by Nancy Holder
“Well…” Sylvia shrugged.
Hazel frowned. “Come on. You said friends share.”
“Maybe we put a few extra little things in her locker.”
“What?” Hazel nearly choked.
“Oh, please, Breona’s drug use is well known. We didn’t put anything in there that hadn’t been in there before.”
Hazel stared at her. “So you planted the drugs, and then you called it in?”
“Yes. And with good reason.” Sylvia pushed the chair away from the monitor and folded her hands across her lap. “Let me tell you why I hate Breona. Because everyone thinks it’s just about Josh, and that’s not true.”
Hazel settled back onto the bed to listen.
“Breona and I started out as friends,” Sylvia began. “In fifth grade. We were the smartest girls. And the prettiest. We were in all the same activities. We told everyone we were best friends forever.” She smiled faintly. “But that wasn’t enough for Breona. She was jealous. She didn’t want anyone else hanging out with me. If they tried, she’d throw a tantrum or be mean. She started actually hitting the other girls. I didn’t do any of it, but I got blamed right along with her. I spent more time sitting in the principal’s office waiting for my mom to pick me up than I did in class.”
“Yow,” Hazel said. “That sucks.”
“Hugely. I told my mother what was going on. Thank God she believed me. She said I couldn’t play with Breona anymore. That was more than fine with me. Then Breona went nuts. She wouldn’t leave me alone. She kept calling my house and coming by, begging me to be her friend.” Sylvia looked at Hazel. “Serious boundary issues.”
“No doubt,” Hazel said, taking another swig of Cointreau. She felt pleasantly dizzy.
“Things kept escalating. My parents talked to her parents. My mom suggested therapy, and Breona’s mom went nuts.”
“No way. Really?”
“Really. We just wanted them to stay away from us. Life went on. Fifth grade ended. We were zoned for different middle schools—proving there is a God.” Sylvia ironically made the sign of the cross. “I thought I was free of Breona Wu.”
Her voice dropped. She took a deep breath, a dainty sip of Cointreau….
“And then my dog,” she said finally. “His name was Asterix.”
“What happened to him?” Hazel asked.
“I don’t know.” Sylvia’s eyes welled. “He disappeared. I couldn’t prove that Breona had anything to do with it. Even though I knew. People said he must have gone out the side gate. But we always closed that gate.”
A single tear slid down Sylvia’s cheek. Hazel had never seen her look so vulnerable.
“Oh, Sylvia, I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “That’s…that’s just awful.”
“She kind of haunted me after that. I’d get calls, but there would be no one on the other end. She’d make up terrible stories about me and tell them behind my back. I lost a few friends from it. She could be so convincing.”
Sylvia took a hefty swallow of the Cointreau. “And now we both go to Brookhaven. And nothing I have ever done to her can begin to compare to what she’s done to me.” She pushed a dark tendril of hair away from her forehead. “No one knows about this except the other PLDs—and now you. I hate her, Hazel. I really, really do.”
“I don’t blame you,” Hazel replied, taking Sylvia’s hand. Then she thought of something.
“Sylvia,” she began. “I’ve been getting these weird phone calls…not the ones from you guys. They’re different. Really scary. And when Breona saw my green carnation, she went totally insane. She called me a bitch and ran out of class.”
“Oh God.” Sylvia pressed her fingertips against her forehead.
“There’s more. Charlie’s dad found Isotope. He might have been poisoned.”
Sylvia gasped. “That poor little kid.”
Hazel took a deep breath. “And now…with Jilly’s horse. I wonder….”
“It has to be Breona.” Sylvia exhaled slowly. “We have to be very careful. All of us. God knows what she’s capable of.”
“Sylvia?” a child’s voice called impatiently. “We finished our dinner. We’re supposed to take our baths tonight.”
Sylvia sighed. “Duty calls.” She hit the function keys to shut Cynthia’s computer down. Hazel stretched and put the cap back on the Cointreau bottle, replacing it in the drawer. She straightened up the papers around the keyboard.
“I’ll show you how to check the files yourself,” Sylvia promised, standing up. “You need to arm yourself, Hazel. School is like war. You know that now, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Hazel replied.
“Of course you do,” Sylvia agreed. She cupped Hazel’s cheek. “It’s okay. You’re okay now. You’re with us.”
“Thanks,” Hazel said. And suddenly, sharply, she did feel a little bit better.
“C’mon, I’ll help you give these monsters their baths,” Sylvia offered. “But if they pull that ‘dead’ crap again…” She gestured as if she were pushing someone’s head underwater.
“What are we going to do about Breona?” Hazel asked. “She’s an accident waiting to happen.”
“Breona will keep at us until she gets a reaction,” Sylvia continued. “That’s her style. Don’t worry. I’m thinking about payback. In a big, big way.”
Hazel laughed, but a funny feeling burrowed under her scalp.
Must be all the liquor, she thought. She turned from the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next morning Hazel was driving to school when a text message came in on her phone. At a stoplight she pulled the phone out of her purse to check it.
YRSECRETPAL2PURPLEHAZE: Wnt 2 plA, sxC?
She giggled. Sexy? Was it from Matty? Someone behind her beeped and Hazel glanced up. Whoops. The light had changed.
She replaced the phone and drove. When she got to the next light, she wanted to write something back, but there was already another message.
YRSECRETPAL2PURPLEHAZE: Wnt 2 di? Sum1 is going 2. mayB U!
Hazel caught her breath and gingerly set the phone on the seat.
Alicia Keys’s “Karma” blared at her.
Hazel picked up the phone to check the ID and her finger jerked, depressing the connect button before she realized that she had just put the call through. Grimacing, she held the phone to her ear.
“Hello?” she said.
“The horse was cool,” said a muffled voice. “You’d be cooler.”
“That’s not funny,” she said. “Who is this?”
“Someone you know. Someone you trust. And you shouldn’t.”
“Breona?” she said, trying to sound annoyed.
“Who do you think it is? Breona Wu? Or one of your so-called friends? You shouldn’t trust them. You shouldn’t trust me.”
Hazel disconnected. The phone immediately played again.
“Shit,” Hazel muttered. She made the connection and put the cell to her ear. “Okay, listen. I’ve had enough.”
Hazel heard someone breathing. She was about to hang up when a voice said, “Hazel?”
“Matty?” Hazel asked.
“Hi!” he whispered. She could barely recognize his voice. “I’m at practice. I just wanted to talk to you. I didn’t get a chance to last night.”
“I know. I had to sit for the Darling twins again.” She hesitated. “Did you just call me about a minute ago?”
“No. Why?”
“No reason,” Hazel covered.
“Are you going to the game tonight?”
“I think so.”
“Great,” Matty cheered. “Sylvia told me there’s going to be a party at Ellen’s after the game.”
There is? Sylvia hadn’t told her that. Hazel guessed Sylvia had finally pressured Ellen to the breaking point. The party was on.
“Are you showing?” she asked him.
“Do you want me to?”
She smiled, pulling into the school lot. “T
hat’d be cool,” she replied.
“Then I’m there. Whoops. Coach is on the prowl. Later, Hazel.”
He disconnected.
That night Hazel stood in the corner of Ellen’s living room, nursing her beer. This was more of a kegger than the other PLD parties Hazel had been to. The music was up and there were more people. Hazel preferred the smaller, quieter gatherings.
Hazel knew Ellen didn’t have a mom, but she wasn’t sure if she had died, or left, or what. Ellen’s house was very much like a bachelor pad, with black leather couches and red lacquer bookshelves and a coffee table. There were animation cels in red frames on the walls and a rec room dominated by a pool table and an old-fashioned jukebox that played real 45s—old-fashioned singles.
Ellen had confessed that some of the 45s had been stolen during the last party she threw. That was why her father had said she couldn’t have any more parties.
At least until now, Hazel thought. When Sylvia commanded that it be so.
Sylvia gathered the PLDs in Ellen’s kitchen. “A toast to us.” She poured Jim Beam into five shot glasses. The others touched their glasses to hers.
“To damnation!” Sylvia said joyfully.
“To damnation!” the others chorused.
Everyone threw back.
About an hour into the party, the football team finally showed up.
Brandon strode into the kitchen, carrying an enormous stuffed monkey. It was bright blue and about five feet tall. It was creepy looking, with its big, blank, happy face and blindly staring eyes.
“Oh my gosh! It’s Monkey Boy!” Ellen trilled, kissing first the monkey and then Brandon.
“Monkey Boy?” Hazel asked.
“It’s my pet name for him,” Ellen confided. “Because he’s about as sophisticated as a monkey.”
“Sweet.” Hazel chuckled. “Is it your birthday?”
“No,” Ellen said happily, kissing him again.
“It’s not?” Brandon joked. He put his arms around Ellen and hugged her tightly. “I just saw him and I knew El had to have him.”
A bold move! Hazel thought. Go, Ellen. Who cares what Sylvia thinks? You guys get yours.
As if she had read Hazel’s mind, Sylvia approached. She walked up to the enormous blue monkey, flicked its nose, and gave Brandon a pointed look.
“What’s this?”
“Monkey Boy. And he’s adorable,” Ellen said, giving him a kiss on his perpetually upturned mouth.
Sylvia sneered. “Whatever makes you happy, ma belle.” She turned and clapped. “Alors, mes petites! Tonight we’re watching I Know What You Did Last Summer. Everyone go into the rec room and find a comfortable place to sit.”
The partyers followed Sylvia into the room. Brandon and Ellen walked toward the jukebox.
“Nobody steal anything!” Sylvia called out. There was scattered laughter, but Ellen looked embarrassed.
Then Matty joined the party. He sidled up to Hazel and put an arm around her. “Hey, sexy. I guess I got here just in time.”
He looked hot, dressed all in black. His eyes were so dark they practically hypnotized her.
Someone put in a DVD on the wide-screen TV. As the movie began, people scrambled for seats. Hazel and Matty grabbed an upholstered chair, which Matty pushed up against one of the couches. Ellen sat on the couch with Monkey Boy in her lap. Brandon was beside her; Megan flanked her on the other side.
Matty made a show of putting his arm around the creature and Hazel both. The girls giggled.
“Don’t touch my boyfriend!” Ellen hissed at Matty.
“Hey, are you messing with my girlfriend?” Brandon said, grabbing Monkey Boy around the neck and bopping Matty on the head.
“Shh!” Sylvia snapped.
Brandon let go of Monkey Boy, and Ellen petted the creature’s fuzzy blue fur. It stared straight ahead, its crazy cartoon face utterly devoid of expression.
“That thing is creepy,” Matty whispered to Hazel.
They touched heads, grinning.
The movie started. There it was, the hit-and-run that started it all. Hazel shifted, a little bored. She’d seen this movie a couple of times already, and she didn’t think it was that good.
“Watch,” Ellen whispered to Hazel and Matty. “Soon Sylvia will announce that we should have watched Diabolique.”
Hmm, cocky, Hazel thought, approving. Maybe now that Brandon’s gone public with their relationship, Ellen will stand up to Sylvia a little more.
“I finally gave up and ordered Diabolique online,” Sylvia announced. “It should be here in a few days.”
No one dared shush her, but Ellen and Hazel had to stifle their giggles.
After a few more minutes, Hazel shifted again and hid a little yawn. Matty murmured, “Want to go out back?”
He gave her a hopeful smile and she nodded. They both tiptoed out of the room.
Outside, the air was brisk but not too chilly. Ellen’s yard smelled of night-blooming jasmine. There was a Jacuzzi and a large gas barbecue and, beyond them, a vast stand of bamboo.
Matty walked her into the tall stalks. It was very dark. She couldn’t see him. But she could smell him and feel him as he put his arms around her. She closed her eyes and he lowered his mouth to hers….
He kissed her, hard, as his hands pressed her against the length of his body. He was so urgent, so needy, Hazel wondered if he’d devour her entirely. He kissed her again. And again. Then he pulled her gently down to the ground. He kept kissing her, cradling her head while his hand worked its way up the front of her hoodie.
She had no idea how long they made out. Her back ached and her wrists were sore, but she didn’t care.
Finally, he exhaled slowly. He sat up, coming back to earth. “Want a beer or something?” he asked.
“That’d be great. Thanks.”
Matty kissed her on the lips, lightly, and sighed again. He got to his feet and said, “I’ll be right back.”
He made his way out of their bamboo hideaway.
Hazel heard another set of footsteps nearby, shuffling through the undergrowth. She peered through the darkness, but she could see only shadows.
“C’mon, Brandon.” It was Sylvia.
“Sly, it’s just not cool, okay?” Brandon argued.
“Why not?” Sylvia asked, pulling him close.
Brandon groaned. “You—you have Josh.”
Sylvia snorted. “Josh is a cheating pig. And besides, that never bothered you before. What bothers you now is that you have sweet little Ellen. She has no idea what a bastard you are. You’ll just use her and lose her, like all the others.”
“No,” Brandon said. “It’s not like that.”
“Oh, come on. People don’t change.” Sylvia ran her hands through Brandon’s hair, down his chest.
“I am changing. I’m not going to do that to her.”
Hazel heard the uncertainty in his voice. It made her wince. Maybe Sylvia knew him better than he knew himself.
Yeah, Sylvia, who is being unfaithful to her boyfriend and who’s hitting on the guy Ellen likes…
“You’re full of it, Brandon. You know what you are. I should tell Ellen—”
“You leave her alone!” Brandon hissed. He pushed Sylvia away. “You power-tripping bitch. Maybe I’ll tell Josh—”
“Oh, please. Like he would believe you.”
“Hey, I know things about you that other people don’t, okay?” Brandon challenged. “I’ve been cool up till now. But you mess things up with Ellen, and—”
“Don’t you ever threaten me. You’re a lowlife, Brandon, and you know it. Your father pumps gas and your mother—”
“You shut up!”
“Watch it, babe! I will so cut you down to size. You know I can. And you know I will.”
Brandon left, his footsteps fading. After a few seconds, Sylvia made her way back to the house as well.
Hazel stayed silent, trying to make sense of what she had heard.
Then Matty returned. “Hazel?
” he whispered.
“Matty, I need to go inside for a second.”
“Sure thing.”
They left their bamboo hideaway. Matty went to the rec room to watch some of the movie. Hazel found Sylvia reapplying her lipstick in the bathroom.
“Hey, babe,” Sylvia said, looking at Hazel in the mirror. “Want some lipstick?” She offered Hazel a tube of red.
Hazel took it and smoothed it carefully over her bottom lip. “Sylvia?” She paused. “I’m confused about something.”
“What could that be?” Sylvia asked, picking up her beer from where she’d rested it on the edge of the sink.
“You told Ellen to stay away from Brandon because he wasn’t a nice guy. If that’s the case, why are you hooking up with him?”
Sylvia laughed. Hazel didn’t.
Sylvia took a breath and said, “Okay. I think he’s hot. I have a thing for him physically. But I can handle that. Separate it. It wouldn’t be that way for Ellen. He’d use her and break her heart.”
“And you’re sure that’s the reason?” Hazel asked, handing back the lipstick. “There’s nothing else? Nothing more personal?”
“I am.” Sylvia smiled and turned to face her. “You’re still such an innocent, Hazel. So upset about your ruined virginity—worried that someone might find out, someone like Mattise. But that’s okay. Once you’ve matured a little more, you’ll understand.”
Hazel’s face burned as if Sylvia had slapped her. She gaped at her, wondering—was that a threat?
“Later,” Sylvia said, drifting past her.
When Hazel came out of the bathroom, the movie had ended. People were gathered in little groups. Hazel found Ellen, who was eating some popcorn beside the barbecue and laughing with Megan and Carolyn. Monkey Boy was propped up beside her. She pretend-fed it some popcorn, then put her beer bottle to its lips.
“Hi, guys,” Hazel said.
Matty smiled, unaware of her distress.
“So. Did the ending change?”
They giggled. Megan’s laugh was extreme, and Hazel realized she was wasted.
“Have you seen Brandon?” Ellen asked.
“Not for a while,” Hazel said guiltily. She had no idea what to say to Ellen about what she had seen. Or if she should say anything, ever.
