Thank goodness they hadn’t cancelled, or I would have had to scramble for new tasks to assign.
Would Patrick and Becky do it?
I’d find out next period.
After what seemed to be an eternity, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. I dropped my pen and had to retrieve it from where it rolled under the desk next to mine before shoving my calculus book and unused notebook into my bag to head out. Once again, I’d missed the assignment, since I hadn’t been paying attention.
Jeremy didn’t wait for me before leaving the room. He didn’t even look my way.
I pushed through the throng of students headed down the hall. It was a rare day for me to be excited for final homeroom, since I shared it with Jessica and several of her cheerleader drones. But today, the thought of seeing her filled me with anticipation instead of a dull dread. Let the games begin.
Students jostled and took their seats as I walked into the room. Mr. Jacobs sat at his desk buried in a newspaper. He was cool about letting us talk during study hall as long as we didn’t get too loud. Probably more so it didn’t disturb his reading rather than concern over breaking school rules.
I slid into my fifth row desk and glanced around the classroom. Jessica sat two rows over in the front, plucking at her sweater like it made her sick. The fact that all of the cheerleaders had to wear their old uniforms, instead of their fancy new ones that were lost in the fire, probably didn’t help her attitude any. She’d be looking even more nauseated by end of day.
The bell rang, and Mr. Jacobs glanced up. “Okay, class. Everyone take your seats. Don’t forget there’s a pep rally today. We’ll be heading over to the gymnasium in about ten minutes. Remember, it is now being held in the main gym, not the practice gym. Please do not go in that area of the school. Also, please make sure you don’t leave anything on your desks when we leave. Take it with you.” His teacher duty done, he stuck his nose back in the Wall Street Journal.
I glanced at the door. Where was she? Just as I began to worry that she’d chickened out, Becky’s familiar face popped in the door. Her mouth twisted in a nervous smile.
“Excuse me, Mr. Jacobs. I have brownies for the cheerleaders.” She licked her lips and swallowed visibly. Her gaze bounced around the room, everywhere but at the four girls from the cheer squad that shared homeroom with me. “Um…the student council made them.”
Jacobs waved her into the room.
Most of the guys in class started clamoring for a treat. Becky’s hands shook holding the tray, and her eyes widened. “Sorry boys, these are specifically for the cheerleaders.” She held the serving plate above her head as she wedged around some guys begging for free food.
“They can have mine,” Jaz said, sounding bored. “I don’t eat sugar.”
“Oh, these aren’t made with sugar. They’re actually healthy.” Becky circled the room, handing an individually-wrapped brownie to each girl on the cheer squad.
When she got to Jessica, I held my breath. She had to take one. Jessica glanced up and looked like she was about to refuse. The breath whooshed out of me when she finally said, “What the hell,” and reached out to take a brownie off the tray.
Becky stopped her. “Oh no! Here, take this one. I decorated it especially for you. Since you’re the captain.”
Jessica looked pleased at the special treatment. She grinned broadly and tossed her golden mane. “So what’s it made of if there’s no sugar?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Oh! It’s a recipe my mom uses. It has quinoa and almond milk. Plus she adds a little pumpkin puree to add some extra flavor.” Becky’s shaky smile didn’t quite meet her eyes.
Oh yeah, she went through with it, but she needed to calm down before her nerves gave her away. I silently willed her to relax.
“Well, whatever.” Jessica didn’t even bother with a thank you. She peeled the plastic wrap from her large brownie and broke a piece off to pop in her mouth. After chewing a few seconds, she nodded her head grudgingly. “Not bad.” Despite her lame praises, she scarfed the rest down in record time, probably because she never allowed herself to eat in front of Blane, and he wasn’t there to see her eat like a normal human. Then again, Blane was most likely out of the picture, period.
Becky slipped out of the classroom.
I smiled behind my book. The fun would begin in about thirty minutes, right in the middle of the pep rally. To quote the rah-rah crew, it would be A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
No way did I want to show up on Queenie’s radar, so I made sure to keep my face hidden behind my oversized science text, pretending to study. By all appearances, kinetic-molecular theories held me thoroughly engrossed.
About ten minutes later, Jacobs rattled his paper before setting it down on his huge oak desk at the front of the room. He glanced at the round clock next to the top of the doorway. It read two fifteen.
“All right, ladies and gentleman. It’s time to head over to the gymnasium. Please be sure to gather all of your belongings to take with you. You’ll be dismissed from the rally to go to your lockers, so you won’t be able to come back and get anything you left behind.” He paused. “And remember, you’re heading to the main gymnasium, do not go to the practice gym.” His brow furrowed.
The cheerleaders and football players were excused first. The rest of us lowly mortals formed a single-file line waiting for permission to head to the gym for another half hour of rousing displays of school spirit. At least today I’d be entertained for once during the assembly.
As I walked from the room, I noticed Jana’s brownie left behind unopened on her desk. Guess she was serious about not eating anything she considered junk food.
No one else remained in the classroom, so I snagged it and shoved it in the bottom of my large book bag.
Seated in the gym a few minutes later, I looked around to find Jeremy. We always sat together, but he wasn’t waiting at our regular spot at the bottom of the second section of risers. Two guys stepped over me, pushing and shoving each other until the second one almost landed on my lap in the process.
“Whoa, sorry.” He smiled and laughed a little. I recognized him as one of the people who’d stood in the hall and laughed at Jessica’s convict drawing on my locker. The ironic part was that I don’t think he recognized me. To him, I’d just been an easy target to join in with the crowd and mock.
I rolled my eyes. His friendly expression turned to mild annoyance. “Whatever, sweetheart. It was an accident.”
His friend looked back. “Come on, Seth. Ignore her.”
Seth glanced my way again and shrugged. “Sorry,” he muttered again before following his buddy.
I turned away and spotted a familiar head a few rows down and to the left. I reached over, grabbed my bag, and jumped up to move toward him.
“Jeremy!” I called. He didn’t acknowledge that he heard me.
“Jer!” I yelled again, a little louder this time.
He finally turned to face me, his expression not nearly as welcoming as I’d hoped for.
I offered an unsure smile and waved.
Instead of waving back, he turned and bent his head toward the person on his left. I took a few more steps his way and stopped short. Abby. She sat right next to him. Super.
I told myself it didn’t matter and kept pushing forward to join him.
“Hey.” I’d finally reached them and stood a few feet away at the end of the row. I shifted my bag on my shoulder. “Room for one more?”
He looked me in the eyes. I played with my tie and shifted my weight, praying he wouldn’t blow me off and tell me to take a hike.
A few seconds later, he nodded and moved over on the long wooden bleacher. Closer to Abby. Fabulous.
I tried to squelch the green-eyed monster as his thigh pressed tight against the side of Abby’s skirt. After all, what else was he supposed to do? Invite me to sit on his lap? At least he made room for me. I smiled my thanks and sat at the end of the row next to him.
An uncomfortable si
lence ensued. Abby didn’t so much as glance my way. Jeremy cleared his throat and stared at his shoes. Good thing it wasn’t awkward or anything.
Music thundered from the speakers set up around the gym. Cheerleaders ran from the girl’s locker room door, pom-poms waving high above their heads. Several of the girls cartwheeled into the center of court. Catcalls and whistles sounded from the bleachers. The cheerleaders flashed thousand watt smiles at their adoring fans and waved and bounced some more.
I zeroed in on just one.
Jessica seemed a tad less perky than usual. Her forced smile wavered a bit, and she wasn’t one of the girls doing handsprings and cartwheels. She gamely shook her red and white pom-poms in the air, all the while looking like she wanted to hurl.
No one else seemed to notice. Students stamped their feet on the bleachers, a deafening boom-boom-boom. When the cheer squad formed two lines and began a dance routine, I leaned forward.
I felt Jeremy’s curious gaze at my rapt interest in what was going on below us. Normally, I’d be making snarky remarks.
I caught myself and jabbed him in the ribs. “Whaddya think? Will we have a costume malfunction with all that shaking?” I forced a laugh. It wasn’t a potential wardrobe breakdown that had me so focused, and I had the feeling he knew it.
His jaw set. “What did you do?” His whispered accusation hung heavy in the air between us.
I twisted to face him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What? You think I rigged one of their uniforms to fall apart?” I shook my head. “I may be good, but I’m not exactly capable of sneaking in their houses overnight and ripping out seams.”
He stared at me. “Sam, I have absolutely no idea what you’re capable of anymore.”
Ouch.
Abby glanced over, eyes wide. Great. Now she knew Jeremy and I were fighting, which gave her the perfect chance to slide right in and steal him.
I lifted my chin. “I’ve never done anything that wasn’t completely deserved.”
Jeremy’s cool stare made me feel like he was looking at a stranger. He shook his head and turned to face front without bothering to respond.
I did the same, pasting a fake smile on my face and clapping along with the crowd.
Down below, Jessica looked worse. Every few seconds, she stopped jumping around and brushed her hair out of her face, or held her stomach. At one point, she bent over at the waist, clutching her midsection.
By this point, others began to take notice as well. The girls on either side of Jessica cast concerned looks her way, and a couple of kids in the stands pointed and whispered.
I acted like nothing was amiss, still clapping and giving an occasional whoop. I pretended not to feel Jeremy’s icy glares sent my way.
The announcer called out, “Let’s hear it for your Trinity Academy Titans!”
The footballs players tore out of their locker room, barreling through a large paper banner that said, GO TITANS! held by two cheerleaders.
The students in the stands went nuts, stamping and cheering. The players were like gods in our school. They pumped their helmets in the air, and the cheer squad danced and kicked their legs high while they shouted encouragement.
The varsity players plunked their helmets on their heads, getting ready to move to the standard play formation they always did at rallies, and that’s where things got interesting. Chase Latkin’s arm stuck out awkwardly at his side, trying to jerk his hand free of the hard plastic face mask on his helmet. It clung, not releasing. He shook it and grabbed it with the other hand, looking like a cartoon character.
I tried not to snort. Superglue would do that. I mentally praised Patrick and turned my attention back to Jessica. Would she get sick in front of the entire school before the rally was over and the cheerleaders flounced out of the gym? She’d be mortified. It seemed a fitting retribution for what the two of them had done to me two years ago. After all, they’d found it so amusing to publicly humiliate me that day in the mall.
The squad finished their dance and formed an elaborate pyramid. Jessica wobbled her way up to the top, arms poised above her head in a V. Seconds later she wavered in her perch on top of the backs of two other girls. Her eyes grew huge, and it was easy to see her fear.
One sneaker-clad foot slipped off the side of Bren’s back, and that’s all it took. In what almost seemed like slow motion, Jessica fell. She caught a knee on Bren on the way down, and suddenly disappeared from view behind the human tower. A collective gasp carried throughout the gym. A crack sounded, followed by shocked silence.
I jumped up, my stomach rolling. She was supposed to get sick, have to leave the rally early, maybe throw up in front of everyone. Not that.
I stood on tiptoe with the rest of the students, craning my neck to see more clearly. Teachers swarmed to the center of the gym floor, shouting commands for students to get back. Two teachers whipped out their phones, faces frantic. Probably calling 911 and wondering what the hell else could go wrong.
Jeremy’s hands grasped my shoulders and turned me to face him. He looked angrier than I’d ever seen him.
“Please tell me you had nothing to do with this.” His normally warm eyes were steel.
My mouth flapped open and shut. “I didn’t!” I finally snapped. When he didn’t answer, I jerked free and ran down the bleachers and out of the gym.
Twenty-Five
Tell me why all the best laid plans fall apart in your hands.
—James Blunt
I bolted to the closest girl’s bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I sat on the closed toilet lid, shaking like I was about to have a seizure. What if Jessica broke her back and was now a vegetable?
Oh my god, what if they found out I was behind it all and I got sent to prison? Like my dad. Memories of the striped locker flashed in my head, the words Convict Society taunting me.
What if they were right all along and I was just like him? Worse than him. My father may have threatened Mr. Wainright’s life, but I may have crippled Wainright’s daughter. Pretty sure that made me the bigger villain on anyone’s scorecard.
Could the drugged brownies really be responsible? Maybe she just lost her balance, and it had nothing to do with what she’d eaten.
Beads of sweat broke out on my forehead, and I pressed my palms against my face, my eyes squeezed closed tight. A million tiny jackhammers pounded their way through my skull.
She’s fine. She probably just twisted her ankle or something.
My stomach hosted a swarm of angry insects, flapping and twisting. I leapt to the floor, lifted the lid, and shoved my face halfway into the bowl, sure I would retch any moment. But after a minute or two I realized nothing was going to come up.
Elbow on the seat, I rested the side of my face in my hand and commanded myself to take deep breaths and calm down. I needed to think rationally. I’d already made a spectacle of myself by running out of the gym. I needed to come up with a reason for my rather obvious fleeing the scene of the crime. Something believable.
The brownies.
I’d picked up Jana’s brownie that she’d left behind; I could say I’d eaten it. I dug in my bag to find it and tore the wrapper off before shoving the brownie in the toilet. It looked disgusting, waterlogged and bobbing around, so I turned away and flushed.
There. Now I just had an empty wrapper…proof I’d eaten one. If anyone put two and two together and figured out what had made Jessica fall, there was no way anyone would think I’d been behind it, since I’d eaten a brownie too.
It was perfect. Logical. Well, except for the fact that none of the other cheerleaders had gotten sick, but it was better than nothing. It was doubtful anyone would be smart enough to suspect that Jessica’s brownie came from its own private batch.
I’d thought I’d been so clever suggesting Becky grind up iris leaves to mix in the batter. Simple and easily accessible. Super easy for someone as skilled in chemistry as Becky. From what I’d researched, the iris leaves would make someone ill, but
they weren’t even close to fatal, especially in small doses. I’d never wanted to really hurt anyone, not even Jessica.
How was I to know she would be on top of a pyramid when the symptoms hit full force? It wasn’t my fault she climbed up there feeling sick. I tried to convince myself that Jessica’s need to be the constant center of attention led to the accident, not what I’d orchestrated. It didn’t work.
I couldn’t breathe, seeing her fall over and over.
I shoved myself up from the floor and unlocked the stall door to walk over to the row of sinks. My reflection appeared flushed in the mirror. I leaned down and turned the cold water on full blast, then splashed it onto my face and neck. Inhaling deeply, I grabbed a paper towel and patted myself dry. I could do this. I had to do this. I had to go out there and find out what was going on.
Muted voices carried through the bathroom door, along with the sounds of footsteps. Lots of them.
Please let her be okay.
I pushed open the door and stepped out. Students swirled around me, faces slack and eyes wide with shock. Everyone whispered in hushed tones, as if using a normal speaking voice might somehow be inappropriate.
I grabbed an arm of the closest student, some underclassman I didn’t recognize. “What happened? Where is she now?”
The girl didn’t even try to pull away. She appeared in a daze, her pale face splotchy from crying. That can’t be good.
“She’s gone,” she whispered.
Gone?
Gone? Gone as in dead?
The walls tilted around me, and the color drained from my face.
“What do you mean, gone?” I whispered hoarsely.
She shook her head. “I don’t know where. I just know an ambulance came, and they took her.”
Students pushed past us. The girl finally broke free from my grasp and walked forward in the crowd before I could get any more information from her.
I looked around for a familiar face. Everyone wore confused, scared expressions, even the teachers. I needed to get out of there. I wanted to go somewhere I felt safe, and figure out what the hell was happening.
The Society Page 15
