by Ruby Vincent
Whittaker’s cry kicked off chaos like I had never seen. The teachers swarmed her. The students screamed across rows. And through it all, Melody and I gaped at each other, reflecting in our eyes that we were laughably wrong about how this assembly would go.
THE WEEKS THAT FOLLOWED were the strangest I’d ever experienced at Breakbattle and I dressed as a boy for three years.
Whittaker ordered us out of the room after Miss Val’s announcement. Luckily for me, my best friend was Adam Moon. He kept me informed of the whole story. The part where Whittaker went off on her and she gave as good as she got. The day after that when all four of his dads stormed the office and they had an hour-long meeting. Not even Adam knew what they talked about.
He told me about Whittaker trying to argue Miss Val didn’t have to authority to excuse students from the battle system and her shooting back she had the authority to do what she needed to protect her students, and if he didn’t like it, he could fire her.
“I bet he wanted to,” Adam said. The two of us stretched out on the bleachers watching Landon practice. “But Mom is the best therapist the school has ever had. Parents call specifically to praise her and the work she’s done to help their kids.”
“She’s helped me,” I agreed.
“He won’t get rid of her. So now he’s got to decide what to do because Mom is serious.”
Miss Val was serious and hence the battle between the upper and lowerclassmen reached a fever pitch. The assembly had the opposite effect Whittaker wanted. The number of students wearing pins the next day basically covered all the lowerclassmen in every grade.
Unfortunately, the Bs, As, and Elites couldn’t leave it alone. They said to take them off and the lowerclassmen refused. Then they took it a step further and challenged them to battles. All of them were bullshit since the lowerclassmen didn’t have privileges for them to take. They refused and went to Miss Val. She backed them up and Whittaker held out on the ten-point penalty for one week. Dozens of parents called him shouting about targeting and bullying. The punishment for refusing a challenge was quickly reduced to a week of detention.
This didn’t stop the upperclassmen or sit better with the Cs, Ds, and Fs. Battle lines had been drawn in the sand and the only place where the upper and lower classes mixed were at my table in the middle of the cafeteria.
I hated seeing the school like this. Even though I once worked behind the scenes to whip them up into this kind of frenzy, I hoped by this time we would have learned something.
“I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen,” I said aloud. “Breakbattle can’t go on like this. It’s been weeks and every day more people join For All’s fight, and the upperclassmen get more vindictive about it.”
“They like their privilege system and they don’t want to lose it,” Adam said. “The school funnels most of the budget toward them. They can’t afford to give us all televisions, smartboards, and special field trips. If Breakbattle becomes a regular high school, equal education means we all live like Cs.”
“Not all of us.” I bumped his shoulder. “We’re getting out of this asylum and going to Somerset. But this is all about the school we’ll leave behind. No one should go through the stuff I went through, and they definitely shouldn’t be treated like Rebecca Taylor once was.”
He bumped me back. “It’s a good fight and your friends are all happy to fight it for you. I know you have other things to worry about.”
His statement killed any lingering good mood. Adam was correct. I cared about the lowerclassmen and their fight to change the school, but I had my own fight. Cameron’s killer would be found and brought to justice if it was the last thing I did.
Adam rested his hand over mine. “How is it going so far?”
“I’ve hit a wall. The boys are great. None have gone back on their promise to help me. Derek unearthed the guest list to the fundraiser. Cole cornered Santiago at Somerset. Michael is helping me narrow down who couldn’t have been on campus the night Cameron was murdered. And Landon was incredible. He convinced Henrietta and Declan to gift Cameron’s mom a free beauty consultation to ask them questions about what was going around the time of his death.”
“Wow. What did you guys found out?”
I rattled it off. “Every Network recruit from school was there along with their parents. Plus, the Network members that live in the areas. There were also the school board and their families. From there, Cole asked Santiago if Cameron had a problem with any of them.”
“What did he say?”
“No.”
“No?” he repeated. “None of them?”
“Santi told him their senior year wasn’t very different from the rest. He admitted there was tension between Cameron and Derek because he wanted his position back, but since Derek was in the cabin with me, he’s off the suspect list.”
“And you’re at square one.”
“Pretty much. Michael and I shortened the list by asking who couldn’t have been on campus, but there are still about twenty people left. One thing we know for sure is that something was going on. Cameron’s mom said as much to Henrietta. When he was home on the weekends, he’d stay out late and be secretive about where he was.”
“Did Santiago at least know what that was about?”
“Cole went back and asked him and he assumed at the time that Cameron was out hooking up. But he didn’t ask about it and Cameron didn’t say.”
“Real close friends those two,” Adam muttered.
I squeezed his hand. “They can’t all be like us.”
Adam gave me a smile. “So what are you going to do now?”
“The same thing I’ve been doing. Continue digging into his life until I find someone who can tell me the truth. This might not go well, but I’m going to talk to Beth.”
“Beth? Should I know who that is?”
I shook my head. “She’s a freshman and a friend of Cameron’s. Langman made it clear that I was eliminated as a suspect so she shouldn’t hate me anymore.”
“And if she does?”
“It’ll be a short conversation.”
He chuckled. “Good luck, Zee. I really hope you find something that the police can use. It’s terrifying to think we could be going to school with a killer.”
“It is terrifying. Especially because no matter how I look at it, I don’t see how a grown man or woman could sashay onto campus, stroll into the dorm, kill a student, and then walk out without anyone noting they were there.”
“A parent could,” he replied. “All they’d have to do is say they’re there to see their kid.”
“Whose parent would want to kill Cameron? Why? What could push them to take that risk?”
“The alternative is that it’s a student.”
“A Network student if this is connected to what happened the night of the fundraiser. We were the only kids there.”
“Could this be about the Network?”
“I— I just don’t know.” I pressed my fingers to my temples. I had a perpetual headache these days. “I did everything possible to stay out Cameron’s life. If only I’d gone around the corner and looked for the person who attacked him at the fundraiser.”
“Don’t torture yourself with if onlys. Worry about what you can do now. If this Beth is a friend, maybe she was a closer one than Santiago. She might know what he was dealing with back then.”
“I hope so. I’m going to talk to her tonight after dinner.”
“Good.” He kissed my cheek. “Let me know if you need my help.”
“I will—”
“Stop kissing my girlfriend, Moon.”
Landon had his opponent pinned face first in the mat. It didn’t stop him clocking us.
Adam got up, hands raised. “I’m backing away from the Zela. My hands are where you can see them.”
I laughed. “Will you two quit it? Adam sees me as a sister.”
Landon released the boy and backed away, preparing to circle him. “I don’t see him kissing Esme this much.”
“The point stands.”
Rolling his eyes, Adam said bye and loped off the bleachers.
Landon soon finished practice. He came out of the locker room damp and smelling sweet. I wished not for the first time we could find somewhere to be alone.
“Why don’t we go out this weekend?” Landon asked. “I looked it up and there’s a drive-in movie right outside of Chesterfield. Do you think your mom would go for it?”
“I think so. She’s even starting to thaw on not letting me go to Evergreen. It just freaked her out that I was almost killed and she had to speed from an hour away scared out of her mind. I understand that she wants to keep me close.”
“Seems like you understand your mother a lot more in general.”
I nodded. “We’re in a good place now. She doesn’t know why, but I’ve finally forgiven her for all of it. Jeremy Holt, Jonathan Grayson, and Dominick Dupre. The many fathers of Zela Rae Manning. Wouldn’t that make a good movie title?”
“Are you kidding? Girl dresses up as a guy and infiltrates a boys’ campus all to find her family. Through the years, she uncovers secrets that turn lives upside down. That movie would make millions.”
I laughed. Why in the hell was I laughing? I had no idea. My life was just so ridiculous laughing about it was the only reasonable thing to do.
“They’d ask Asher Monroe to play you,” I said. “Ooh! Or Jake T. Austin.”
“Damn. You think I look like those guys?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Well, you for sure would be played by Indiana Evans.”
“I could live with that.”
We looked at each other and cracked up.
I love this. The last few weeks have been so intense. Nice to just goof off with my boyfriend.
“So are you going to talk to Beth now?”
I lost my smile. It was nice while it lasted.
“Yes, I am. I’ll drop by her room after dinner and see if she’ll talk to me.”
We stopped in front of the side entrance. Landon spun me around and pressed me to his chest. “I don’t like that I can’t go with you. Maybe you should bring Melody.”
“I haven’t told Melody that Cameron’s my brother or that I’m looking into his death. Besides, I’m just asking her questions about his life. She’s not the killer. She wasn’t here when he died and she didn’t go to the fundraiser.”
“No, but she’s gotten in your face before.”
I raised a brow. “She’s like twelve. If she tries it again, I can handle myself.” Rising on tiptoe, I kissed him. “Stop stressing, baby. I’ll call you guys after if I find anything out.”
“Okay.”
I went to my room, showered, and started on my homework. Melody came in to drop off her stuff and then left for dinner. I stayed in to work on my project. The concept of slowing down didn’t exist in the Elite Wing. Munoz assigned us a twelve-page report on an influential woman and poster to go with it. I was almost done on the paper and Mom loaded me up with markers, glitter, and cardboard to finish off the poster.
My body cut up paper and spread glitter on auto-pilot while my mind returned to Cameron. I wasn’t sure if Beth could help me, but I had nothing—no, less than nothing. I needed someone to point me in the right direction.
Was this about the Network? Cameron was attacked at the Network’s crafty fundraiser. But then it comes back to why? He wasn’t fighting the expansion. He didn’t have a position to steal. Why would anyone hurt him over that?
If it’s not his secret club, then it was personal. And I’ll need someone like Beth to shed light on his life outside of Breakbattle.
I glanced at the clock. Five minutes until they closed the dining room. Beth would be here any second.
I left my work on the bed and stuck my head outside. Girls filed in one after the other, talking about their homework, weekends, and some of them had For All on their lips. He hadn’t struck since his video. Everyone wondered if he took a step back because his work was done, or if he was gearing up for the next hit.
Beth walked in alone. Her head was stuck in a book and she strode to her room without looking up. I seized my chance and stepped out behind her. Silently, I followed her to the door.
“Beth.”
She jumped. The book sailed out of her hand and hit the door.
“What the hell? What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you.” I gestured behind her. “Can we do this inside?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Do what? What would you need to talk to me about?”
“Like I said,” I replied, “let’s do this inside.”
“You’re... not still mad about before, are you? My mom talked to Cameron’s mom. I know the evidence cleared you.”
“This isn’t about that, but it is about Cameron. You said you were friends with him?”
She nodded.
“It’s not right that the killer is still out there. It’s even worse when you think how much time the police wasted on me when they could have been looking for the actual murderer. Cameron deserves justice and I want to help him get it.”
“You do?”
“Yes.” I smiled. “So can I come in?”
“Oh, yeah. Come in.”
Beth twisted her key in the lock and motioned for me to go in first. My eyes swept over the room. I liked what she’d done with the place. I didn’t put any effort into decorating my dorms. What was the point when I already had the perfect room a few miles away at home?
Beth clearly did not feel the same. She had everything from flower wall decals, a plush purple rug, star string lights, and her name spelled out in big bold letters above her bed. Beth even added her own furniture.
“You can sit there.” She pointed at the matching purple beanbag at the foot of her bed. “So what did you want to talk about?”
I sat and half disappeared into the smushy purple seat. I ignored it and focused on why I was here.
“I don’t know as much about Cameron as I wish I did,” I began. “What I do know is he was having problems with someone last year. I stumbled on two separate fights. Do you know who it was?”
She shook her head. “I know what you’re talking about though. I remember Cameron was off back then. He’d come over and be on the phone the whole time, glaring at the thing like he wished he could chuck it in the pool. Other times, he’d ignore his texts. I asked what was up a few times, but he said it was nothing.”
I eyed her. She seemed like a sweet kid when she wasn’t accusing people of murder. The question was how did she become friends with Cameron? She was five years younger than him and again, she was sweet.
I better find a good way to phrase this.
“How did you two become friends?”
Good enough.
“Cameron is—” She stopped. “I mean, Cameron was my next-door neighbor. My mom started doing the stay-at-home-mom thing around the time his nanny left. She offered to watch him for free. Mrs. Dupre couldn’t turn that down.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
Beth gave me a knowing look. “It’s cool. Everyone used to ask us that. Why was this older, hot, rich boy that could convince any girl off the street to give him company wasting his time with me? Cameron told them all to fuck off.”
She shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve known him since I was three. Mom taught us to swim together and we’d pass out head to head on the couch during naptime. Even after he got too old for babysitting, he had my back. I think he liked it.”
“Liked what?”
“Having a little sister.”
He had a little sister. Me.
“What was he like?” The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it. “We had our issues, but there had to be a different side to Cameron.”
“Hold on.”
Beth went over to her nightstand and rummaged around in the drawer. She pulled out something I couldn’t see from my spot on the flo
or.
“He liked cars,” Beth said. “His dad collects old rare ones and Cameron could tell you everything about them right down to how many stitches were used to put together the seats.”
Beth plopped down on the beanbag, scooching me over. She presented her find. It was a tiny photo album. I took it from her quicker than necessary but she didn’t notice. I flipped to the first page and there he was.
A young Cameron beamed at me through the shiny plastic cover. He couldn’t have been more than eight years old. Holding his hand was little Beth. Behind them, was a multimillion-dollar backdrop.
“Where are you guys?”
“In front of Cameron’s house,” she replied.
I turned the pages. It was the scene Beth told me about. The two of them were on the couch passed out. Their tiny faces were innocent in sleep.
What if that had been us? Me and Cameron taking naps together?
The picture formed in my mind hazy and undefined. It disappeared the harder I tried to hold onto it. I couldn’t see myself in a happy moment with Cameron Dupre—no matter how much I wanted to.
A knot lodged in my throat as I flipped through the photos of a happy Cameron and the little sister he chose to love.
“We loved video games,” Beth chattered on. “We would stay up all night playing. And he was obsessed with old rock bands. The Who, Eagles, and Deep Purple were his top three favorites.”
“What about his parents?” I cut in. “Were they close?
Emotion welled up inside of me, threatening to strangle with every word of the guy I never got to know.
The whole time the one I came to Breakbattle for was you and I missed you.
“Not so much with his mom. Mrs. Dupre is nice enough but she’s always busy with her charities, fundraiser, nonprofits, and all of that. She was never home and when she was, the phone was glued to her face.”
“And his dad?”
“Cam loved his dad. Dominick actually did spend time with him.” She laughed. “It was so cute. He had a little desk in his office and when he’d work from home, he put Cameron there with his crayons and juice box so they could be together.”
“That is cute.” Surprise laced my voice and it felt justified. Was there a nice side to Dominick Dupre?
