her to struggle with the size.

Alcohol clouding me, I walked up and took the half-on jacket off her completely.

A blush swept over her cheeks. I wrapped the jacket around her shoulders, skipping the need for her to put her arms in the sleeves.

I brought it together in the front and tugged to make sure she was sufficiently covered.

She looked up at me with her chocolate brown eyes sparkling in the porch light.

I took in her heart-shaped face framed by her long, flowing chestnut hair, soft and glossy.

Seeing her standing in the dark and cold with the strains of Korn’s “Jingle Bells” pulsing in the background was so wrong, it was laughable.

Julianna was shy and quiet, usually hiding inside her books. Her intelligence and wit were unmatched. She was full of emotion, but she didn’t let it show too readily, although I thought I was good at reading her. She did not belong at this party.

“Why are you here?”

“Under duress,” she said, and her eyes flipped to my lips, and then back up to my eyes. “Whit promised a quick trip to get some pie, and here I am. I had no choice.”

I took a deep breath, annoyed at Whit, but selfish enough to be glad Julianna had come.

I’d had a secret thing for her for a while, even though I’d tried not to.

I didn’t want to complicate family dynamics.

Yet she was everything I wanted in a girl.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her, even after Whit and I had left for college.

We were home for holiday break, and I wanted to spend time with her. This was the perfect opportunity.

“Does he do this all the time?” she asked, pointing toward the door Whit had disappeared into.

“At college? He’s barely spoken to me all night.

I wasn’t trying to be a third wheel. We picked that girl up on the way to pie, which I didn’t even get, by the way.

” She blew out a breath, a gray cloud releasing around her.

“He’s figuring things out, I guess.” I couldn’t think of any other excuse to give for my best friend. “Want to go inside?”

“Not really, but I’m freezing, and I’m sure you are, too.” Julianna looked at her feet.

Before I could stop myself, I walked up to her and threw my arms around her, pulling her tight to me. Even though I feigned nonchalance at her closeness, I was trembling inside.

“Better?” I asked.

“Um, what are you doing?” The words sounded curious, but she made no move to extract herself from me.

“Body heat,” I replied plainly, as if my actions were natural. “I don’t want to be here either. I only came because my dad was on a tangent, and I thought Whit might show up. Didn’t know about the new girl, though.”

“I don’t even know how he met her,” she grumbled.

I chuckled.

The door to the house opened, and out poured Whit, the girlfriend, and two other girls, laughing like something hysterical had just happened. Julianna and I split from each other, and Whit didn’t seem to notice we’d been awkwardly embracing.

“Hey man, can you take Julianna home?”

I furrowed my brow at my friend. “Where are you going?”

The girls all laughed among themselves, their voices piercing my ears.

“Taking Amber’s friend’s home. But then I’ll probably go to Amber’s. Jules, is it okay if Bram takes you home?”

Julianna’s mouth gaped slightly. When it came to girls, Whit did not have much of a brain, but Julianna had no way of knowing this was how he always acted at these parties.

“I’ve been drinking,” I said, grabbing onto my best friend.

“Oh,” he said, but was not deterred. “Can Julianna drive your truck home then? I’ll come back and get you in a bit. I don’t want her hanging around all this. I don’t think she wants to be here, and this is my fault.”

He didn’t stop to see if I would answer. He ran off with the giggling gaggle of females.

“I want to be shocked, but I’m not,” Julianna said when they’d walked away, rolling her eyes. “You can drive me home.”

“No, I can’t. I’ve had a few shots, and I don’t want to?—”

“Are you really that drunk? You look fine,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Was I able to drive? I thought so. If I were stopped, would I be tested? I had no way of knowing. But I knew an advantage when I saw one. She didn’t want to be at the party. I wanted alone time with her. The house was close.

“I’m okay. Let’s go.”

“I’ll tell you what happened, just drive around a little bit,” Julianna said.

She was giving a long tale of Grams’ fight with the Christmas tree.

I felt a little unsteady with my vision at times, but I was able to manage the drive.

Plus, the roads were empty, given it was the dead of winter and late at night.

I forgot how much I missed being in Julianna’s presence, and I wanted to keep her talking. So I did as she suggested and pulled the truck onto a back road. I watched her laugh and talk, her southern charm blooming. It was probably why I couldn’t recall when a flash of fur jumped into my vision.

Tires screeched, and two hard objects collided.

The distinct smell of rubber filled the air.

A scream tore from Julianna as the truck swerved.

I held onto the steering wheel, trying to regain control.

Trees came straight for us. Flying empty soda cans, gym shoes, and random small hand tools pelted my skin. Loose papers floated around me. The clear absence of gravity made my body fly uncontrollably, even though I was tethered to the leather seat by my seatbelt.

The belt held like a vise, and I held it out from my chest as much as I could. The truck rolled, seemingly never-ending.

Was this how I was going to die?

I let go of the belt in time for the airbags to deploy all around as the truck landed forcefully. I jolted back to earth as all four wheels met the ground.

We’d landed at the bottom of the steep hill, in a wide ravine. The road was above our heads and to the left. I heard my heartbeat in my ears first.

I reached to my right and felt the solidness of flesh beneath my fingers. It was Julianna, breathing heavily and alive. The moment I realized I was unharmed, I unbuckled my seat belt. “Are you hurt? Can you move?” I asked.

We looked at each other. Julianna was bleeding from her forehead, red rivulets trickling down her nose and chin. “Oh my God, your face.”

I grabbed a random T-shirt and dabbed her chin, nose, and forehead, where the blood seemed to originate from.

“Is it bad?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

I leaned closer. It was dark, but a small bit of moonlight lit the truck cabin. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and held the tiny screen up to her face.

“Bram, it’s?—”

“I swear to God, if you say, ‘it’s okay,’ I will lose it,” I stated, my patience on a hairpin trigger.

She stayed quiet as I took in the gash. It needed stitches.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” I lied. “We gotta get out of here. I don’t know what could happen since we hit the gas tank against that tree. ”

I felt for the lock of her seatbelt and undid it. She moved to open her door.

“Wait! Stay still,” I insisted.