by Katie Nelson
I rolled my eyes. Like I had a choice.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I SLEPT MOST OF NEW Year’s Day. School started back up on the third of January. In a way, I was glad to be back. Back to my routine. Back to the dining hall and the library and everything that was normal and boring. Everything that was me.
But I was different. The first few days after the break-in, I couldn’t sit still, couldn’t quit looking over my shoulder. Though I knew the Duke had probably done this kind of thing hundreds of times, it was my first time on the wrong side of the law.
There were moments when I felt so incredible. The rush of what we’d gotten away with was amazing. I wanted to blurt it out as we sat at our table at lunch. I wanted to see Garrett and Tomas and Jason’s faces, to watch their opinion of me change, just a little. So they’d quit acting like I was their charity case, like I wasn’t good enough to be one of them.
I’d be sitting in class and the teacher’s phone would ring, and as I watched her pick up I was certain it was about me. They knew. And it was all over for me. Just me though. In my imaginings, the Duke was always okay. Even my subconscious knew he would get away with everything. Still, I stuck close to him. When he texted, I always answered right back. If he took his time leaving class, I waited and walked with him. I didn’t want to miss any sign of trouble. And in some weird way, if I was with him, I felt safe.
After about two weeks back, we were sitting in the dining hall after dinner, our table covered with dirty dishes and used napkins. The place was pretty empty, but nobody got up to leave. I was sore and exhausted. I’d started doing track, and it was killing me. Tran and Jason sat at one end of the table arguing about some video game I’d never heard of. Tomas was trying to convince Peyton to let him copy her chemistry lab, while she pestered Garrett for information about some guy they both knew.
“So, this weekend,” Garrett hit his hands on the table. “I need to know who’s renting and who’s bringing their own skis or boards.”
We had Monday off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and Garrett had invited everyone to his parents’ cabin in Tahoe for the long weekend. It was supposed to be in celebration of his seventeenth birthday, but that wasn’t until the end of the month, so I was pretty sure we’d be celebrating for a while.
Tomas, Jason, and Peyton all started talking over one another. Something about moguls and powder and double black diamonds. I didn’t even try to follow the conversation. I’d been invited, but I wasn’t going. I’d never been skiing or snowboarding, and I didn’t have five hundred bucks to spend on equipment and lift tickets so I could learn. I was planning on going home and catching up on my homework.
“Kelsey?” Garrett asked. “You’re skiing right?”
“Yeah, but I need to rent. I don’t want to drive home and get my stuff.”
“I’ll bet you’re an animal,” Tomas said, winking at her. “Can’t wait to see what you’ve got.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes, and Peyton laughed. “Don’t worry Tanner,” she said. “I’ll have my camera out when Kelsey whoops up on him. I’ll send you the video.”
I tried to smile. It wasn’t like I’d ever wanted to ski or snowboard. Sliding down a mountain in freezing temperatures was not my idea of fun. But they could have at least acted disappointed that I wasn’t going.
Jason started telling a story about some snowboard trick he did in the half-pipe last year, and while everyone else was distracted, I leaned across the table. Keeping my voice low, I asked Kelsey, “What’s the latest with the pageant thing?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “Nothing new.”
“You’re still doing it?”
Her pineapple smoothie was almost gone, but the little chunk of pineapple they’d stuck on the rim of the cup was still there, attached to a maraschino cherry with a little plastic sword. She pulled the sword out and started stabbing the cherry. “My mom had the paperwork submitted before I came home for Thanksgiving. My parents think it will be good advertising for their practice. I wasn’t exactly involved in the decision.”
“You’re the one that has to do it, though,” I said, my voice rising.
She glared at me, glancing down the table to see if anyone was listening. Nobody was.
“You should tell them you don’t want to,” I said, almost whispering. “Stand up for yourself.”
The cherry was in tiny pieces. She pushed them around her tray with the sword. “Easier said than done.”
My phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket. It was the Duke.
“Is that him?” Garrett asked. “Ask him if he’s boarding or skiing.”
I wasn’t his secretary. Garrett could ask him, himself. I shook my head and answered the call. “What’s up?”
“Meet me in the parking lot?” he asked. “Fifteen minutes?”
“Sure,” I said. The call ended before I could even say good-bye.
When I looked back at Kelsey, I could tell she was pissed. “What?”
She narrowed her eyes. “What does he want now?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Wants me to meet him in a little bit.”
“So I guess you’re bailing on the library? Again?”
“I’m really tired. That practice was brutal. Can’t we go tomorrow?”
She began gathering her stuff. “Whatever. Don’t lecture me. At least I can respect my parents—they only want what’s best for me. But you? You’d do anything for the Duke. You think he walks on water or something. And you’re too stupid to see where it’s going to get you.”
I reached across the table and grabbed her wrist. “What are you talking about?”
This time, everyone at the table was quiet. Kelsey cocked her head, waiting for someone else to speak. When no one did, she said, “You’re going to deny it? Pretend you’re not his little errand boy?”
“I’ve done, like, two favors for him. Everybody does.”
Tomas shook his head. “What’s the big deal, Kelsey?”
I looked down the table at them. They were quiet, steeling themselves for another one of Kelsey’s rants. When she didn’t say anything else, Jason asked, “Where was he tonight?”
“I don’t know. Around. Am I supposed to be keeping tabs on him?”
Garrett picked up a cold french fry off his tray, and tore it in half. “Just seems like he’s really busy lately. And you’re the only one he talks to. Are you guys up to something?”
The heat was rising under my skin. They were jealous. Whatever. I didn’t have to explain myself to them. “We’re debate partners. We’re not dating or moonlighting as detectives or running a crime ring.”
Everyone laughed.
My stomach sank a little as that last lie slipped out. It didn’t matter. They were making a big deal out of nothing. This was just how the Duke was. He did his own thing. When they hung out with him this weekend, everything would be fine.
Garrett threw the fry remnant at me. “Just tell him to text me about this weekend. It’s gonna be epic.”
They all started talking again, making plans and arguing about who was riding in which car. I turned to say goodbye to Kelsey, but she was glaring at me.
“Look, I’ve gotta go,” I said, standing. I threw my backpack over my shoulder, and picked up my tray. “We’ll study together tomorrow. I promise.”
She threw her wadded up napkin. It bounced off my chest and landed on my tray. “You are so not who I thought you were.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I waited, the weight of my books and tablet dragging my backpack until it almost slid off my shoulder. I shrugged and adjusted it, just as my phone beeped in my pocket.
Kelsey turned back to the table, refusing to look at me. “Run along now,” she said. “Wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”
It stung, but I wouldn’t let her see it. She was making a big deal out of nothing, and I didn’t have time for this kind of stupid drama. I’d talk to her later, when she’d cooled down.
I went straight to t
he parking lot where the Duke was waiting.
Part of me wanted to call them all up and rub it in their faces. Another part of me wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. But yeah, the whole highly illegal, terribly dangerous thing that they suspected I was doing with the Duke? We were watching cheerleaders. Who weren’t even very good. And the only cute one on the squad was my cousin.
Abby was cheering at an away basketball game in Gilroy, a couple towns over from Bannerman. She’d called, pretending to be my mom, and had gotten permission for me to go to the game. Conveniently, it was the night of the registrar’s fortieth birthday, and the faculty was celebrating at a restaurant in Palo Alto. The Duke wanted to see Abby, and if I was there, he could act like I’d dragged him along in case Blake, or anyone else, got suspicious. It didn’t matter though. I knew Blake wouldn’t show, and he didn’t.
The Duke hadn’t been much for conversation. He’d spent most of the first half either on his phone or making faces at Abby while she was trying to cheer. Even if she hadn’t been my cousin, I’d have wanted to hurl.
At halftime, the cheerleaders took their spot in the middle of the gym, huge fake smiles on their faces, frozen in weird, unnatural poses, waiting for their music to start. The Duke whistled loudly and I looked over at him, but it was like I didn’t exist. Nobody else in that gym existed but Abby. His eyes followed her every movement, and it wasn’t until the music stopped and the cheerleaders ran off the court that he came out of his trance.
“She’s really good,” he said.
“I guess.” I knew that she practiced a lot, but I had no idea if she was really good or not.
“I’ve never dated a cheerleader before,” the Duke leaned back, his elbows resting on the bleachers behind us. “Always wanted to, though.”
“That’s just because Bannerman doesn’t have them,” I said. “Otherwise I’d find that hard to believe.”
He slapped me on the back and laughed, like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Then the buzzer sounded and the players ran onto the court. We went back to pretending like we cared about the game.
The varsity team lost, a humiliating 105–77, despite the best efforts of the cheerleaders.
When the game was over, I stood ready to get out of there. It had been awkward, to put it mildly. Here I was, watching guys that I’d known since kindergarten play basketball. I’d never cared enough to go to any of the games when I actually attended this school, but now that I was supposed to have moved on, I was back, trying to pay attention and act like I cared. Ian, one of my old teammates, was suited up and sitting on the bench. I didn’t know he played basketball. I caught his eye and nodded at him at one point, but either he didn’t see me, or he pretended not to.
If Ben knew I was here he’d have a heart attack. Actually, I didn’t know that. I hadn’t talked to him since Thanksgiving, and that was only for a few minutes. Maybe he’d been overcome by school spirit and was now president of the pep club. I didn’t really know anymore. Six months ago, Ben had been my best friend. Now he wasn’t even a part of my life.
We’d just finished up a unit in chemistry about states of matter, how some compounds break apart when energy is added. Sitting on those bleachers, I couldn’t help but wonder if our friendship was like that, evaporating into a gas before my eyes, and there was no way I could trap it, and return it to the state it used to be.
“You ready?” I asked, sliding my arms into my jacket.
The Duke stood. “Give them a minute to get their stuff.”
“What?”
“Abby. And Victoria. We’re taking them out for milkshakes.”
Abby had her back to us, talking to her coach, the same woman who taught freshman health class and had been coaching for about thirty years. No wonder they never won anything. Abby turned and waved at us to come down.
When my feet hit the gym floor, she flew over, wrapping me in a huge hug, like it had been months since she’d seen me, and not less than two weeks since the New Year’s Eve party where her boyfriend had almost killed me. Whispering in my ear, she said, “Play along, please? You owe me.”
As she pulled away, I smiled and said, “I think it’s the other way around.”
The health teacher was on her way over. “Tanner McKay,” she said, shaking my hand. “Nice to see you again.”
“Yeah. You, too.” I couldn’t remember her name. Ms. Summerlin? Sorensen? Better not even guess.
“Abby and Victoria gave me the notes from their mothers,” she said. I wasn’t surprised. Abby had been forging Aunt Kristy’s signature since sixth grade. “But I can’t let these girls leave with you without you promising to be extra careful. And don’t keep them out too late.”
The Duke had wandered away. He was by the exit doors talking into his phone. I wondered what he had planned. Somehow, I guessed that Ms. Stevenson (maybe?) wouldn’t bend the rules for a double date. I was trying to read the look on Abby’s face. I swallowed and nodded, doing my best to look responsible. “Yeah. I will. I have to be back for curfew, anyway. I really missed Abby. We never get to hang out anymore.”
The teacher patted my arm. “Of course. You two were always close.”
I couldn’t look at Abby. I’d burst out laughing if I did. Instead, we both waited, trying to look sufficiently pathetic and responsible at the same time. The gym was practically empty, and finally, Ms. I-Can’t-Remember-Her-Name realized that she had a busload of other girls to account for. “Well, have fun then. Victoria? Abby? Don’t be late for practice tomorrow.”
We were finally out in the parking lot when Abby punched me in the arm. “Finally. Your shameless sucking up is good for something.”
“I’ll add this to your tab. I think you owe me about seven thousand favors now.”
The Duke caught up with us, and we all walked back to my Bronco. Abby introduced the Duke to Victoria. I remembered her from school but, like most cheerleaders, she never talked to me. As soon as I unlocked the truck, the Duke and Abby piled into the back seat, leaving me with the Ice Princess riding shotgun. I cranked the ignition and checked the rear view mirror. They were making out. Awesome.
“Yeah, so since I have no idea where we’re supposed to be going, you two are going to have to come up for air and fill me in on the plan. Unless you’d rather I just dropped you off in one of the garlic fields we passed on the way in?”
Abby kicked the back of my seat. “Don’t be a jerk.”
The Duke leaned forward. “Your call, mate. What sounds good? Milkshakes? Burgers?”
At that moment, it all made my stomach queasy. I wanted to get back to the dorm. Instead, I drove back to town, while the Duke and Abby went right back at it. After getting single syllable answers to each of my questions, I gave up on Victoria and turned the radio up.
I wasn’t trying to impress anyone, so I pulled into the Dairy Queen a couple of miles away from campus. Victoria said something to Abby about me still being cheap, but I shrugged it off. The joke was on her. I had no intention of paying for her Peanut Buster Parfait.
Ever the perfect host, the Duke stepped in and paid for all of our food. Considering the amount of gas I’d already used, I ordered large fries and a large Blizzard. But when the food appeared, the greasy fries glistening on the red plastic tray, I didn’t want any of it. As I carried it to the table, I held my breath so I wouldn’t smell it.
As soon as the food arrived, the girls got up to use the bathroom. I stared at the Duke.
“You mind?” he asked, stealing a fry.
I pushed the tray toward him. “Go ahead. I’m not hungry.”
He chewed. “That’s a first.”
I shrugged.
Stirring my Blizzard, I glanced up at him. He was watching the door to the bathroom. In a low voice, he said, “Blake’s cheating on her, you know. Not just one-night stands, either. He’s got a girlfriend in college that he practically lives with.”
“So? That makes this okay?”
The Duke glanced at me, the
n back at the bathroom doors. “I thought you’d want to know. She’s going to break up with him. Soon.”
I shook my head, but the Duke didn’t seem to notice. “I asked her to prom.”
“I thought Bannerman didn’t have a prom.”
“We don’t.” He took another fry from the tray and pointed it at me. “We’ll go to her prom.”
“Why? Her prom is in the high-school gym. The nicest restaurant in town is Applebee’s. Why not take her somewhere else? Why prom?”
He threw the fry in his mouth, but smiled at me as he chewed. “Haven’t you seen the movies? It’s the most magical night of a girl’s life.”
I had a lot to say about that, but the girls were back, and he shook his head, cutting me off. As I watched Abby slide into the booth next to him, nuzzling against his shoulder and stealing one of the fries in front of him—one of my fries—I wanted to shake him. How could someone be smart enough to hack into the computer system at school, but stupid enough to believe her? Because there was no way that Abby was breaking up with Blake. She’d built her whole identity around being with him, and she didn’t know how to be Abby.
Of course Blake was cheating on her. I was sure she knew it, too. But he’d never break up with her, either. And the more she tried to get away from him—the more attention she paid anyone else—the tighter he would hold on. Which was why this game Abby and the Duke were playing was so dangerous. This whole fantasy the Duke had, about the two of them going to the prom together, it was never going to happen.
I barely heard Victoria when she spoke just above a whisper. “I don’t like it, either.” She nodded toward Abby, who was feeding the Duke a spoonful of her Blizzard. “She’s trying to get back at Blake, but she’s the one who’s going to get hurt. Blake is crazy. He freaked out when he saw that new phone she got.”
“What phone?”
“The one he gave her.” Victoria pointed at the Duke, but neither he, nor Abby, were paying attention to us. “Blake didn’t notice the boots or the purse, but the phone pissed him off.”