by Gina Ciocca
“Why does that matter?” TJ asked. “It evened out in the end. You got in when someone dropped out.”
And then it clicked. I’d been accepted into the honors program. I’d waited until the last minute to decline my spot in the hopes that my parents would change their mind about sending me to Templeton. Kendall had gotten in because I dropped out.
“I got in, but I needed to stay in!” Kendall cried. “I had to prove that I wasn’t some squeaky wheel who’d been a waste of grease. But I started having trouble with my schoolwork. I’d never been the best at math or science, but the classes were impossible and I was drowning. I needed to get back on top somehow, to prove to everyone that they weren’t better than me. I was terrified of failing.”
Terrified of failing were the exact words TJ had used to describe Kendall. But he didn’t appear to have much sympathy as he said, “So you took my keys and stole Mr. Katz’s lessons?”
Kendall shook her head. “No. Eli did.”
All eyes turned to Eli. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. “I needed the grades,” he mumbled. “It was nothing personal, man.”
“Nothing per—right. Okay.” TJ ran his hand through his hair. “This keeps getting better.”
“How did you get one of my hearts?” I broke in, gesturing toward his car. The door was still wide open with the interior light on, and the undecorated heart hung in plain view.
Eli exchanged a look with Kendall. “I found it in the trunk of Pace’s car.”
“You broke into Jordan’s car?”
Kendall didn’t look at me when she added, “Eli didn’t trust me to get what we needed.”
“The system wasn’t always so complex,” Eli said before I could respond. “The first time around, I swiped a list of student phone numbers from the guidance office. I sent blocked texts to a bunch of Mr. Katz’s students, anyone with less than a C average. I gave all of them a problem from the next test to prove I was legit and told them they could buy the rest. They’d leave the money in an unused locker in B wing, and I’d drop the answers in theirs.”
“I caught Eli making a pickup one day,” Kendall continued. “And I told him I wanted in, or I’d rat him out—”
“Which you fucking did anyway,” Eli muttered.
“You have no proof of that,” Kendall snapped.
A smile slithered across Eli’s face. “You know what they say, doll. Keep your friends close…” He didn’t need to finish the saying: keep your enemies closer.
Kendall turned back to TJ, desperation in her eyes. “I needed the grades for the honors program, and on top of it, my dad had taken a big cut in pay when we transferred back. He wanted me to get a job and start paying for some of my own expenses, but I needed to concentrate on my grades. It seemed like the perfect solution.” She twisted her fingers together. “I had no idea you’d end up getting the blame, TJ, I swear.”
“But when I did, you never came forward.”
Kendall looked at the ground. “I was finally starting to pull myself up from the bottom of the barrel. I couldn’t go back. I’m sorry, TJ. I never meant for you to get hurt.”
TJ swallowed hard. “Is that what you told yourself when you used Jordan Pace to sleep your way to the top?”
Kendall’s head snapped up and she looked at me, wide eyed.
I folded my arms across my chest and glared at her. “Yes, we know all about it, so don’t even bother trying to say it wasn’t what it looked like. Jordan gave you a tour of the school; you gave him a tour of your pants. Now what we need to know is why.”
Kendall’s face crumpled and she covered it with both hands. Her shoulders shook with great, heaving gasps. “I was s-scared. Scared of being a nobody. I needed something in my back pocket, s-some kind of insurance that I’d still come out on top, even if I was dirt on the bottom of everyone’s shoes. I needed to know someone could still love me, because I was so afraid TJ didn’t anymore.”
I rolled my eyes. “So you pretended to care about Jordan, got him to hack his mother’s laptop, and then framed Charlie for the whole thing?”
Jason whistled. “This is fucked up.”
Kendall dragged her fingertips across her cheeks, leaving mascara-tinged streaks in their wake. “I overheard Charlie saying that she’d fixed Mrs. Pace’s computer. Up until she said it, I’d never intended to frame her, but she made it too easy. I didn’t want to be the only suspect if things went wrong again. So I told Eli we’d keep splitting the profits if he made the drop-offs. We moved them off-site to keep from getting caught.” Her face puckered with a defeated sniffle. “And here we are.”
I glared at her. “So when you asked for my help, you never really thought TJ was cheating. You suspected he knew about you stealing the tests and used me to see if he was getting close to the truth.”
She nodded. “Yes. I also suspected that Eli was playing both sides of the fence.” She shot him a dirty look. “Then you told me someone had shown up at the barn while you were there, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. The day you jumped on me like a wild beast and asked if I had anything to do with Charlie getting in trouble, I knew I was right.” She punched Eli’s shoulder. “You were supposed to keep TJ off our trail, not cover your own ass while you sent him after me.”
Eli rubbed his shoulder and cursed at her under his breath.
“Kendall.” I said her name in the most condescending tone I could muster, complete with a saccharine smirk. “You can punch whoever you want, point fingers at anyone—whatever makes you happy. It doesn’t change the fact that you made your bed and now you’d better change the sheets.” I never thought one of Charlie’s insane sayings would come in handy, but it fit and I liked it. I held up my camera. “Otherwise, these will be everywhere.”
For a second, her mouth formed a stricken O and her pallor grayed. Then she straightened and struck back. Or tried to. “Marisa, you can’t. There’s no way to undo this, not without getting me and Jordan in serious trouble.” She mimicked my smirk. “And we both know Jordan holds a very special place in your heart.”
“Mmm.” I rested my camera on my shoulder and pretended to contemplate her statement. “Yeah, not as special as you think.” I focused the camera lens. “So I guess I still have one more question.”
Kendall’s lips pressed into a thin line and she folded her arms across her chest. “What’s that?”
I lined up my shot. “How did it feel to have my leftovers?”
The camera clicked, preserving her priceless expression forever.
41
I was too wired to sleep when I got home that night. Not to mention that my phone was chiming every five seconds with texts of disbelief from Charlie, who wanted details, pictures, and my opinion on what our next step should be. I didn’t have all the answers for her, though. So I sat down in front of my laptop and started to write instead.
Not even a minute later, the sound of footsteps scuffling down the hall ended with my door being pushed ajar.
“Marisa?” my mother said, her eyes squinty with sleep. “I thought you were staying out tonight. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mom. We figured out who framed Charlie for cheating.”
Her eyes went round. “Who? And how?”
I grabbed my camera and handed it to her, the screen displaying the last picture I’d snapped of Kendall. “That’s who. How is kind of a long story.”
Mom’s face went from shocked to disgusted over the illuminated screen. “That troublemaker,” she spat. She twisted the camera at different angles. “Where were these taken?” Before I could stop her, she jabbed at a button, presumably trying to scroll through the photos. The camera turned off instead.
“Whoa, Mom, hand over the very expensive piece of technology before something gets erased or broken.” I took the camera from her and placed it next to me.
&
nbsp; “She was responsible for that video too, wasn’t she?”
“The one where I ‘stole’ her boyfriend? Yeah.”
“Marisa, I hope you know I was only trying to get at the truth when I questioned you. You’ve been distant and secretive, and you were so disappointed about Lehigh—I wanted to know what’s been going through your mind.”
“Don’t worry about Lehigh. If I’m meant to go there, it will all work out. If it doesn’t”—I shrugged—“then it doesn’t. There are plenty of other schools.”
“I know you’ll be amazing no matter where you end up. I’m just sorry we couldn’t make it easier for you.”
I stood up and wrapped her in a bear hug. “Mom, if I’m amazing, I’m pretty sure it’s inherited.” We squeezed each other for a minute, then I dropped back into my desk chair. “Can I tell you the whole story in the morning? It’s been a crazy night.”
“You’d better.” With that she blew me a kiss and closed the door behind her.
I turned to my computer. I needed to get this out while it was still fresh in my mind. All I had was a heading, but I had a feeling the rest would write itself.
For the Love of the News: BUSTED: How Chasing Cheaters Changed My Life.
• • •
“Can you believe this?” Charlie clacked into my dining room in her silver high heels and threw a copy of the Herring Cross Herald, our town newspaper, onto the table. The headline read: Templeton Chemistry Teacher Drops Charges Against Student.
It was the night of the winter formal and Charlie had come to our house to take pictures before the dance. She and Nick were going to ride together, and I’d insisted on taking my own car in case I wanted to cut out early. Tonight I’d be Marisa Palmera, Big-Ass Third Wheel.
I crossed the room and picked up the paper. I already knew, of course, that Jordan’s mom had dropped the charges. I had no idea it had made the paper though.
“‘Camilla Pace has issued an apology to Templeton High senior Charlotte Reiser after accusing her of stealing information from her laptop,’” I read aloud. “‘A sudden spike in student performance led Pace to believe that Reiser, who’d assisted with removal of a virus from her laptop, had consequently accessed tests and lesson plans, and distributed them to other students on campus. ‘I owe Miss Reiser an apology,’ Pace stated earlier this week. ‘As it turned out, the virus on my laptop caused information I’d saved in email drafts to be disseminated to my list of contacts, some of whom were students. The timing was an unfortunate coincidence, and I’m very sorry for my mistake.’”
“Goodness, Charlie,” my mother said. “I can’t believe she put you through such an ordeal.”
Charlie nodded and gave a shrug. “It’s over now.”
“Thank God for that.” She lifted her camera and pushed the button, but nothing happened. “Girls, I’ll be right back. My battery is dead.” She winked at me before adding, “No one is going anywhere until I get some pictures of my daughter the detective.”
She scurried out of the room and I threw the paper down. “Ugh! Excuse me while I go vomit. I can’t believe she lied on record.”
“I know.” Charlie took the paper and frowned at it, her foot tapping against the floor.
“You’re still thinking about what Kendall told me that night, aren’t you?”
She looked up at me. “You have no idea how bad I feel, Marisa. I might not have been the one to put the mouse in her car or steal her clothes, but I knew it happened and I knew the people who did it and I did nothing about it. I was too afraid I’d get the blame.” Her lips turned down. “Maybe this was fair payback.”
“Payback implies you did something wrong, and you didn’t,” I said.
“I could’ve done something right, and I didn’t do that either.”
“True. But Kendall told me once that she’d said and done things to me when we were younger that she wasn’t proud of. She could’ve learned from her mistakes, but she continued to trample anyone who got in her way instead. Even people she claimed to care about.”
We’d let Kendall and Eli go the night of the confrontation with an ultimatum to turn themselves in by Monday morning or we’d release our pictures to everyone and their mother. By Sunday night, Mrs. Pace had called Charlie at home, begging for forgiveness.
Charlie straightened. “You’re right. Kendall can go cry in her effing gold-spun sheets, and Camilla can kiss my ass. The lengths she went to for her precious baby are gross. Those asses got away with murder.”
“Not surprising,” I said. “This is the same woman who doesn’t care if her son sleeps with everything that walks, as long as he does it at his own school. I still say we won though. I have the pictures and if we ever need to make their lives miserable, I’ve got the power.”
Charlie perched on the edge of a dining room chair like she was afraid to wrinkle her silky emerald-green dress. “I don’t even care that they got away with it. It’s not like I expected people to come forward and admit they bought the tests. It’s easier for everyone this way, and I got a public apology. We all win, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Except for TJ,” I said. “He’ll never get an apology for what happened to him.”
“He’s really not coming tonight?” Charlie asked.
I looked down at my sparkly, black stilettos. “I guess not. We haven’t talked much since that night.” At all, really. Ever since he’d blasted Eli for destroying his relationship with Kendall, I couldn’t stop picturing them as a happy couple. Laughing. Holding hands. Kissing. Other things I didn’t care to think about. He hadn’t wanted to give up on her. Most likely because he hadn’t wanted to give her up.
Charlie tapped a manicured nail against her hip. “You know where I stand on this. You’re being a baby.”
“Let it go, Char.”
The sound of the bathroom door being thrown open made our heads turn toward the stairs. Nick came bounding down in his tux, smoothing his hair along the way.
“Two women, both ready before you,” I said. “That should tell you something, Nick.”
I don’t think he heard me. He came to a halt at the bottom of the steps and his jaw dropped. That moony Charlie Face came out in full effect, and I half expected him to start drooling like a Saint Bernard. Charlie stood and smoothed her dress, giving him a suggestive once-over before walking over to him and winding her arms around his waist. You would’ve thought they were the only two people in the room.
My mother came over to my side. “Are you used to this yet?”
“Nope. I’m still surprised I didn’t go into hysterical blindness when I saw them kiss.”
“I heard that,” Charlie laughed.
Mom leaned in, pretending to fix my earring. “You know I never had anything but faith in you, right?” she whispered.
I nodded.
She gave my cheek a quick kiss before trilling, “Okay, kids! Places, please!”
We obliged my parents with smiles and poses, and then it was time to go.
“Oh crap,” I said. “I left my clutch in my room. Nick, can you go get it? I already survived one trip down the stairs in these shoes. I don’t want to tempt fate.”
“I’ll get it.” Charlie started toward the steps. “We wouldn’t want Nick to slip and fall on his hair gel or anything.”
“Hating on my hair won’t make it less awesome.” Nick grazed the sides of his freshly cut do with his fingertips and grabbed Charlie’s shawl off the dining room chair. “I’ll bring this out to the car.”
A minute or two later, when my bedroom remained suspiciously quiet and I was about to send my mother in after Charlie, I heard, “Hey, Marisa?” I looked up to see Charlie peeking over the stair rail, her hands behind her back. “I can’t find your purse. I think you should come up here.”
“What are you talking about? It’s right on the bed.”
“It’s not. Can you come up here?”
“Are you blind? Go back in my room and see if it fell between the bed and the wall. I’m telling you, it’s there.”
Charlie stamped her foot and let out a frustrated grunt. “I wanted to talk to you about this.” One hand came out from behind her back, brandishing something I’d almost forgotten I made. Something I never intended for anyone else to see. I bit my lip.
I stood up, but she was already clomping down the stairs. Her other hand was curled around my “lost” clutch.
“Come on,” she said, cocking her head toward the front door. “Let’s go.” But when the door opened, her car was no longer sitting beside mine in the driveway. “I texted Nick to say we’d meet him there,” she said before I could get out the question. “You and I have a stop to make.”
• • •
I peered through the window in the passenger seat, thinking how strange it was to have someone else driving my car.
“Why are you making me do this?”
“You need to drop something off to TJ,” she said matter-of-factly.
My stomach rolled again as I glanced at the piece of paper in my lap. I’d made it the night I’d been humiliated at the Templeton football game. I didn’t know what it was about that night that had possessed me to try drawing the white barn and the pond again, but I had. I’d pushed everything else out of my mind and poured all my energy into that drawing, trying once and for all to the capture everything I’d failed to bring to life before. The next thing I knew, I’d woken up with a crystal in my forehead.
“You said it was TJ’s Christmas present.” Charlie turned to me and flashed a smile. “He gave you that bracelet. Time to reciprocate.”
“It was, Char. I was going to give him this. But now I feel stupid. He’ll think it’s the dumbest thing he’s ever seen.”