Kyla made a line with her finger over the diagram. “It’s time for these two to pay up.”
Eden flipped through the notebook. “Yes. Ebony Fields owes Seiko for meds, and Penelope Carson owes for two months of rent money.”
“You guys gave someone rent money?” They really did make anything happen.
Kyla raised her eyebrows. “I did. I made her show us the eviction notice as proof. It was cheaper than my newest Prada bag.” She focused her attention back on the poster. “Also, Mother Theresa.”
Eden threw her head back. “Ugh. I really don’t want to deal with her.”
Dani shrugged. “That’s why we just need to let her pay her debt, then we’ll be through with her.”
“What’s her deal?” I asked.
Seiko chuckled. “Theresa Campos is the patron saint of annoying the hell out of everyone. She’s also the world’s most devout Catholic and Dani’s BFF.”
Dani hit Seiko with a pillow. “She is not. We go to the same church, and because we had our First Communion and confirmation together, she thinks that means something, but we are not friends.”
I suddenly wanted to meet the girl. “If she’s such a devout Catholic, why do you think she would agree to kick someone’s ass?”
Eden smirked. “Because that would be a lot better than my revealing the DUI she was supposed to receive when she got pulled over three months ago. My father had mercy on her and swept it under the rug since she had never been in any trouble before. She likes to pretend that she’s perfect and does no wrong, so she would be mortified if it got out. I have the evidence to prove it too.”
Damn. I wondered if they had dirt on everyone.
“I’ll call them tonight and let them know,” Eden said. Then she addressed me. “We never text or leave a paper trail.”
Dani texted Natasha to come back. When she returned, Eden assured her that her problem would be taken care of within a week. While Natasha looked relieved, she also looked slightly pale, probably worrying about what she would have to do in return. I felt bad for her. Out of desperation, she’d made a deal with the devil.
After adding Natasha’s and Taylor’s names, Seiko hung the poster back on her wall. She winked at me. “And that’s how it’s done.”
The direction of the meeting changed. “Okay, ladies,” Eden said. “Our latest social project begins next week. We’ll be working at a place called Cecelia’s Home for a few hours on Saturday mornings starting next week. It’s a place for children to hang out. These kids are either underprivileged or have home issues or something. They get to play, and they also offer tutoring and homework help. We’re mostly going to read and just hang out with the kids. Maybe do some arts and crafts and stuff like that.”
My skin tingled like I was developing a rash. I hated children. I couldn’t stand anyone younger than me, actually. The younger the kid, the more they creeped me out. Kids were honest and good at reading people. When you told them something, they didn’t just take it at face value. They had to ask questions. Why? Why? Why?
Smiling, Eden said, “Audrey would be so proud.” She looked at me. “She was a great humanitarian. She was a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.”
“Cool.” I wondered if that was the only reason she made the group do community service.
Eden put the top on her pen. “I’ll be in touch with the director of the center this week. She’s going to want to do a background check and stuff like that before we work with the kids, then I’ll tell you what time we’ll meet up.”
“Sounds good,” Kyla said as she headed into Seiko’s closet. “Sei, I need to borrow your Chanel sweater for tonight.”
Seiko was preoccupied with something on her laptop. “Knock yourself out.”
I didn’t know what to think. On one hand, they were helping people who needed help—although I didn’t really consider Taylor’s situation that dire—but they were also demanding something in return. Is that really a good deed? In my mind, it wasn’t, but volunteering for a children’s center most definitely was. I had no idea what to make of the girls.
Eden pulled me out of my thoughts. “How’s the Purple Thorn of Justice coming?” she asked, filing her nails.
Kyla emerged from the closet with a striped cashmere sweater. “Pretty good. I have almost ten thousand followers. Of course, my YouTube channel is much more popular.”
“That’s amazing,” Dani said, a hint of admiration in her voice.
Before I could ask what they were talking about, Kyla explained like a proud mother. “It’s a vlog I started. It’s mostly about racial and gender inequality. Right now, my main focus is on music lyrics that say all kinds of derogatory things about women, and everyone just acts like it’s okay.”
I guessed she had a point. Admittedly, I probably didn’t always pay attention to the words as much as I should have.
“She writes the most amazing articles,” Eden said. “By the way, you need to follow and share everything she posts. We all support each other in this group.”
“Will do.”
Seiko hopped up from where she was sitting. “So what’s on the agenda, girls?”
Eden scrolled through her phone. “Let’s have lunch and hang out a little by the pool, then we can get Lennox ready for her first date with Brody.”
I’d almost forgotten about that. But I actually wanted to forget about it. I couldn’t expect much from a guy who had dumped his girlfriend like burning charcoal simply to date a girl he didn’t even know because she was a part of some social group. I hated him already.
They went to work on me like I was some trashed doll they’d found in the garbage that they had to make right again.
By the time I left Seiko’s, I had an amazing outfit on my arm and my hair and makeup done. I looked great, but I wasn’t sure Brody deserved the effort.
19
He’s Just Not That into Me
Brody did everything right. He picked me up on time then took me to a fancy restaurant on the other side of town. I had been to the place once before with Gary and Mom. It was a little too stuffy for my taste, but Brody was obviously trying to impress me.
When he’d picked me up and opened the car door for me, a bouquet of pink roses rested on the seat. “Those are for you. Eden said I had to or else.”
I almost told him he could have kept that part to himself, but I figured there was no use.
The ride to the restaurant was quiet and awkward. Neither of us could think of anything to say. I was relieved when we pulled into the parking lot.
Inside, the waitress, wearing the standard tight black dress they all wore, came over with menus. “Hey, Brody. Chel—” She cleared her throat. “Sorry. Let me tell you about the specials tonight…”
Clearly, Brody and Chelsea were regulars there, which made me feel even worse. He hadn’t even bothered to take me somewhere that didn’t belong to them.
I ordered a Cajun chicken salad, while Brody ordered a steak. After the waitress took our orders and left with the menus, we sat there uncomfortably, trying not to look at each other. I decided to leave the topic of discussion up to him. Whatever he came up with, I hoped it wasn’t Mei.
Brody wasn’t a bad-looking guy at all. He had wisps of fine red hair, steely-blue eyes, and cheeks with a permanent rosy tint. He looked almost angelic, just not my type. “So how are you liking Bainbridge so far?” he asked finally.
“It’s pretty nice. I mean, it’s hard to come to a new place where everyone already knows each other and you’re the outsider.”
Brody unwrapped his silverware. “True, but you’re doing pretty good for yourself regardless. You just got here, and you’re already a PIP. You must be something pretty special.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. What is so great about those girls aside from their looks, fashion sense, and connections? Okay, maybe that was a lot, but it wasn’t everything. Putting the PIPs out of my mind, I still had a major bone to pick with him.
“I have a question for you.
How could you dump a girl you had been dating for almost a year for a girl you had never even met? What kind of person does that?”
Brody looked down at his hand. “I know. That wasn’t my finest moment, but the truth was that I really needed to get out of that relationship.”
“Why?”
He ducked his head and looked around as if he were about to make a deep, dark confession. “Chelsea is a horrible person, so trust me when I say you shouldn’t feel sorry for her.”
“What was so horrible about her?”
Brody had laid his knife, fork, and spoon out to form a triangle. “She found out a secret about me, and she kept threatening to tell everyone.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. What secret could he be keeping that’s that bad? It wasn’t the right time to ask what it was, but we would get there eventually. “Okay… but do you think pissing her off by dumping her is going to encourage her to keep this secret?”
Brody pointed his knife at me. “That’s exactly why I stayed with her for so long, but then I learned a secret about her, so we were even. Chelsea held me hostage for over nine months. She started off really nice but then turned into a bitchzilla. My family hates her too. Anyway, I was still cautious about breaking up with her because the girl’s certifiable, but now that I’m dating a PIP, I don’t have anything to worry about.”
So that was why he had been so eager to get with me. He could kill two birds with one stone. I was his escape from Chelsea and also his shield against any retaliation she might have in mind. I didn’t take it personally since I hadn’t wanted to date him either. My finger had just happened to land on his picture.
I squeezed a lemon wedge over my water glass. “So, Kyla tells me that you two are really good friends.”
“Yeah, my dad’s an assistant pastor at the Everson Faith Center, her father’s church, so we spend a lot of time together. Lots of dinners, vacations, and get-togethers. Sometimes Kyla is the only thing that keeps me sane at those boring events. We’ve known each other since we were little kids.”
If they were that close, surely I would be able to get some information from him. Since I was going to be forced to date someone, I was going to get every benefit that came with it.
Two waiters set our meals before us. We ate in silence. I was impressed by how quickly he inhaled his steak, baked potato, and asparagus then a huge slice of chocolate cake after that. Brody sighed after he paid the check. “Places like this aren’t really your thing, are they?”
I pulled out my compact to check my lip gloss. It probably wasn’t proper etiquette, but I didn’t care. “No. I mean, it was really nice, and the food was great, but—”
Brody’s eyes lit up. “Hey, you want to go bowling?”
“Bowling sounds perfect.”
He took me to an upscale bowling alley. We played two rounds, and he kicked my ass both times but only because I was a little rusty. I made him promise me a rematch.
Bowling was fun. Brody and I had totally friend-zoned each other, and that was okay. I hadn’t expected a love connection.
Brody took me home and walked me to the door. I was hoping he wouldn’t try to kiss me, and he didn’t.
He fiddled with the zipper of his jacket, which he did a lot when he was uncomfortable. “This is probably going to be a just-friends situation, right?”
“You’re really cool, Brody, but yeah. It’s not you. It’s just that—”
“It’s okay. No explanation required.” He grinned. “Just friends. I won’t tell if you won’t.”
I ran my thumb and forefinger across my lips as if I were zipping them shut. Brody laughed, gave me a quick peck on the cheek, then sprinted toward his car.
Maybe I’d made the right pick after all.
20
Girls like Bree
Monday morning, Bree cornered me as soon as I set foot in the school’s lobby. “Hey, PIP.” She wrapped her arm around mine. “Let’s have a little chat, shall we?”
I had no desire to talk to her, but she had a crazy look in her eye that told me I needed to, so I let her lead me outside to a section of picnic tables. That time of the morning, the area was deserted.
I yanked my arm from her grasp. “What do you want?”
She took a deep breath. “You’re a PIP now, and the way I see it, if it weren’t for me, if I hadn’t given you a heads-up on the prank with Mei, you would never have made it, so I think you owe me. I want to be your new BFF. I want to be a PIP by association.”
I had so many issues to deal with at that moment, and Bree wasn’t going to be one of them. “What are you talking about?”
“I want you to keep me in the loop. Tell me everything they do. Invite me to stuff. I want to be so close to them that I almost feel like a PIP myself.”
I looked her up and down. If she had never told me the whole Mei thing was a prank, I would never have stabbed Mei in the chest. Bree hadn’t helped me at all. She’d done the exact opposite. “I don’t owe you a damn thing. You have five seconds to get your ass out of my face.”
Bree smirked. “I think we both know there’s something fishy about Mei’s disappearance. Something that has to do with you guys and what happened on the night of your trial. I’d hate to have to go to the police with my suspicions, but I will if I have to. It’s been over a week already. They’ll be going hard, looking for answers.”
She was acting far from the nervous girl I’d met on the first day. I didn’t know what Bree knew or what she could possibly prove, but I had to play my cards right with her. Aside from the PIPs, she was the only one who knew Mei had been with us that night. I couldn’t let it get out that the PIPs had anything to do with Mei being missing.
I placed my backpack on the picnic table and sat on the bench. Bree sat across from me.
Looking her dead in the eyes, I said, “Bree, I am thankful for your help.” That was a lie. “But we really have no idea what happened to Mei. She never even showed up that night.”
She stared at me for a moment then started a slow clap. “Wow. You are good. Really good. You can lie without looking to the side or even blinking.”
It took everything in me not to slam her head into the metal table.
Bree folded her arms over her chest. “Now, do as I asked, and you won’t have any problems, but if you don’t, it just might ruin all of your lives.”
I couldn’t think of anything else to say that wouldn’t piss her off, so I grabbed my backpack and rose from the table. “I’ll see what I can do. You know they have strict rules about outsiders.”
Bree called after me, “Lennox, I know the rules like the back of my hand. I’ve known them before any of us even knew you existed. If keeping this secret means enough to you, you’ll find a way to bend the rules.”
I stormed toward the school building, murmuring every swear word I knew. Being backed into a corner was one of the things I hated most. I couldn’t believe my initial assessment of her had been so wrong. She was not a nice girl at all.
***
Lunchtime brought my first introduction to Mother Theresa, and she was everything the PIPs said she would be. A girl with pale skin, a round face, and raven hair down to her waist plopped down in front of Eden. A purple rosary was wrapped around her right wrist, and a silver crucifix rested in her cleavage. “I can’t do it. You guys know I can’t do it.”
“Why not?” Eden asked, sounding bored.
Theresa looked as if Eden had just asked her if the sky was blue. “Why not?” She looked around and lowered her voice. “It’s against everything I stand for. I don’t believe in violence. I can’t hurt Winter. I operate in love.”
The girls were quiet until Dani snorted, and they all burst into a fit of giggles. Theresa’s face fell. She locked eyes with me, the only one not laughing, but I didn’t have any power in the situation.
She leaned forward. “Eden, please be reasonable. I can do something else for you like help with your service projects. I’ll clean your rooms. W
ash your cars. I can’t do this.”
Kyla set her iPad down on the table. “Clean our rooms? Do we look like the fucking Baby-Sitters Club? You owe us big.”
Eden stared at Theresa stone-faced, then she turned to me. “Lennox, please tell her why she is absolutely going to do this and why it will never be discussed again after this moment.”
Theresa’s eyes widened as she looked at me, waiting. She had to be thinking, Who the hell is she? The other PIPs leaned forward, watching me.
I summoned my inner boss and folded my arms over my chest. “Theresa, what we’re asking you to do is a lot easier than having a DUI on your record.”
Her jaw dropped, but I went on. “You think colleges and scholarship committees won’t find out about it? They find out about everything.” I thought about the most popular Catholic universities. “Notre Dame? Georgetown? They won’t touch you. Are you really willing to start your life off on the wrong foot to spare Winter?” I rested my arms on the table and leaned forward. “Trust us when we tell you that she deserves every bit of it. So you’re going to do this, or you’re going to pay the price for your crime. You could have killed someone.”
Theresa’s eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at each of us. No one was moved.
Eden waved her away. “You have five days. Send us proof.”
“Fine. Fine.” She hurried away from the table, wiping tears away with the backs of her hands.
I felt a little bad about that, but the girl was no angel. She’d gotten away with a crime, and she had to pay in some way.
Once she was gone, Eden squeezed my shoulder. “Lennox, that was amazing. Did you guys see how she jumped right in there? You’re a natural.”
A natural at what?
Dani picked up the novel she was reading. “I was mildly impressed.”
On the other side of me, Kyla raised her can of Dr. Pepper. I raised mine, and we toasted.
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