by Evelyn Dar
“I have noticed.”
“Nah,” Kendrick said. “You haven’t.” He patted her on the head. “You’re too smart to be this stupid, cuz. And yo, if Auntie Gale asks, tell her I’m at Stacy’s.
As Laylah watched Kendrick walk away, she fought against the nagging doubt of his words. The plan was solid. Sure, it had its risks, but…it would work. It had to work. Besides, her cousin was a delinquent who smoked too much weed. What did he know?
When Laylah rejoined Maddy and Siobhan, she hid her doubts as best she could.
“Is everything okay?” Maddy asked.
Laylah faked a smile. “Oh, yeah. One of his friends needed a ride, no big deal. Uh, Maddy, weren’t you about to invite Siobhan to the party?”
“What party?” Siobhan asked.
“Oh, it’s not a big thing,” Maddy said casually. “You know Riley Miller, right?”
“Riley Miller...” Siobhan squinted. “Is that the girl who wears fishnets with every outfit she owns like it’s a thing?” Siobhan cringed. “It’s not a thing.”
“That’s Riley,” Maddy said. “Anyway, Riley’s–”
“Oh my God, wait,” Siobhan said. “Didn’t you two like, date? You know, before your transition?”
Maddy looked genuinely surprised. “Yeah.” She laughed nervously. “Sorry, but I’m shocked you remember. I didn’t think you even knew my name before I transitioned.”
Siobhan looked thoughtful. “Yeah, why did I know that?” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, that’s right. After you transitioned everyone wanted to know how big your dick was. You know, before.”
Maddy’s eyes went wide.
“We harassed Riley for the tea,” Siobhan continued. “But she wouldn’t spill.”
Laylah looked at Maddy whose mouth was hanging open. “Mads? The party? Remember?”
Maddy nodded slowly. “Oh-kay, I’ll process that trauma on another day. Like I was saying, Riley’s dad owns a bunch of warehouses in College Park and he’s about to sell one which means it’s currently empty.”
“So?” Siobhan asked.
“So,” Maddy said. “An empty warehouse in the part of town where the cops aren’t super responsive…”
“Mmm, I see,” Siobhan said. “I don’t know, though. I’ve never partied in College Park. Is it safe?”
“Kendrick will be there,” Maddy said quickly.
Laylah shot her a warning look, which Maddy ignored.
Siobhan chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t know.”
“He just broke up with his girlfriend,” Maddy lied.
“He is cute,” Siobhan admitted, “but he’s not my type.”
“He’s black,” Maddy said.
“Oh my God,” Siobhan said. “Don’t be a racist. Besides, he’s like ‘Kanye West black’ and I’m more into ‘Travis Scott black.’ You know?”
“Yes, I’m the racist one in this conversation,” Maddy said.
“He does seem hella hard to get.” Siobhan bit her lip. “And I like hard to get.”
Laylah and Maddy exchanged hopeful glances.
“So?” Maddy asked.
Siobhan peered Laylah. “Do you like girls?”
Laylah’s eyes went round, and she coughed. “Uh, what?”
“Girls,” Siobhan repeated. “Are you a friend of Ellen? You know, DeGeneres. She’s a gay talk show host.”
“I know who Ellen is,” Laylah replied. “Uh, but why would you ask me that?”
“I dunno,” Siobhan said. “You give off a Kristen Stewart vibe. Like, you could be straight but you’re probably not.”
“Oh.” Laylah felt Maddy and Siobhan’s eyes on her. “I’m uh…I’m not really into labels and–”
“Jesus, calm down.” Siobhan rolled her eyes.
“I was calm?”
Siobhan sighed as if Laylah was exhausting her. “Look, I only asked because my best friend is super cute, super gay and super single.”
“Avery?” Maddy asked. “Isn’t she dating that polo guy from Berry College?”
“Jessie.” Siobhan rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a total sweetie, but he’s the biggest beard on the planet. Have you ever heard of a straight guy playing polo?”
“Yes,” Maddy said.
Siobhan shrugged. “Whatever. Anyway, I think Avery would really like Lisa.”
“Laylah–” Maddy shook her head. “Uh, I meant Lana.”
“Plus, Avery has a thing about green eyes,” Siobhan explained. “It’s weird, but hey, we all have our kinks.”
“Is that a yes?” Maddy asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve gone to like a million parties this year. Maybe I should slow down? Or like, study?”
“Lana’s fluid,” Maddy said quickly.
Laylah glared at Maddy.
“Sexually,” Maddy clarified. “Lana’s super fluid. Right, Lana?”
Maddy gave her a meaningful look, and Laylah forced herself to nod and smile.
“I knew it.” Siobhan flicked her hair back. “My gaydar is like ninety percent accurate.”
Maddy squinted. “Is it, though?”
“Totes,” Siobhan said. “Anyway, I’m fucking down. Text me the deets, and don’t worry about advertising, I’ll put it on my Insta. It’ll be lit.”
“Can’t wait.” Maddy kissed Siobhan on the cheek and grabbed her Birkin.
“Hey,” Siobhan said. “If you guys stick around, Avery will be done cheering in like ten minutes.” She winked at Laylah. “You guys can get to know each other.”
Laylah’s chest tightened, and she jumped up. “We can’t stay. I have uh, an appointment.”
“At ten o’clock at night?” Siobhan asked.
“My doctor’s a real night owl.” Laylah nudged Maddy. “Right, Maddy?”
“Yep.” Maddy grinned. “Good old Dr. Fullofshyte.”
“Ohh, that makes sense now,” Siobhan said, nodding. “Yeah, I had a Mediterranean doctor once, too.”
Maddy furrowed her brow. “I don’t think– you know what? Yeah, sure.” She shouldered her Birkin and followed Laylah down the bleachers.
“See you bitches at the party!” Siobhan called after them.
****
Avery cranked up the volume on the range rover’s stereo and Siobhan turned it down.
“Hey,” Avery said. “That was Pastel Black.”
Siobhan made a face. “First of all, they’ve sucked ever since they ditched Ryan for that try-too-hard bassist, Luke, and second, what do you mean, you’re not going?”
“I’m not in a party mood,” Avery lied.
The truth was, thanks to the questionable morals of Joanna’s favorite ophthalmologist, Avery underwent Lasik eye surgery at age 14 and as a result, her vision exceeded the coveted 20/20. With only 50 yards between the top of the bleachers and the field, Avery had easily spotted Laylah…and her hateful glare.
“You’re not serious,” Siobhan said.
“Who throws a party on a Thursday night, anyway?”
“I told you,” Siobhan said. “It’s a super-secret warehouse rave in the projects. They have to keep it on the DL.”
Avery stopped at a red light and a powder blue BMW bumping Drake’s latest single pulled up beside them.
“Is that Meghan?” Siobhan peered through Avery’s dark tents. “Roll down the window.”
“Siobhan, it’s freezing.”
“Avery! Siobhan!” Meghan screamed, her torso sticking out of the BMW’s sunroof. She waved at them with a beer bottle in one hand and a vape pen in the other.
Avery lowered the driver’s side window and Siobhan called out, “Party next Thursday. College Park. Check my Insta, bitch!”
“College park?” Meghan shouted back.
“Yes!” Siobhan yelled. “It’s on the DL so don’t tell anybody but tell everybody.”
Megan howled something indecipherable.
“What?” Siobhan shouted. “I can’t hear you.”
The light turned green and the driver of the be
amer floored it. Megan dropped her beer and clung to the car’s roof for dear life. “College Park! Whoo!” she screamed as the BMW screeched around the corner.
“Oh my God,” Siobhan said. “I’m legit excited now. You have to come.”
“Siobhan, I told you–”
“I haven’t told you the best part yet.”
Avery raised an eyebrow.
“I landed you a super-hot date.”
“I have a boyfriend, Siobhan.”
“You have a beard, Avery.”
Avery sighed. “If I go to this party, and that’s a big if, I’m bringing Jessie.” She pulled into the Walsh’s driveway and parked next to Siobhan’s bright yellow Porsche 911.
“Baby, live a little,” Siobhan said. “Let your hair down and fuck who you want to fuck for once in your life.”
“You know it’s not that simple,” Avery replied. “Being bi-sexual is only okay if I stay on the hetero end of the scale.”
“Ugh, why is your dad such a twat?” Siobhan chewed on her lip but made no move to get out.
“Siobhan?”
“She looks like a nerdy Zendaya.”
“What?” Avery asked.
“Your super-hot date for the party,” Siobhan explained. “She could totally be Zendaya’s stunt-double.”
Avery feigned ignorance, as if she didn’t know how gorgeous Laylah was. “Oh?”
“Her name’s Lisa.”
Avery frowned. “Is it?”
Siobhan looked thoughtful. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is.”
“And this…Lisa, agreed to be my date?” Avery asked.
Siobhan squinted. “Wait, did I win? Are you coming?”
“What exactly did you tell her?” Avery asked, her curiosity overruling her common sense. There was absolutely no way Laylah Carter would willingly have anything to do with Avery…would she?
“I told her I had a gorgeous, single, gay best friend who hasn’t been laid since the stone age.”
“Did you tell her it was me?” Avery asked. “Did you tell her my name?”
Siobhan looked at her strangely. “Duh.”
“I’m not going.”
“Uh, I meant, no?” Siobhan nodded. “Yeah, I definitely did not tell her your name.”
Avery sighed. “You’re obviously lying.”
“What?” Siobhan chuckled nervously. “Why would I lie about this really weird insignificant name thing you’re freaking out about for no reason?”
Avery swallowed and again felt the urge to come clean and tell Siobhan the truth. She closed her eyes as the Range Rover’s plush leather seats hardened beneath her and the scent of Siobhan’s Marc Jacobs perfume was replaced by a vanilla-scented Glade plug-in.
It was two years ago, and Avery was sitting in Principal’s Carter’s office. Sobbing.
Avery took the offered box of tissues and pulled one out. “I swear I didn’t know.” She dabbed the corner of her eye and the tissue came away stained with mascara. “It wasn’t until the scores came back…that’s when I realized what he’d done. You have to believe me, Principal Carter.”
Principal Carter nodded. “I do.”
“Teddy said if I’d been smarter, he wouldn’t have had to pay someone to take it for me.” She buried her face in her hands. “God, I’m so sorry.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
Avery stared at the thin manila envelope sitting on the desk between them. The envelope contained Avery’s near-perfect SAT score along with the near-perfect SAT scores of 21 other students spread across 9 private schools in Atlanta.
How Principal Carter had gathered the damning information was a mystery to Avery, but it didn’t matter. She was caught. They were caught. And Avery was relieved.
She sniffled. “What happens now?”
“Well,” Principal Carter began, “I have no choice but to–”
The door to the office flew open and Teddy stormed in.
“What the hell is this?” He placed both hands on Principal Carter’s desk and leaned forward, his bulky frame towering over her. “Gale, please tell me you’re not questioning a minor without her legal guardian present.”
Principal Carter stood and spoke calmly. “Attorney General Bradley, I am the principal of Lovett Academy and Avery is my student. We are having a conversation about academic matters which does not necessitate the presence of her guardian or legal counsel.” She narrowed her eyes. “Unless the matter was of legal concern. Tell me, Teddy…is this a legal matter?”
“Avery,” Teddy hissed. “Wait outside.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Avery said automatically and hated herself for it.
Less than a minute later Teddy’s raised voice breached the closed door.
“After all I’ve done for you, how dare you accuse me of this!”
Avery looked around the empty vestibule. It was noon and Principal’s Carter’s assistant and secretary were out to lunch. Avery was the only person in the waiting area. The only person within earshot.
Principal Carter’s voice was muffled, and Avery strained to make out her words. She pressed her ear against the door just as it was yanked open.
A red-face Teddy stood in the doorway. “Gale, if you go through with this, I promise, you will regret it.”
A stunned Principal Carter glanced at Avery, then looked at Teddy. “Was that a threat, Mr. Bradley?”
Teddy snorted. “Call it whatever you want, darling.” He snapped his fingers and Avery jumped up.
“Your money won’t make this go away,” Principal Carter said. “This is bigger than one student or one school.” She blinked. “Or one attorney general.”
A feral grin spread across Teddy’s face. “I feel sorry for you, Gale. You have no idea what you’ve just done.”
Siobhan clapped her hands in front of Avery’s face. “Oh my God, you’re not on molly are you?”
Avery shook her head, freeing herself of the memory. “What? No.” She frowned. “Molly? Really?”
“Oh, please.” Siobhan rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me your co-captain, Jessica ‘I won’t stop smiling even if you hit me with a baseball bat in my pretty little face’ Reeves, isn’t on one.”
“I’m not on drugs, but thanks for asking?”
“Avery,” Siobhan said sweetly. “Avery. Avery. Avery. Av–”
“Stop.”
“I won’t get out until you agree to come to the party so…come to the party. Come to the party. Come to the party. Come to the party.”
“You’re ridiculously annoying.”
Siobhan winked. “Then just come to the party. Come to the party. Come to the party. Come–”
“Okay, fine. I’ll come.”
“Yay!” Siobhan opened the door. “Check my Insta for deets. Love you, bitch.”
Avery waved and backed out of the driveway. As she drove through Siobhan’s neighborhood, thoughts of Laylah, Principal Carter and Teddy crept into her consciousness. Despite the numbing cold, Avery lowered the windows and blasted the stereo just shy of damaging her eardrums.
She screamed along with the music as she merged on the icy expressway going 90 mph. It was well past midnight and traffic was light, but as Avery pushed the Range Rover into the triple digits, her subconscious pushed harder.
The party is a trap. Laylah Carter hates you.
Avery shook her head.
Even you can’t be this stupid. Do you honestly believe Laylah Carter wants to be your friend? Your girlfriend? No wonder you couldn’t get into Harvard without Teddy’s help.
Tears filled Avery’s eyes, and the lines of the road blurred in front of her.
Laylah wants your head on a platter, so why not give it to her? This baby can go up to 140 mph. It’s the Sports model.
The wheel began to shake so violently, Avery nearly lost her grip. Terrified, she pumped the brakes, and the Range careened across the icy road. She helplessly watched as the world spun around her and the SUV free glided across the expressway. She closed her eyes.
&n
bsp; Please, God. I don’t want to die. Not like this.
Minutes that felt like hours ticked by until eventually all movement ceased. Avery opened her eyes. The Range had skidded across five lanes of traffic and had come to a stop against a thick, two-foot-tall snow bank on the shoulder of the road.
Avery covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my God.” She took several deep breaths, and with trembling hands, backed onto the empty expressway and resumed her drive home, this time going fifteen miles under the speed limit.
When she pulled into her driveway, she cut the engine and sat in the dark. Everything inside of her was telling her not to go to the party, but her mind was made up. She would go to the party. She would face Laylah Carter. And whatever happened after that, was up to Laylah.
CHAPTER THREE
“That’s not her.”
“Yes, it is. Don’t you remember? The Atlanta Journal ran that story last month with her picture on the cover.”
“Oh, that’s right. What was the headline again? It was something clever, wasn’t it?”
“The Lovett Liar.”
Laylah clenched her jaw and snatched a sales ad from the spinning rack. The gossipy Karens gawked at Gale while she obliviously searched for the perfect container of strawberries a few feet away.
Laylah hurried past the Karens and handed her mother the sales ad.
“Oh, no honey, I wanted the monthly ad. It’s the dark-green one.” Gale turned around.
“Wait, mom. I’ll get it.”
But Gale had already crossed the short distance. “That’s okay, honey.” She spun the rack until she found the ad she was searching for. “Here it is.” She smiled at Laylah. “See? It says ‘monthly’ on the bottom.”
“Is that an accredited sales ad, Principal Carter?” Karen #1 asked.
Gale narrowed her eyes and lowered the ad.
“You should be ashamed of yourself.” Karen #2 this time. “Accusing the attorney general of something so awful when your degree isn’t worth the paper it was printed on.”
Gale took Laylah’s hand. “Come on, honey.”
“How convenient. She has nothing to say now the truth’s come out.” Karen #1
Laylah growled and tried to turn around, but Gale held her hand firmly. “Ignore them, honey,” she whispered.