“Of course they did,” I whispered.
I folded my arms on the table, making a cradle for my head. How could I have been so stupid? It was like the person everyone talked about in these reports was someone I didn’t know.
“Mom?” I raised my head.
“Yes?”
“When did Cal say he was getting back?”
“Sometime this evening, I think,” Mom said, topping up Diane’s coffee.
Suddenly, I was desperate to see him.
Chapter 16
“I can’t believe Julia was in your house!” Kasey exclaimed. “She doesn’t usually lower herself to mingle with us peasants.”
I held the card up to her face so she could see the signature. “But don’t you love the way she dots her i with a little heart?”
“Yeah, she’s classy all right.”
“Classy with a K,” we both said at the same time.
Kasey was sitting on the floor leaning against my bed. She’d come by on her way home from school, and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave. My guess was she was bored out of her mind. Being grounded for life, her parents were probably keeping her on a pretty short leash. I wondered what they thought about her coming here, or if they even knew.
My cast was making me itch like crazy, so I was digging around in my closet looking for a wire coat hanger that I could twist into something to scratch with.
“Wish I could have been here. See how it all went down,” Kasey sighed.
I raised my eyebrows. “I can tell ya, it wasn’t pretty.”
“God. She’s such a total bitch.”
“Be glad you’re not on her radar. She’s got it in for me real bad.”
“I could take her,” she bragged. “And Nate. He’s only confirming what I’ve always thought — that he was a bit of an idiot. I mean, how does he put up with Julia on a daily basis? From now on I’m callin’ him Idiot Supreme, ruler of all idiots.”
“Ruler! That might work.” Hopping over to my desk, I grabbed a ruler out of the drawer and jammed it down inside my cast. Heaven.
“Like, is he completely blind or what?” Kasey continued.
Still scratching, I said, “We don’t know what she’s like when they’re alone. He must see something in her that we don’t.”
“I’m gonna pretend your medication made you say that.”
I shrugged. “You know what they say. The heart wants what it wants.”
Kasey raised her eyebrows. “Please. It’s got nothing to do with his heart. And who’s they?”
“I dunno,” I sighed. “Can we maybe talk about something else?”
“You’re right. We’ve wasted enough time on them.” She pulled herself up from the floor onto my bed. “So Diane was here this morning, right? What’d she say?”
“We just read through some statements. I was hoping I’d remember something.”
“Did you?”
I shook my head. “Not really. There was one part that triggered a memory, but it didn’t turn into anything much more than what was already in the report. If anything, it just confirmed it.”
“So nothing else interesting?”
“Well, sort of.” The plastic ruler was sticking halfway out of my cast and I bent it back as far as it would go then let it smack
against my leg. “Conveniently, Julia and all her faithful servants saw me peeling away from Tori’s.”
“Ah yes, the worker bees. We all know they would never lie, would they?” Kasey said sarcastically.
“But maybe I did. I was so upset about Nate and Julia, maybe I jumped in the car and really did speed away. I don’t know. You were there, you tell me.”
She let out a giant sigh. “I told you, I never saw you leave. I couldn’t find you for like ever, and then when I finally realized my drive had magically disappeared, I had to boot it out of there to get home on time — since I’d be walking.”
I cringed. “Right. Sorry.” I pulled the ruler back again. Smack. Ouch!
“It’s okay. I needed to sober up anyway,” she said, letting me off the hook.
“God. It’s amazing you didn’t see the accident. You must have just missed it. I wish you had seen it.” Frustrated, I stabbed at my cast with the ruler. “Then at least somebody would have.”
“What about Cal?”
“He was unconscious. I found that out when I read his statement.”
“I’d file that in the ‘interesting’ column. What else did his statement say?”
“That he didn’t think I was drunk, and that we left the party to get something to eat.” I ran both my hands through my hair. “Wish I knew what I’d been thinking.”
“You should ask him. Maybe you said something. ”
“Don’t worry. I plan to.”
“You know, if you keep hearing about it, talking about it over and over, I bet it’ll bring something back,” Kasey said.
I shuffled over to the mirror and leaned in to examine my face but then jerked back, preferring the faraway look. “I’ve been trying to get him to talk to me about it, describe what we did,” I said, picking up my hair brush. “Haven’t had much success, but I think he’s coming over tonight.”
Kasey watched me. “Are you starting to like him?”
“No,” I said, not very convincingly. “I mean, I just can’t believe he doesn’t blame me for the accident. He actually seems to like me.”
“Really.”
I ignored her tone and stared off into space for a second, thinking about him. “He’s really great, Kase. You should give him a chance.”
She scrunched up her face. “So you are. You’re starting to like him.”
I plunked myself down on the bed beside her. “What if I am?”
“Well … I believe I’ve mentioned your track record before.”
“You’re one to talk. Didn’t your last boyfriend, Josh, end up robbing the Dairy Queen in Fairview?” I knew I’d hit a nerve.
“Touché,” she nodded. “But you probably don’t remember what Tori said about Cal, do you?”
“No.”
“Think for a second, really hard. If you remember on your own, you won’t think I’m making it up,” she said, sounding all offended.
“I wouldn’t think that,” I sighed.
“Whatever. Okay, let me set the scene. We were all standing in the kitchen. You had just dropped and smashed a beer bottle on the floor. Cal appeared from nowhere to help clean it up.”
I tried to picture it. It was like being lost in a dark tunnel, nothing but blackness. “I can’t remem—” Then a flicker. “Wait.” I could see the beer foam running along the grout between the tiles, Cal with a wad of paper towels. “And when he went to put all the stuff in the garbage, Tori squeezed between us, put an arm around both our shoulders. I think she needed us to hold her up.”
“Isn’t he just so pretty?” Tori said. “Too bad he’s such a badass. Rumour has it he got kicked out of Acadia for stealing or something.”
“Isn’t his dad some mega lawyer though?” Kasey said. “He’s probs all over it.”
“Yeah. Not to mention, up there he goes out with, oh what’s her name, she’s from a super important family in Ontario. Anyhow, I think he’s just here lying low until they get it all smoothed over.”
I pulled myself up against the headboard. “Okay,” I admitted reluctantly. “I remember what Tori said.”
“And?”
“Well. I’m not sure I believe it all.”
“There’s a big surprise.”
“Kasey. Tori was trashed out of her mind.”
“Maybe. But you still might want to check into the whole girlfriend thing.”
“I will,” I said, sticking my chin in the air.
She shot me an exasperated look. “Because this is what you do. You fall head over heels as soon as a guy pays you some attention, before you even know them.”
That stung. “How can you say that? And I do know him. Some.”
“You haven’t even
recovered from Nate screwing you over. Do you really think you should be getting all gaga over someone else so soon?”
“I’m not —”
“Like, don’t you think you have enough on your plate right now?”
I didn’t answer.
“Okay. Maybe I should mind my own business, shut my trap. It’s only … there’s something off about Cal. I don’t trust him.”
I fought to keep my voice even. “I know you’re only trying to help, Kasey, but you don’t know him like I do.”
“Right. I keep forgetting how well you know him. How many conversations have you had with him? That you remember? One?”
We glared at each other for a second.
“Promise to be careful,” she said. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know. Promise.”
Then I remembered the paper. “I got that Frank article you left the other day.” I took it out of my drawer and unfolded it so we could both see it.
“Local University Student Hailed as Hero,” Kasey read aloud. “Hero? Please. And he looks a little too smiley for me.”
“So now you’ve got it in for him because he smiled?”
She didn’t answer. “His dad’s totally behind all this. He probably hired some kind of spin doctor or something.”
“Why would he even have to?” I asked. “Cal pulled me from the car. He saved my life. The title’s right. He is a hero.” Though I couldn’t help but wonder if saving someone who just practically killed someone else made you a hero. I bet a lot of people would disagree with the headline.
“Yeah, but notice how they leave out the part about the party and all the underage drinkers. And that he was the one who poured all those drinks down your throat. Don’t you think his dad had something to do with that? I bet Frank Magazine’s a client or something,”
“Cal didn’t force me to drink.”
She rolled her eyes and pointed to the next paragraph. “And check out this bit, like the McInnis family is God’s gift to Halifax. I mean, come on!”
“What happened to ‘maybe I should shut my trap’?”
“I’m only pointing out that he’s not the guy the article makes him out to be. We all know he’s got a major rep as a total bad boy.”
“Well, bad boy or not, if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be dead now.”
“I’ll repeat, if it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t have left the party. There wouldn’t have been an accident.”
I opened my mouth but couldn’t think of what to say.
She looked at her watch and untangled herself from my duvet. “I gotta go. Let me know what he says, especially if it’s anything good.”
“Sure,” I promised.
After Kasey disappeared out the window, I flopped back on my bed. I couldn’t ignore the things she’d said. She was right. I did have a lot to deal with right now. And she totally nailed it when she said I had a disastrous track record with guys.
But maybe Cal would change all that. I wasn’t about to let some drunken gossip take away the one bright spot in my sad, sorry life.
Chapter 17
Looking for a distraction, I spent the rest of the afternoon reading through the massive pile of assignments that the school had sent home. The thought of going back, back to Halifax West, was unimaginable and I began to toy with the idea of transferring to Citadel High.
I had moved to my desk to reduce the risk of falling asleep, but now I needed my leg scratcher for a physics problem, and it was on the floor just out of reach. I used my crutch to slide the ruler over. That’s when I noticed the Frank article. It was sticking out from under my bed. Crap. I’d wanted to ask Kasey if she’d kept the other part. I dragged it over too and placed it on top of the desk so I wouldn’t forget again. Then I had an idea — look it up online.
I went out to the kitchen. “Mom? Could you help me down to the family room?”
She came towards me. “Sure. Why?”
“I want to use the computer.”
“Oh.” She stopped in her tracks. “It’s at TBC Computers, honey. Your father was fiddling with it and an electrical shock fried it or something.”
“What?”
“We’re waiting for a part … but we should have it back soon.”
“I suppose I could use my phone, use the wireless.”
“That’s that modem thing, isn’t it? Dad’s got it all unhooked. And you know I don’t know the first thing about that stuff.”
Discouraged, I shuffled back to my room.
IT WAS ONLY A moment later when I heard the doorbell ring. Mom appeared in my doorway. “Cal’s here.”
He was standing right behind her and my heart got all fluttery. “Is it okay if he visits in here, in my room?” I wanted some privacy.
Mom looked at me, turned and looked at him, then back at me. “Keep your door open.”
Cal sauntered in, smiling and giving Mom a nod as he passed. How did he look tanned in November? He was carrying a box of chocolates that he set on my desk. After Mom left, he bent down and kissed me — on the lips. “I couldn’t wait to see you.”
I felt my cheeks flush. I could hardly breathe. He was just so gorgeous. My eyes nervously flitted around the room, landing on the chocolates. “Uh, thanks for the gift.” Grabbing for the box, I clumsily peeled off the plastic, opened the lid, and offered them to Cal.
“Once you to get that cast off, I’ll take you out, like on a real date, introduce you to my friends,” he said, popping a chocolate into his mouth.
“Really?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Of course.”
“Okay, well this is sort of awkward, but I have to ask, do you maybe already have a girlfriend?”
“What? Who told you that? Julia? Christ. She just loves to stir up shit.”
“No. It wasn’t Julia.”
“Oh.” He looked surprised but didn’t quiz me further. “Uh, I had a girlfriend — past tense. Gwen. We only went out for a while. Broke up way back. I haven’t spoken to her for ages.”
I sighed, relieved. There, Kasey. “So … you like want us to … go out?”
He bent down again and nuzzled my neck. “Like I said before, it’s you and me. I’m not going anywhere.” His breath was hot and smelled like chocolate. I felt his lips move against my skin as he spoke, soft and feathery.
My insides turned all tingly. He knew just what to say to make me feel better. Kasey didn’t know what she was talking about.
Mom’s footsteps sounded in the hall and I hopped over to my bed so she wouldn’t see us so close together.
“It’s Aunt Jesse, long distance,” she said holding out the phone. “The last time she called you were asleep, so I’d like you to take it.”
“Okay.”
“And she sent flowers when you were in the hospital. Don’t forget to thank her,” she added.
Once Aunt Jesse got on the line, she talked a mile a minute. I didn’t have to say much. She was known as the talker of the family. I noticed she stayed away from asking about anything too serious. Mom had probably asked her to.
Cal saw the Frank article on my desk. He held up the picture of himself next to his face and grinned. “Nice huh?” he mouthed.
As Aunt Jesse talked on, I watched Cal read the page. It was the way his lips moved — like he knew it word for word. When he finished he put it back down and picked up a crossword magazine someone had brought me. He leafed through, stopped at a puzzle, and grabbed a pencil.
When I rhymed off my injuries to Aunt Jesse, she got choked up. I assured her that I’d be okay, and thanked her for the flowers. Then I did it over a few more times as she put every member of the family, kids and all, on the phone. Not that I minded. There was something about being on the phone, a kind of security. You didn’t have to see anyone, and no one saw you.
The conversation finally ended. Now it was time to focus. I hadn’t forgotten the main reason I’d wanted Cal to come over — to go over the night of the accident. Any time I brought i
t up, he never seemed to want to talk about it. But it had been long enough. I needed to remember for myself what happened. I needed those memories back if I was ever going to be some version of me again.
From my desk I glanced at him out the corner of my eye. He was working away on his puzzle.
“So … Mrs. Edwards, my lawyer, was here this morning,” I said casually.
“Oh yeah?”
“We read through some reports and stuff. I thought you might be able to fill in some of the blanks for me.”
Sighing, he shook his head and tapped his pencil against the page. “You really need to be careful, babe. I don’t think you should force it.” He returned his attention to the crossword.
“I’m only trying to figure out what happened after we left the party — before the accident. We went for food, right?”
He jotted something down on the paper, then he said, “Aha!” and wrote something else down. “Right?” I asked again.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “We were both starving. There wasn’t anything to eat at the party.”
“Where’d we go?” I must have missed it in his statement.
“Twenty-one down,” he mumbled. “Got it!” and he filled in another clue before answering. “Tim Hortons.”
“Kearny Lake Road? Or Lacewood?”
His eyes remained glued to the puzzle. “Yeah, one of those. Three clues left. I’m on fire, babe!”
“I could really use your help here, Cal,” I said, trying not to get frustrated.
His shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. It’s like … the accident? Well, it really messed me up.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Oh. Yeah …”
“I’m trying to forget it ever happened. But I guess it’s the opposite for you.”
He looked so sad, staring at me with those giant blue-grey eyes. How could I stay mad at that? “I get it,” I said, and tugged at a bandage thread hanging from my cast. “I saw you reading the article. You’ve seen it before. Tell me what the rest said. I don’t have it.”
He frowned and thought for a minute. “I think there was only like a couple more lines. You got all the good stuff.”
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