by Kai Juniper
A text pops up on my phone from Parker. Where the hell are you? Coach is pissed!
Shit. I'm late for practice. I look down the hill and see the guys are already on the field.
Be there in a couple minutes, I text back. I go to the locker room to change.
When I get out to the field, Coach yells, "I want everyone to do ten pushups for every minute Chadwick was late!"
The guys groan.
Parker comes up to me. "What the fuck, man? Where were you?"
"I had to deal with something. It couldn't wait."
"For those of you who can't do math," Coach yells, "that's 100 pushups. Get down on the ground. Hurry up!"
We all drop to the ground and do the pushups, then Coach makes us run a mile because one of the guys on the team complained about the pushups.
All through practice I get yelled at for not paying attention. It's because I'm trying to figure out who tried to change Ella's grades. It's not like I hadn't thought about doing it, and maybe if I was desperate enough I would, but I didn't. I didn't do it.
"Going to the gym?" Parker asks in the locker room after practice.
"I'm skipping it since I went this morning."
I never work out in the morning, but I did today so I could get home earlier and study. My father's working late tonight so I'll have the house to myself.
Parker waits for the guys next to us to leave, then steps up to me, lowering his voice. "What the hell was going on with Ella? Why'd she lose her shit in the cafeteria?"
"She thinks I did something I didn't do."
"What is it?"
"Nothing. Just forget it."
"I told you we can't trust her. The girl's fucking crazy." He returns to his locker, and as I watch him grab his gym bag, my mind flashes back to this morning.
Parker was at the gym with me. We were in the locker room together, and when I went to shower, I left my gym bag on the bench. My phone was inside the bag. Did Parker use my phone? Was he the one who called Calvin? Parker knows I want to be valedictorian. I told him that was the reason we were going after Ella at the beginning of the semester. I told him I wanted to force her to give it up, and if she didn't, I might have someone hack into her grades.
"Did you do it?" I ask, turning to face him.
"Do what?" He sprays cologne all over him, making me take a step back.
"Did you call Calvin and ask him to change her grades?"
He smiles. "You don't have to thank me, at least not until I find someone. The geek wouldn't take my money."
I slam his locker door shut. "Why the fuck would you do that?"
"Because you told me to."
He goes to pick up his gym bag, but I shove him back.
"I never fucking told you to do that."
"You said you wanted to be valedictorian," he says, his voice lowered. "You said if she didn't agree to it, we'd change her grades."
"I said I would, not you, and I wasn't actually going to do it."
"I'm doing it anyway. I'm sick of that bitch acting like she's smarter than us. I can't wait to see her face when they tell her she's not valedictorian."
I pin him against the locker. "Do you know what the fuck you've done?"
"What the hell?" He tries to push me away, but he can't. I'm too strong. "Why are you yelling at me for this? It's what you wanted."
"No. It's not what I wanted. And I told you to stay out of it."
He stares back at me. "Is this about you and Ella? You don't want her being pissed at you?"
"It's about you doing shit behind my back without telling me. How the hell did you even get in my phone?"
"I've seen you type in your password."
"Did you call anyone else?"
"That tall, skinny guy. Calvin's friend? I can't remember his name."
"Did he agree to do it?"
"He didn't pick up."
"Don't fucking call him again, or anyone else. This is my shit to deal with, not yours."
"Yeah, whatever. Just get the fuck away from me."
I back away, my eyes on his. "I mean it. Stay out of it. You've already done enough damage. I could get expelled for that shit if anyone found out. Maybe even arrested."
"What's going on?" Nick says, opening the locker next to Parker's. He's a junior and new on the rugby team.
"Nothing." I hold my gaze on Parker a moment longer before going back to my locker.
Parker grabs his gym bag and leaves.
"You guys have a fight?" Nick asks.
"No. We were just talking about the game on Friday."
"It's going to be a tough one," Nick says.
"Not if we're prepared." I close my locker. "See ya tomorrow."
I leave the locker room and go to the principal's office. The door is closed and the lights are off. I'll have to talk to him tomorrow.
The next morning I get to school early and head straight to Principal Perkins' office. His door is open and he's sitting at his desk, looking at his computer.
I knock on his door to get his attention. "Principal Perkins?"
He looks up from his computer and smiles. "Briggs. You're here early."
"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you. Do you have a minute?"
"Of course. Come on in."
"I go in his office and shut the door, not wanting his secretary to overhear us. She's not at her desk yet, but she will be soon.
"How can I help you?" Principal Perkins asks, interlocking his hands and resting them on his desk.
"I found out something you need to know."
"What is it?" he asks, his brows drawing together.
"Someone's planning to hack into the school's grading system and change people's grades."
He sits back in his chair, concern covering his face. "Where did you hear this?"
"I can't say. I just need you to know it could happen so you need to keep an eye on it, maybe bump up your security to make sure no one can get into the system."
"These are very serious accusations. Are you sure about this?"
"As far as I know, it hasn't happened yet. I just heard a rumor that it might."
"So this is just a rumor. You don't know if someone's actually planning to do it."
"It's more than a rumor. I overheard one of the tech geeks—I mean, guys—saying someone called him and asked him to do it."
"Do you know who that person was?"
"No, but why does it matter? The point is, it could happen and you need to stop it."
He nods. "Does this attempt to change the grades apply to all students or just a certain few?"
"I heard they were going after Ella Quinn."
"Ella's slated to be this year's valedictorian."
"Yeah, I know. So it makes sense they'd go after her."
"It only makes sense for the person who's next in line." He eyes me. "I believe that's you, isn't it?"
"Yes, but I swear, I had nothing to do with this. If I did, I wouldn't be telling you and trying to stop it."
"Why would anyone else care about Ella being valedictorian?"
"Ella has a lot of enemies. Well, not really enemies, but she doesn't have a lot of friends. It might just be someone who doesn't like her and doesn't want her being valedictorian."
"And you have no idea who that person would be?"
"No. I don't."
He stands up. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll be sure to look into it." He walks me to the door. "Have a good day, Briggs."
When I walk out to the main office area, I see Charlotte sitting there, right across from the secretary's desk.
"Hey," I say as I go past her.
She won't even look at me. Ella must've told her what happened.
The rest of the day, I try to talk to Ella, but she won't let me get near her. She even skips lab to avoid being near me, telling Ms. Higgins she has a headache and needs to go rest in the nurse's office. At the end of the day, I look for her at her locker, but she's not there. I go out to the parking lot and see her d
riving away.
After rugby practice and the gym, I pass her house as I'm driving home and decide to turn back. She at least needs to hear my side of the story.
I park in front of her house and go up to the door. I ring the bell and her father answers.
"I don't think she wants to talk to you," he says. I can't tell if he's angry or annoyed with me. It might be some of both. I doubt Ella told him why we're fighting. I remember her saying she doesn't tell her dad much about what goes on at school. She doesn't want him worrying.
"I just need a couple minutes," I say. "Could you ask her to come out here?"
"Ella!" her dad yells. "Briggs is here! He wants to talk to you!"
"Tell him I'm not here!" she yells back.
Her dad smiles. "She's not here."
"Would you please just ask her to come out here? I really need to talk to her. It's important."
"Is this about your assignment?"
"Yes," I lie.
He nods and goes back inside, closing the door behind him.
A few moments later, Ella comes out. "Lying again? This time to my dad?"
"I couldn't tell him the truth."
She goes past me, stopping in the middle of the driveway.
I walk over to her. "I didn't do it."
"That's why you're here? To tell me that stupid lie again?"
"It's not a lie. Parker did it. We were at the gym and he used my phone when I was in the shower."
"Why would Parker care about my grades?" she says, rolling her eyes.
"He doesn't. But he knows I do, or that I did. At the start of the semester, I told him to help me pressure you into letting me be valedictorian. I told him to bully you and give you shit, not change your grades, but he did it anyway. He did it without telling me."
"Yeah, right." She heads back to the house. "Bye, Briggs."
"Ella, wait!"
The door opens and her dad's standing there, giving me a look to leave. Ella goes past him into the house and her dad closes the door.
She didn't believe me. No matter what I tell her, she won't believe me. I've lied to her too many times for her to believe I'm telling the truth.
Why do I even care? Whatever Ella and I had going on needed to end. I wasn't able to end it, so maybe fate stepped in and did it for me. Things keep happening to break us apart. Maybe that's a sign Ella and I just aren't meant to be.
Chapter Ten
Ella
"I need to talk to you," Charlotte says, coming up to me in the parking lot.
It's Wednesday morning and I'm still furious that Briggs tried to hire someone to change my grades. And then he has the nerve to show up at my house last night, trying to blame it on Parker, which doesn't even make sense. How would Parker call from Briggs' phone? He'd have to know the password.
"Can we talk later?" I say, continuing through the parking lot. "I'm not in a good mood."
"That's kind of what this is about."
I stop and turn to her. "What do you mean?"
"I overhead something when I was in the office yesterday."
"What'd you hear?"
She glances at all the people around us. "Let's go to my car."
"Look!" Aubrey says to Scarlett as they pass us. "It's Trailer Trash and her little girlfriend."
"You mean BIG girlfriend," Scarlett says with a laugh. "I swear Charlotte gets fatter every day."
"Ignore them," I say to Charlotte, noticing the hurt look on her face.
We continue to her car and get inside.
"Okay, what is it?" I ask. "We don't have much time."
She turns to me. "Briggs was in the principal's office with the door closed. I didn't every hear every word he said, but I heard enough to know what he was talking about."
"And?"
"He told Principal Perkins that someone was trying to hack into the school's computers and change your grades."
"Why would he do that? To get Calvin in trouble?"
"No, he did it for you. To make sure your grades don't get changed."
I shake my head. "You must've misheard him. Briggs wouldn't do that, unless he's trying to put the blame on someone else to cover his tracks."
Charlotte sighs. "Ella, I know you want to hate him, and I do too, knowing he hurt you, but I really think he was looking out for you yesterday. I honestly don't think he was doing this for himself. If he was, he could've just kept quiet and said all this later, after someone found out. Can you think of anyone else who might've done it?"
"Briggs claims Parker did it, but there's no way he'd risk getting in trouble for this. Parker doesn't care who's valedictorian."
"He would if it's between you and Briggs. He'd choose Briggs, especially if he knew Briggs wanted it."
"He wouldn't care. Parker has too much other stuff going on to worry about this."
"What other stuff? What's going on?"
I meant the accident, but I can't tell her that.
"You know, like getting into college," I say.
"I thought Parker already got in. Isn't he going to USC?"
"I don't know. It doesn't matter. The point is, I can't see Parker doing this, especially if he had to pay someone to do it. He's not going to use his own money to help Briggs be valedictorian."
She shrugs. "Okay, well, I just thought you should know."
"Why?" I look at her. "Are you saying you want me to get back together with Briggs?"
"If that's what you want."
"I don't."
She smiles. "You totally do."
"Why would I want to be with Briggs? He's a lying, egotistical jerk who was just using me to get what he wanted."
"That's not how you described him when you two were together."
"Yeah, well, I was obviously not thinking straight. It must've been the..." I don't want to say it. I can't believe I did it with him, multiple times.
"Sex?" Charlotte says. "It does kind of mess with your brain. That's why I'm waiting before I do it with Asher."
"You still like him, right?"
"I'm not sure. He was being kind of a jerk the other night and he isn't texting me back. I sent him three texts yesterday and got nothing back. He's either dead or unconscious, or he found someone else."
"Those are all possibilities."
"Yeah, but I'm thinking the finding someone else is the most likely."
"You could try texting his cousin. Do you have Steve's number?"
She laughs. "It's Steven, and yes, I have his number, but I don't want to text him. If I don't hear from Asher by tomorrow, I'll assume it's over."
"Sorry."
"It's okay. I don't want to date someone just so I can say I have a boyfriend. I want to be with someone I really connect with and get all crazy about."
"You'll find him. You just have to keep looking."
"You're lucky you already found him."
"Who?"
"The guy you connect with. The one who makes you feel something. The one you can't stop thinking about."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
“Briggs," she says, like it's obvious.
"Uh, no, Briggs is not that guy. He pretended to be, but it wasn't real."
"Maybe it was." She pauses. "You were different when you were with him. You both were."
"Different how?"
"You both seemed happier, and not so serious. And you actually wanted to be here. You used to dread coming to school. You'd count the minutes until you could leave."
"I still do that."
"Because you ended it with Briggs. When you were with him, you were counting the minutes until you had class with him or until you could meet him behind the bleachers."
"I was NOT doing that," I insist, although it might be a tiny bit true.
"What if it really was Parker who called Calvin?" Charlotte asks. "Would that change anything?"
I take a moment to think about it. "Probably not. Briggs and I never should've got involved with each other. It's better if we stay apa
rt. Besides, even if I found out he didn't do this and we somehow got back together, we'd break up again when we left for college."
"Where's he going to college?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter because I'm not getting back with Briggs. It's over." I check my phone for the time. "Shit! We're late!"
We hurry out of the car and run through the parking lot to the school.
"Ms. Quinn," Mr. Walker says, glowering at me as I walk to my seat. "Tardy again. I think you know that means."
He's going to give me detention. Dammit! Why wasn't I watching the time?
"It's not her fault," I hear Briggs say from the back of the room.
"What was that, Mr. Chadwick?" Mr. Walker says.
"I said it's not her fault she was late. I passed her on the way to school. She stopped to get a cat out of the road."
Mr. Walker looks at me. "Is that true?"
"Yes," I say, knowing how much Mr. Walker loves cats. He might just let me out of detention if he thinks I saved a cat. That was a brilliant idea. How is Briggs able to think this stuff up so fast? And why is he helping me?
"Where was this cat?" Mr. Walker asks, eyeing me with suspicion.
"It was about a block from here. It was small and a light orange color that was hard to see. I didn't want someone to hit it so I pulled over, ran into the road, and got it."
It must be an interesting story because everyone's looking at me like they want to hear more.
"What did you do with it?" Mr. Walker asks.
"I called animal rescue and waited for them to pick it up. It didn't have a collar or any tags."
He nods. "I see. And that's why you were late?"
"Yes. As soon as they got the cat, I hurried to get here."
Mr. Walker looks back at the class. "Everyone get out your assignments. I'd like to go over them before we start today's lesson."
I think I just got out of detention. I glance back at Briggs and our eyes meet. He doesn't smile and neither do I, but I feel that pull, that need to be with him. I hate that feeling. Actually I love it, but I hate myself for feeling it.
I need to stop having feelings for Briggs. I need to force myself to feel nothing for him, and to stop thinking about him. I just wish I knew how.