“Yeah, just got out of my car. Are you going to the meeting today?”
“Yes.” I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “Do you want to talk before or after the meeting?”
“Before. Definitely before.”
“Do you want to come here?” I wondered.
“We can do that,” she agreed. “I’ll be there at eleven.”
We said our goodbyes.
I found Jay sitting in the living room, finishing up homework. He looked up as soon as I sat down on the couch beside him.
“What’s up?” he asked, tapping his pen against his notebook.
“Kim is coming by at eleven.”
“Okay.” He glanced at his work and then back at me. “Cool.”
“I don’t want to disrupt your homework, but I had to tell you this before I finish my hair,” I started.
He sat back, giving me his undivided attention. “What’s up? Did something happen with Kim?”
“She said that Olive is missing.”
He made a face. “Missing?”
I nodded. “We’re going to talk more when she gets here, but she said that she doesn’t know if Olive went to the police or not because she hasn’t been able to get in touch with her since Monday. When she went to the Cheer House to see her in person, no one answered the door even though all the cars were there. Kim thinks the cheerleaders might’ve done something to her.”
His jaw dropped. He ran his hand down his face. “Shit.”
“I know. I’m worried.”
“Come here,” he whispered, pulling me into him. “Don’t stress yet. When Kim gets here, get more information and then we can go from there.”
“There’s something I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it was a relevant detail. But now that Olive is missing, I feel like you’re the only one I can tell,” I blurted out in a rush.
“What is it?”
“The thing that the PROs are really mad about is their stolen notebook. It has incriminating information about all of them in it and they know that the cheerleaders stole it. Aiden told me about it, but he didn’t tell the police about it. He said he’s never seen it, but he heard them talk about it and he didn’t want to be involved with anything in that thing because it’s bad. Blackmail level bad.”
“So, it’s valuable. Which means they would have motive to do whatever they could do to try to get it back,” he surmised, running his hand down his face again. “Are you sure they know you didn’t have anything to do with that?”
I nodded. “Aiden assured me they knew I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Good. That’s good.”
A thought occurred to me suddenly. “But if the cheerleaders have this blackmail information on them, what if the PROs say whatever the cheerleaders want them to say?” My timer went off on my phone and I forced myself to smile. “I’m sorry. This can wait. You need to finish your work and I need to finish my hair.”
“You’re not going down behind this,” he assured me. “I swear to God I will do any and everything I can to make sure you’re good.”
I pressed my lips against his. “Thank you.”
With a smile, I went to the bathroom and as soon as I closed the door, I broke down and cried silently. When I got myself and my hair together, I got dressed and ate breakfast. I was just finishing up my bowl of cereal when Kim knocked on the door.
“Hey,” I greeted her.
“Terminated,” she returned, her eyes wide.
I threw my hands up. “I know!”
I led her to the couch and offered her a bottle of water.
We spent a solid fifteen minutes recapping the email and what that meant for our futures. Kim didn’t have the same concerns as I did because she wasn’t on a scholarship. But she was planning to apply for a graduate school and the misconduct denotation on her file wasn’t a good look.
“Olive might show up at the meeting,” I stated, changing the subject.
A grim look came over Kim’s face. “I hope so, but I was trying not to think about it because I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”
I was walking to the trashcan to throw the empty bottles away when Jay emerged from the back of the apartment. He spoke to Kim and then he turned to me. When our eyes locked, I felt my heart thump a little harder.
“Call me when you leave the meeting and let me know what happens,” he demanded softly, reaching out for my hand.
I gave it to him and squeezed it back. “I will.”
Instead of letting me go, he pulled me into him and hugged me. “Be careful,” he whispered. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but if anything looks off at that meeting, call me and leave.”
Closing my eyes and allowing myself to be soothed by his presence, I exhaled. “I will.”
Even though I couldn’t see Kim, I knew she was watching us. I looked up at him and I wanted to kiss him. I didn’t know what he was thinking or how he felt about it, so I didn’t make a move.
“I have to go, but if you need anything. Call me.” He licked his lips and it seemed like he considered kissing me, but he didn’t make a move either.
“Okay.”
We just stared at each other for a beat and then he leaned down and covered my mouth with his with the briefest of kisses. It was far too swift for my liking. Grabbing his shirt, I pushed up on my toes and kissed him again for longer. When we parted, there was a pleasantly surprised look on his face.
“Have a good day,” he murmured.
“Have a good day,” I returned.
He walked out the apartment and the door had barely shut behind him.
“What was that?” Kim screeched, leaping to her feet.
“That was me saying goodbye to my boyfriend.”
She reeled dramatically, waving her arms as if a gust of wind pushed her back. “What?”
I giggled. “We should head to the meeting.”
“Yeah, but you need to tell me when you and James became a thing! You were just denying it a few days ago.”
“I said we didn’t know what we were because we didn’t. But last night, we realized that there was something here.”
“You know I love it,” she said as she grabbed her handbag. “I’ve been rooting for you two since we met freshman year. But…”
I eyed her. “What?”
“Are you two going to the wake tomorrow? And the funeral Saturday?” she wondered.
“Yes…” I said slowly.
“I think you two are meant to be together. To be clear, I love you two together”—she gestured her hands emphatically— “But I just don’t know how great it’ll look if you—Carter’s ex-best friend—are hand-in-hand with James Williams—Carter’s ex-boyfriend—as you arrive to Carter’s funeral where the cheerleaders—who hate us—are trying to make it seem you had something to do with the thing that likely killed her.” She made a face. “I’m not judging. I’m just thinking about the optics.”
I’d thought about how the feelings that Jay and I shared felt wrong because of Carter. It never dawned on me how it could be perceived as wrong in light of everything going on.
“Valid point,” I acknowledged as I grabbed my own bag and keys. “Let’s go.”
We drove separately since we both had afternoon classes in different buildings. I didn’t say anything else to Kim about it, but I thought about what she said the entire way across campus. When we arrived at the Athletics Building, we made our way to the classroom where the meeting was scheduled.
The room was packed.
I looked at my phone and we were almost ten minutes early. Doing a quick sweep of the room, I didn’t see Olive. Kim and I exchanged looks before taking seats in the last row.
Coach Ainsley stood at the front of the room, hands on her hips. Her head oscillated slowly, completely unamused by our presence. She didn’t say anything, and in turn, no one said a word. There was almost complete silence besides the muted sounds coming from the hallway. With each passing second, the une
asiness in the room grew and my anxiety spiked.
At twelve o’clock on the dot, Coach Ainsley took a step forward. Her hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail and her unsmiling face looked sharp. She did a roll call, checking off everyone’s name. I noticed she didn’t call out Olive’s name. Tossing the clipboard on the desk, it made a loud clanking sound.
“Your actions have resulted in the UFIT Cheerleading Team being officially terminated for the academic year. If they allowed the team to come back next year, it would be on a probationary basis.” She paused, looking around the room. “Now would you like to explain to me what’s going on?”
The room remained silent.
She crossed her arms. “This so-called prank has left one of our own dead and a cloud of suspicion over the rest of you. Are you telling me there’s nothing any of you want to confess to right now?”
I looked around and saw a few people squirming, but the room stayed quiet.
“I would tell you that I’m disappointed in you, but that doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about what has transpired over the last couple of weeks. You’ve let down your classmates who won’t be able to have on campus parties without an advisor present. You’ve let down the sports organizations that you were supposed to uplift and support. You’ve let down your coaches and teachers who thought you were more responsible than what you’ve proven yourselves to be. You have disgraced this team, this school, and yourselves.” She paused, letting the vehemence of her tone settle around us. “Your interaction with the police is a matter of the law. But your interaction with me is a matter of school policy. And how this meeting goes affects my recommendation. The cheerleading squad is officially terminated. But how this meeting goes will make the difference between this season being terminated and you being expelled along with it.”
There was an audible gasp heard around the room. I didn’t gasp because I was too busy trying not to swallow my tongue.
Expelled from school?
I did not see that coming. Kim grabbed my arm and I looked over at her. I was sure her panic-stricken expression matched mine. An expulsion wouldn’t just be bad, it would have a detrimental effect on graduation.
“Dakota,” Coach Ainsley barked.
Dakota sat up straighter. “Yes ma’am?”
“What do you think happened to Carter that night?”
She shook her head. “I-I-don’t know,” she stammered.
Coach Ainsley’s eyes narrowed. “This team doesn’t do anything without your knowledge, Dakota. So why was Carter at the lake?”
“I really don’t know,” she answered.
“What was going on at the lake?”
“I had absolutely nothing to do with Carter drowning!”
“That wasn’t my question. But I’ll ask another one. Did you take the keys to Trevor Dowd’s boat?”
She cleared her throat. “No.”
My mouth fell open at the blatant lie. I saw her with the keys!
The coach nodded slowly as she took a step back. “If you’re going to waste my time with lies, my recommendation will be for you all to be expelled and—”
“It was Brooklyn!” Vivian interrupted loudly.
The shock of hearing the lie being told right in front of me had me speechless for a solid ten seconds before I could even muster up the cognitive energy to defend myself.
“No, it wasn’t,” I bellowed jumping to my feet. Everyone turned around to look at me. “And you’re going to stop telling that lie. I had nothing to do with the fires inside the house that you set. I had nothing to do with the boat you set on fire. I had nothing to do with any of it!”
Especially with so much on the line, I was sick and tired of the bullshit.
Coach Ainsley focused her attention on me and then cast her gaze around the room. “Vivian said Brooklyn did it. Brooklyn said she didn’t do it. Dakota said she doesn’t know what’s going on. Who is telling the truth?”
“Brooklyn is telling the truth,” Kim spoke up, standing beside me.
“So, Vivian and Dakota are lying?” she asked.
“Yes!” Kim and I responded in unison.
“No,” a few of the cheerleaders called out a second after we’d responded.
The coach glared at us all before swinging her head to the right. “What was that Caroline?”
“No-nothing,” Caroline stuttered.
“Hmm.” The coach turned on her heel. “Sonya, you’re surprisingly quiet.”
Sonya shifted in her seat. “I don’t know what you want me to say, ma’am.”
“Do you have anything to add?”
“No ma’am,” she replied.
“And what about you Holly?”
Holly started to weep but didn’t say anything. She clutched the cross on her necklace with one hand and covered her face with the other.
Coach Ainsley didn’t say anything for a solid three minutes. It was the most intense three minutes I’d ever had on campus and my final exam in Statistics was torture. I didn’t know if I should sit or remain standing. My knees started to feel like they were knocking together.
“What I see before me is a disgrace,” she finally announced. “Nonetheless, the Yates family would like all of you in attendance at Saturday’s funeral since you are the people who last saw Carter alive. You.” She looked around the room. “Their daughter lost her life and the last people she saw, she spoke to, are sitting in this room. So, your attendance is not encouraged, it’s mandatory.”
Caroline raised her hand. “Coach, I hate funerals.”
“And the Yates family hates that their daughter is dead, but here we are,” she snapped in response.
Caroline dropped her hand and nodded profusely. “Yes ma’am.”
“This meeting is over. You’re dismissed,” Coach Ainsley stated with finality.
“When do we find out your decision?” Dakota asked quietly. “Are we expelled?”
“You’ll find out sometime after your attendance at the funeral.” Coach Ainsley pointed to the door. “You’re dismissed.”
Most of the team filed out in a silent single-file line. Holly lingered, still swiping at her eyes. She looked at me and then immediately looked away. She seemed to be waiting for us to leave, but then she started to sob and ran out of the room.
Kim and I had taken our time so we would have a chance to talk to the coach privately. When everyone was gone, we approached her.
“Hi, Coach Ainsley,” Kim started. “We were just wondering if you’d been in contact with Olive. I’ve been calling her all week and I haven’t been able to reach her.”
“And we noticed she wasn’t in the meeting and you didn’t call her name,” I chimed in.
“We just want to make sure she’s okay,” Kim added.
Coach Ainsley looked at us carefully. “Olive is no longer with us.” Before we could say anything, she continued, “You may be excused.”
…
Chapter Sixteen
“What did she mean by that?” Jay asked again when we were eating breakfast Friday morning.
I shook my head. “Kim and I couldn’t figure it out. And when I was telling you about it last night, I couldn’t stop thinking the worst. And it’s been stressing me out.”
“Well we know that she can’t be dead because we searched everywhere online, and nothing came up. And if she were missing, that would’ve come up too.”
“But if her parents don’t know she’s missing, they wouldn’t necessarily file a missing person’s report,” I pointed out. “They might think she’s been busy all week.”
He nodded. “That’s true.”
We sat in quiet contemplation as we finished our cereal.
“Speaking of parents,” he started. “Are you going to tell your mom before she gets here or are you waiting?”
“I’m going to wait until she gets here. I don’t want her to worry.”
He gave me a tight smile and I knew he thought I was making a mistake waiting, but he didn’t say anythi
ng. Standing, he took our empty bowls to the sink. “You do what you think is best.”
“What are you wearing to the wake?”
“Jeans and a white collared shirt.” He stopped and frowned. “That’s okay for a wake, right?”
“Yeah. I think so. I’m wearing a dress, but it isn’t dressy.”
“Okay.” He came back to the table and put his hands on my shoulders, massaging them. “I’ll pick you up from class so we can go together.”
I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
The day passed quickly.
I walked into my Creative Writing class to stares and whispers. It seemed even worse than it had on Wednesday—or maybe I was more aware of it since it was the day of Carter’s wake. I took my seat quietly and kept my head forward. I noticed that Aiden didn’t arrive on time once class began. But when class was about to end, I became worried.
First Olive. Now Aiden. If Kim goes missing, I’m going to lose it, I thought as I smoothed down the navy-blue sweater dress.
“I’m surprised you weren’t at the fashion show with your boyfriend,” a woman teased as I was exiting the building.
“My boyfriend isn’t at a fashion show,” I responded as I descended the stairs.
She was on my heels. “Yes, he is. There were pictures online.”
“I’m about to meet my boyfriend now, so if you don’t mind…” I spotted Jay’s car and made a beeline to it.
Jay got out to open my door. “Hey, let me get that,” he said, grabbing my bag out of my hand. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just classmates being annoying,” I muttered. When I was entering the car, I noticed the same classmate staring, eyes wide and mouth open.
Shit.
Her face reminded me of what Kim had said the day before. After Jay slid back into the front seat, I wrestled with the thought.
“Is it about that email?”
I looked over at him. “What email?”
He shook his head as he pulled away from the curb. “It was another one of those Concerned Student emails. It was saying that it was ‘interesting’ that Aiden decided to leave town. He’s in Manhattan with his mom and they are wondering if that’s because he’s guilty.”
My eyes bulged.
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