The Clique

by Valerie Thomas

  If it were possible for hearts to drop out of chests, Kate’s would be on the floor. “That doesn’t—I don’t—I just wanna go home.”

  “Please, I can explain.”

  “Take. Me. Home.”

  Aude rushes to the door when they get up. “Wait, where are you guys going?”

  Kate glares at her. I have nothing to say to you. Bitch.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Maddie’s phone rings as she walks along the halls to her next class. She presses the answer call button and brings it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Maddie?” the voice sounds like her mother. But it can’t be. She hasn’t even sent a text in over a month.

  “M-mom?”

  “Hey, Maddie. How are you?”

  Maddie ducks into an alcove at the base of the stairs. “I’m, uh—I’m good.”

  “That’s good. I’m glad to hear that.”

  After a pause, Maddie allows herself to say, “I’ve missed you, Mom. So much.” After feeling forsaken by her mother, the sound of her voice is enough to bring tears to Maddie’s eyes

  “I missed you, too. I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you before I left.”

  “Yeah. But it’s okay.” Maddie would love nothing more than to tell her to shove it, to yell at her mom for abandoning her and her father, but she can’t bring herself to do it. With a gulp, she realizes that she would do anything to keep the conversation going.

  Maddie feels a tap on her back. She holds up a hand to wave the intruder away.

  “Mrs. Smith! It’s Devon!” Maddie turns to the voice; sure enough, Devon’s smirking at her. A wide, lopsided smirk that seems to say I know what’s going on here. You don’t, but I do.

  “Oh, Devon! I love that boy!” Her mom says. “What a fantastic young man!”

  “You know him?” Maddie throws Devon a questioning look.

  “Of course, honey. His father and I work together. Or, we will be working together. I got a part in a new movie!”

  “That’s, um—what?” Maddie takes a step back, wondering what’s going on.

  Devon reaches out, and before Maddie can figure out what he’s doing, pulls her phone out of her hand. “I’m very sorry, Mrs. Smith, but your daughter and I have some work to do. School project, you know.”

  “Oh, yes, I understand.”

  Maddie gapes at Devon as he presses the red end call button. “I think you and I have a lot to discuss. Come with me.” He leads her through a back door, out to a patch of grass where Maddie can see about fifty feet in any direction.

  “What the fuck was that, Devon?” Maddie asks.

  He shrugs. “A call from your mother.” A pause, then, “Who you haven’t heard from in a while. I thought you might like talking with her.”

  “Then why’d you hang up!”

  The lopsided smirk finds its way back to Devon’s face. “Because nothing in this world is free, Madison.”

  “Huh?”

  “You felt inadequate. Not good enough for the Patriots, not good enough to win the Student Council election. That would’ve been alright, though, if it wasn’t for the biggest slap in the face: your mom wouldn’t even talk to you. Not since she ran off to become an actress. That was the ultimate ‘not good enough.’” He shields his eyes against the sun. “What if I told you I could fix everything? Get your mother to talk to you again, give you your spot on the Patriots, help you eliminate that horrible vice in front of president?”

  He’s like a freaking villain, Maddie thinks. From one of those old Westerns Dad likes. “And in return…?”

  “In return, you help me work out my own ‘not good enough.’ Your friend, Audrey? I just want to be good enough for her.”

  “And how can I help with that?”

  Devon’s brown eyes light up. “A couple of things. Completely innocent. First, I just want to know about her. What you guys talk about before school, after school, what kind of things she likes, anything interesting going on—“

  “So you want me to spy on her?”

  Devon turns his gaze to the ground. With a sad smile on his face, he looks almost human. “I just need some help, Madison. You know I couldn’t ever win her over, as I am. For fuck’s sake, just look at me.” He spreads his arms out. “I know what you see—pale, weak. I’m no Gabriel. But if I had an advantage… Please. Please, Madison.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

  “Even if it meant getting your mom back?” Devon glances at her phone, still in his hand. “I could do that, make her come back into your life.”

  Maddie sighs. He’s found the one offer she can’t turn down, and they both know it. “How?”

  “Who do you think arranged that call just now? All it took was one phone call to my dad, and one with your mother. She really wants to be an actress.”

  “An actress…” Maddie gulps. For her mother. Aude would understand. She’d probably even tell Maddie to take the deal, if she were there. “Alright. I’ll help you.”

  He smirks. “Thank you. And one more thing. I need you to tell Kate that you saw Aude and Sean having sex at Nate’s party.”

  Maddie wrinkles her nose in disgust. “I’m not gonna lie for you, Devon.” She starts to walk away.

  “It’s not a lie. I saw them!” When Maddie keeps walking, he adds, “I guess neither of us is ever gonna be good enough. I could fix everything for you, you know, and all I want is some help.”

  “No, you want me to make a deal with the devil!” She slows to a stop, and turns back to look at him.

  Devon looks hurt. “I’m not the devil. But yes, this is a deal. I give you what you want—whatever you want—and you help me get what I want. I can’t sleep at night without her. All I wanna do is give Aude the world, Madison. Is that so bad?”

  Maddie swallows. “How could you do any of what you’re promising?”

  “I already told you about your mom... As for the other things—well, let’s just say I know a few secrets. Secrets that Amanda doesn’t want anyone to find out about, and a particularly juicy secret that will get Bella kicked off the Patriots.” He looks at Maddie. “I really did see Aude and Sean doing what I said, and I tried to tell Kate, but she wouldn’t believe me.”

  Yeah, right. Maddie knows she shouldn’t believe him, but—if he’s telling the truth, that makes everything okay. If he’s telling the truth, Kate needs to know. Framing it that way makes the decision easier. “Okay.”

  “Okay? You’re in?”

  Maddie glances at the ground, then back up to Devon. “You swear that you really saw Sean and Aude together?”

  Devon gestures to the sky. “If I’m lying, may God strike me down.”

  “Alright. Then I guess I’m in.”

  “Great! Here’s your phone back. I added myself as a contact. I’ll text you the number to reach your mom. And, uh, when you tell Kate, mention that we were both waiting to get in at the same time. Otherwise it just seems suspicious.”

  “Okay.” Maddie’s leaves for her second hour class. She arrives nearly ten minutes late.

  “Glad you finally decided to join us,” the teacher jokes.

  “Sorry.” Maddie takes her seat right next to Aude, wondering if she knows what’s going on.

  Aude grins. “Hey Maddie!”

  So that would be a no. “You seem, uh—“ Wait a second, why’s she wearing that hideous skirt? And that top? ­“Aude, why are you dressed like that?”

  Audrey tucks her hair behind an ear. “Kate and I are having a thing. She wouldn’t let me borrow any clothes this morning.”

  “Oh? What’s wrong?”

  “I have a theory, but it’s hard to know for sure.” Aude’s grin disappears. “She wasn’t even talking to me. It’s okay, though. I’ll apologize for whatever I did wrong, and she’ll forgive me.”

  Maddie has a brief mental argument. It would be so easy to tell her friend what Devon said, but she’d lose her mom again... “Well I’m sorry. We can go to my house fourth hour, if you want. I have a lot of
extra clothes.”

  “Thanks.”

  They meet up again at fourth period, find Aude a long, baby-blue shirt and pair of black yoga pants, and head out to lunch without Kate, who stays behind to “study.” Aude still seems perfectly happy.

  Maddie has trouble working up the nerve to talk to Kate. Fourth hour slips by, then fifth, then school is over, and finally Student Council brings a chance for her to fulfill her end of the bargain. But Kate never comes.

  She just wants to get it over with. It isn’t even a lie, Maddie reasons. Well, more like a white lie. Devon saw Aude and Sean. All she has to do is pretend she did too. It shouldn’t be so hard, but for the fiftieth time that day, Maddie almost texts Devon to tell him that she can’t go through with his plan. But then Maddie sees the recent call from her mother, and like a drug addict, remembers she would do anything for another conversation, no matter how short. She heads over to Kate’s house and rings the doorbell.

  “Maddie? What are you doing here?”

  Deep breath. “Hey Kate. I, um, I have something I need to tell you.”

  “Okay?”

  “Can I come in?”

  “Uh, yeah, sure.” Kate lets Maddie in and they find seats on the couch.

  “So, last Friday—uh, you remember Nate’s party?”

  “Yeah,” Kate replies, in a worried tone.

  “Well, Devon and I were waiting to get in, and we saw—“

  “You saw it too?”

  Maddie nods. “Kate, I’m so sorry.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Aude shoves a spoonful of cereal in her mouth. Yesterday was like a day out of a nightmare. Being forced to wear those horrible clothes reminded her of elementary school, how she begged her mom to buy literally anything else. Middle school, how the other girls all made fun of her.

  But then she met Kate, and all of that changed. No matter what had happened before, Kate wouldn’t make Aude suffer through reliving those days. But yesterday, she had. No one laughed at Aude openly anymore, but she saw the looks, the how-the-queen-has-fallen looks.

  The clanking of her spoon against the empty bowl shakes Aude out of her reverie for a moment. She must have finished without noticing. She stares at the porcelain bottom, slipping back into her thoughts. Even after Maddie helped her out, the looks had continued. Like everyone knew how she looked in her real clothes now, and anything else was a lie.

  Whatever she did must’ve been bad. And there’s only one thing Aude can think of that qualifies. I should’ve just said no, she thinks. I should have let him dump Kate.

  If Kate knows and wants to punish her, then Aude decides to let her. No borrowing clothes from other friends. I’ll show her that no matter what she wants to do, our friendship means more to me. Aude sighs and gets in her car.

  She drives to Kate’s house and rings the doorbell. Kate answers. “I thought I made myself clear yesterday. You aren’t allowed to use my house anymore.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Aude stands at the entryway. “Can you please just tell me what I did?”

  “You should know exactly what you did.” Kate’s eyes flash dangerously. “Honestly, what kind of a best friend are you! He was my boyfriend!”

  “He made me! Kate, it was just a kiss.” Aude frowns at her. How could a kiss make her so angry?

  Kate glares back. “Don’t even bother lying to me.”

  “I swear, it was just a kiss! And I didn’t even want to do it. But he said if I didn’t that he would—” Aude searches her friend’s face for some sign of sympathy.

  “Bullshit! Maddie saw you! She saw you, Aude!”

  “She saw me do what!” Aude takes a step back. “What exactly did she say she saw me do?”

  “Fucking Sean.” She spits the words out and slams the door.

  “What? But…“ Aude can’t think of any argument that would work, if Kate truly believes that. She knows what sex means to Aude. She wouldn’t ever—couldn’t ever, especially with Sean. And Maddie… Aude can’t figure out why she would lie like that. The only answer she can come up with is that she did something wrong and Maddie wants payback—but she can’t remember doing anything to hurt Maddie. She sits on the front step, her long skirt already heating up in the early morning sun.

  Kate reopens the door. “What are you still doing here!”

  Maddie—lied. Aude tries to figure out how to make Kate see that. She turns to her friend. “I’m here to give you a ride.”

  “But I already told you I’m not letting you in!”

  “Yeah, well, I know. But you’re still gonna need a ride to school.”

  “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Like yesterday? Did you call in sick or what?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going with you.”

  “Yeah, you are. My best friend needs a ride, and I’m here to give her one. Kate, you can yell at me as much as you want, but I’m taking you to school.”

  “I don’t want to go anywhere with you! Now go!”

  “No.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said no. Kate, I don’t care what you want to do to me—heck, kick me in the face if you want. But I didn’t do what you think I did. So as far as I’m concerned, we’re still best friends.” Aude sticks out her jaw stubbornly.

  Kate snorts. “Wow, you’re such a good liar. But do you really think you can get away with this if you just keep pretending like nothing happened? Maddie saw you, Sean confessed to it—hell, I even remember wondering where you two were! When we were setting up, right? That’s why you wanted to be there early!”

  “No.” Aude traces a crack in the cement to keep the tears at bay. “I swear, Kate, it was just a kiss. He, uh, he wanted to do more but I didn’t let him. I said that you were my best friend and I would never do that to you.”

  “Do you even realize the irony of what you’re saying?” Kate moves to slam the door again. “Don’t be here when I get back!”

  But Aude doesn’t leave. A black car drives by, and she looks up at some rainclouds forming overhead, but she can’t convince herself to move. If she stays there long enough, Kate will have no choice but to believe her.

  Kate yanks the door open. “Ugh, I’m gonna call the cops!” Aude notices that her friend looks almost as bad as her: disheveled hair, wrinkled clothes, and lipstick that doesn’t quite cover her lips.

  “Fine, call the cops.” Maybe they can get to the bottom of this.

  “You little—!” Kate walks over to Aude’s car and waits by the door.

  Well, at least she’s letting me drive her, Aude thinks. She unlocks the door and begins the most awkward drive to school ever. Kate glares daggers at her the whole while, and when they arrive she just gets out of the car without a word.

  Aude looks straight ahead. Yup. Definitely gonna rain. Oh, come on, just get out of the car. It can’t be any worse than yesterday. A pair of girls point and giggle at her as she steps down to the asphalt.

  School starts before Audrey makes it to the front doors, so she heads to English class instead of the usual hangout. She nearly bumps into Mr. Silveris as she leaves out of the staircase.

  “Hey there, kiddo,” Mr. Silveris says. “Love your outfit! Very conservative.”

  Aude nods, following him toward the classroom. “Uh, yeah, thanks.”

  “So, listen, your essay about the seven levels of hell—“ he holds the classroom door open “—I gave it an eight.”

  “Wow, thanks.” Eights in an AP English class—at least the AP English at George Washington—are nearly unheard of. Maybe a single student gets one a semester, but often as not no one does. But the information hardly helps Aude’s mood. There’s only one thing that can: absolution.

  Kate studies the wall as Aude finds her seat. Even Hannah seems colder than normal. Mr. Silveris starts in on his lesson and when he asks the class to divide into pairs, Kate chooses Hannah and Aude’s stuck with a butter-faced boy with overly long brown bangs.

  “So, I thought your thesis
was really good. But your third paragraph sounded a little weird to me.”

  Aude shakes her head. “Huh?”

  “I, uh, that is, I said—“

  “Never mind. Here’s your essay. I marked everything wrong in a red pen.” Aude turns around in her chair.

  “Well, I only wrote down like half of what I wanted to say.”

  “Fine. Whatever.” She doodles until the end of the hour.

  “Alright, class dismissed,” Mr. Silveris says. “I hope your partner helped you out, because I expect a revised copy of your essay on Monday.” He gives a serene smile and nod to each student as they leave.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Silveris?” Aude hangs back until the entire class is gone.

  “Yes, kiddo?”

  “Can I talk to you, about something personal?”

  “Of course.”

  “Do you have a class next hour? It might take a while...”

  “Nope. I’m free as a bird, kiddo. So what’s the matter?”

  Aude sits on top of the nearest desk. “Um, Kate’s mad at me—“ she takes a deep breath “—because one of our friends said she saw me at a party, doing things with her boyfriend. Kate’s boyfriend, I mean. And I didn’t, but Maddie said I did and I don’t know why she’d do that and I guess Sean said I did too, even though it isn’t true.”

  Mr. Silveris scratches his beard. “So, she thinks you betrayed her. You say you didn’t, but of course she won’t listen. She’s made up her mind. I don’t know if there’s an easy solution, kiddo. Kate is an intelligent girl, though, and so are you. I’m sure you’ll find a way to straighten things out.”

  Aude’s first reaction is a strong desire to shake her teacher and say something to the effect of “that doesn’t help at all!” Instead, she shrugs and stands up to leave. “Thanks.”

  “Do you know why your other friend would concoct such a lie?” Mr. Silveris asks.

  “No. That’s the weird thing. I thought we were really good friends.”

  “Hmmm. Maybe that’s the right question to ask. If you find out why she lied, maybe you can convince her to tell the truth.”

  “Oh.” Aude cracks a small smile. That might actually be useful. “Thanks!”