Caught Up in the Drama

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  About two forty-five, the twins came bouncing toward me, their arms filled with bags. “Hey, Alexis,” they sang, giving me their signature air kiss. Both of them wore all white and looked like they’d just come from a tennis match. With their bouncy blond curls, they looked like they should be doing a shampoo commercial.

  “Long time, no see,” Mari said.

  “We’ve missed hanging out with you,” Marlee added.

  Sometimes Mari and Marlee were more trouble than they were worth, and I had all but kicked them to the curb when I’d started hanging with the Good Girlz.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. But thanks for doing this,” I replied.

  I’d already given them the rundown on what I was doing. I’d told them I was basically running away from home to teach my parents a lesson, so I needed to stay with them for a few days. Their parents were divorced, their mother traveled all the time, and so they were basically on their own. They’d graduated from high school last year, but neither one seemed in a hurry to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life.

  “This is so cool,” Marlee said excitedly.

  I groaned at their giddiness. Maybe I should’ve really run away. But I was too much of a scaredy cat to make it out somewhere on my own, especially after what had happened when we’d tried to find Angel. Some creepy guys had chased us down an abandoned dirt road. We’d gotten away, but not before being scared out of our minds.

  Nope, chillin’ at the twins’ house was about as far as I was going to run. And I wasn’t planning on staying long. Just long enough for my mom and dad to get worked into a frenzy.

  “Why are you guys late?” I asked.

  “Oh, my God. Nordstrom’s had a sale, like out of this world,” Marlee squealed. “Look at these Prada shoes.” She pulled a pair of black wedge sandals from one of the bags. “They were forty percent off.”

  Both girls high-fived each other. They were probably five times richer than me, but something about finding designer stuff on sale gave them a rush. I took a look at the shoes and shook my head. Even at the sale price, the shoes were still four hundred and seventy dollars.

  “Let’s go,” I said. “Please?”

  “Okay. Here, put this on,” Mari said, pulling a long Hannah Montana wig and a big hat out of one of the bags.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “It’s your disguise.” Marlee giggled. “If we’re going to do this, we need to do it right.”

  This was too stupid for words. “Why would I need a disguise?”

  “Duh? Because you’re hiding, remember?” Marlee replied.

  “I’m hiding from my parents. And trust me, they’re not hanging out at the mall.” My mom did most of her shopping in New York and Paris boutiques, and my father had all of his stuff made. He wouldn’t be caught dead at the mall.

  “But what if there are surveillance cameras?” Mari asked.

  “Maybe in the parking lot, but I doubt they have surveillance cameras at Starbucks,” I said, wondering why we were standing in the middle of the mall arguing about this.

  “Well, someone may see you walking to the car with us.” Mari had a look of exasperation, like she couldn’t understand why I was giving her a hard time.

  “By the time they sift through the videotapes, I’ll be back home,” I said.

  “You are no fun,” Marlee pouted.

  I had to once again ask myself what I had gotten into. This was not a game, but they were acting like we were on some kind of scavenger hunt.

  “Well, at least wear the hat. It’s so cute. Another sale,” Marlee sang.

  “Okay, fine, whatever.” I took the hat and put it on my head. “Can we go now?”

  “Yes,” they giggled and led the way outside to the parking garage.

  After Marlee took me up one row of cars and down another, we walked back to the front of the Galleria, where she told me they’d valet parked.

  “So, what was the wandering through the parking garage for?” I asked.

  “Surveillance cameras,” Mari sang.

  I just groaned and waited for the valet to bring their Range Rover around.

  They giggled and talked about useless stuff all the way to their River Oaks mansion. Yet hiding out at home didn’t work much for them. Before long they had lost interest.

  “I’m bored,” Marlee said after we watched back-to-back episodes of Making the Band 4.

  “Me, too,” Mari echoed. “Let’s go to the club.”

  I had gotten into so much trouble the last time I’d gone to a club with the twins. They’d popped some pills—something I’d had no idea that they did—and Marlee had ended up passing out. It had been one of the most frightening things I had ever experienced.

  “Ummm, that would be no,” I said. “We’re hiding out, remember?”

  “You’re hiding out, dang,” Marlee said. “I’m bored. How long has it been?”

  I glanced down at my watch. “Three hours,” I said in exasperation.

  “God, it feels like three days,” she said as she fell back on the sofa.

  “Look, my dad was supposed to have picked me up an hour ago, so by now they’re blowing up my phone and they probably just think I’m late.”

  “Maybe we should call the TV stations and tell them to put out an Amber Alert,” she said, referring to the statewide notification system when a child has been abducted.

  “Number one, I haven’t been abducted,” I said. “Number two, someone has to have seen you get kidnapped for them to do an Amber Alert.”

  “Hey, I can call Damien,” Marlee said, talking about her wannabe thug boyfriend. The only problem was, it was kind of hard to be a thug when your parents owned six McDonald’s.

  “He might know someone that can fake-abduct you,” she said.

  “No,” I replied, stopping her. “I’m not going through all of that. I’m not trying to get on the news. I’m not trying to scare my parents any more than I have to. I just want them to freak out enough to realize this whole splitting-up thing is a big mistake.”

  Marlee stuck out her bottom lip. “How do you know they’re gonna even call the cops? It could be three or four days.”

  “Yeah, that’s how long it would take for our parents to notice we were really gone,” Mari echoed. “They’d just think we were off somewhere with our friends.”

  They burst out laughing like it was funny. I stared at them both in disbelief. This situation was actually quite sad. Yet anyone on the outside looking in would see us, three rich girls, and think we had it going on.

  “You guys can do what you want,” I finally said. “But if it’s okay with you, I’m just going to stay here and chill out.”

  “What about tomorrow? Are you going to school?” Mari asked. “We have to teach our Pilates class tomorrow at four. Do you wanna come?”

  I sighed. “I’ve run away,” I said slowly, so they could grasp it. “No, I’m not going to school. I don’t want to go to Pilates. I’m just staying here.” At this point I wanted them to go out just so I could get some peace and quiet. If I had to put up with this all night long, I would lose my mind. “You guys go out and have some fun.”

  “Okay,” Marlee said, jumping up. “It’s ladies’ night at the Polo Club.”

  “So are we really going to leave her here?” Mari asked, standing to follow her sister.

  “She said for us to go on and go.”

  “Yes, please go,” I repeated, with a little more force than I had intended.

  “Well, I’m going to go take a shower,” Mari said.

  Yeah, I needed them gone so I could think.

  They both bounced upstairs, and I leaned back. This plan had to work. It had to bring my family back together. If it didn’t, I didn’t know what else I was going to do.

  29

  Camille

  This could totally not be happening to me. I could only wonder what I had done to deserve this. I stared at the front page of the tabloid. There it was, big as day—a ph
oto of my mom hitting Sisco with her purse. I wanted to die.

  I’d arrived at school to find it taped to my locker. I quickly tore it down and spotted Dee standing at the end of my row, laughing hysterically with her friends. I so couldn’t stand her!

  “The chance of a lifetime and you blow it,” she said, shaking her head. “Then your crazy mama attacks him.”

  “Go away, Dee,” I replied, tossing the paper into the big steel trash can.

  “That article said you’re accusing Sisco of attacking you. As if.” She looked disgusted.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She walked toward me, gloating. “All I know is Sisco can have any girl he wants. Trust, he doesn’t have to attack some ol’ stuck-up pretend-diva.”

  If this girl knew what was good for her, she’d get out of my face, because God knew, I was at my breaking point.

  “Of course, when there are all kinds of willing skanks with no self-respect, you’d think Sisco wouldn’t need to try and attack anyone,” I said as casually as I could.

  “Self-respect?” She laughed. “Letting him feel you all up, kiss all over you in front of your so-called boyfriend, call you outta your name? Oh yeah, that’s real respectful. If anything, he thought you were a skank because you dang sure acted like one.”

  Usually, I would’ve come right back at her. But although I would never admit it, she was right. Miss Rachel was right. My mom was right. I’d put myself out there to be disrespected, and that’s exactly what Sisco had done.

  “Look, I’m telling you for the last time, leave me alone,” I finally said.

  “I just don’t believe it,” she went on, like I hadn’t said anything. “First, you mess things up with Xavier, the hottest dude at school. But don’t worry, I got that on lock now.” She smiled when she said that. “Then you mess up the chance of a lifetime with Sisco.”

  I couldn’t believe I was letting her go off on me, but I felt so dejected that I didn’t have the energy to fight back.

  “Dee, leave me alone,” I repeated, slamming my locker shut.

  She followed me. “No, I won’t. I don’t care what kind of star you think you are. You—”

  “You heard her, she said leave her alone.”

  I never thought I’d be so happy to hear Jasmine’s voice. She was standing behind Dee—or should I say, towering behind Dee. True, Jasmine had put her fighting ways behind her, for the most part anyway, but she still could strike fear in the best of them.

  Dee looked Jasmine up and down like she was debating whether or not to say something. I guess she decided she didn’t want to get her pretty face damaged, because she threw up her hands.

  “Whatever. I’m done talking to this freak anyway. I gotta go. My boo Xavier wants to meet me for lunch,” she said, waltzing off.

  It took everything in my power not to cry. “Th—thanks, Jasmine,” I managed to say after Dee left. “It means a lot that you would do that for me.”

  Jasmine turned away and punched in the code to her locker, which was right next to mine. “It ain’t about you, because, after all, we’re not your friends.” She threw her backpack in her locker, slammed it closed, then looked at me. “You made it clear who your real friends were. So, next time, get them to have your back. Because I’m done.”

  The firmness in her voice told me that this time, Jasmine meant it.

  30

  Camille

  After Jasmine left, my head started pounding. I’d wanted to stay home from school today, but I had a midterm exam that I couldn’t miss.

  “Miss Harris, I know you’re a superstar and all, but take the sunglasses off in my hallway,” said our principal, Mrs. Lexington.

  I removed my glasses and stuffed them down into my book bag. The funny thing was, I wasn’t trying to be a diva. I just had the glasses on because I had a headache and the light was hurting my eyes.

  My heart skipped when I saw Jasmine had stopped at the end of the hall to talk to Angel. As our eyes met, I wondered if I should go over and say something, apologize, anything to get us back on the right track. But before I could make up my mind, Jasmine rolled her eyes and walked off again.

  While Angel didn’t roll her eyes, she did turn and follow Jasmine.

  “Whatever,” I mumbled as I walked to my class.

  I’d just taken a seat at the front of the classroom when Xavier walked in with Dee. He had his arm draped around her shoulder.

  I fought back tears as I noticed she was wearing his letterman jacket.

  I tried to tell myself it was all for show because he knew I would be in this class. I tried my best not to notice them. At least he tried to drop his arm. Dee, on the other hand, was straight putting on a show, talking about “baby, this” and “baby that.” I buried my head in my book and didn’t look up.

  Class had gotten under way when Mrs. Lexington came into the room. She whispered something to Mrs. Williams, our teacher, who then shook her head. Then they both lined me up in their sights. Oh, God, what was I getting in trouble for now?

  “Camille, Mrs. Lexington would like to speak with you in her office,” Mrs. Williams announced.

  Chatter immediately filled the classroom.

  “They’re probably arresting her for making false accusations against Sisco,” this girl in the back of the class said.

  I ignored her as I eased out of my seat.

  “Oh, and please take your stuff,” Mrs. Williams added.

  The “ooohs” grew louder, because if I was taking my stuff, that meant I wasn’t coming back and was probably in big trouble.

  “What now?” I groaned. I followed Mrs. Lexington out of the class and down the hall, trying my best to keep up. Her heels clicked smartly down the hallway as she speed-walked back to her office.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  She didn’t reply. Instead, she simply opened her office door and motioned for me to go first.

  As soon as I walked in, I spotted Alexis’s mother. She was sitting in a chair in front of Mrs. Lexington’s desk, softly sobbing. Alexis’s father stood over her, his hand on her shoulder. His eyes were puffy, like he’d been crying, too.

  “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Lansing,” I said apprehensively.

  Mrs. Lansing immediately jumped up and raced over to me. “Please tell me you’ve seen her! You know where she is?” She clutched my jacket like she was hanging on for dear life. It was actually kinda scary.

  “Huh?” I stammered. “What are you talking about? Seen who?”

  “Camille, we asked you to come because we need to know if you have seen or talked to Alexis,” Mrs. Lexington said.

  “Ummm, no,” I said. I started to tell them that we were no longer friends, but I decided against it. “I mean, I have second period with her, but she wasn’t there today.” All of a sudden my heart started racing. Now that I thought about it, her being absent was weird. Alexis hadn’t missed a single day of school since she’d transferred to Madison. “Did something happen to Alexis?”

  As soon as I said that, Alexis’s mother started sobbing even louder.

  “Come on, Veronique. You have to hold it together,” Mr. Lansing said, helping her back down into her seat.

  “Is something going on with Alexis?” I repeated.

  “Camille, we need you to be honest,” Mrs. Lexington continued. “If you know where Alexis is, we need you to please tell us.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “We’ve asked Jasmine and Angel to come in as well,” she said, warning me. “I know you all are very close, and you may think you’re looking out for Alexis, but lying for her is not in her best interests.”

  No sooner had she mentioned their names than Angel and Jasmine appeared in the doorway, looking just as confused as me.

  “Girls, please come on in,” Mrs. Lexington said.

  “Please tell me one of you knows where Alexis is,” Mrs. Lansing said before they could even enter.

  Both of them exchanged looks that sa
id they didn’t know anything.

  “She’s not in school today?” Angel asked.

  Alexis’s mom buried her head in her hands again.

  “No, she’s missing,” Alexis’s father said. “We think someone may have abducted her.”

  “What?” all three of us said at the same time.

  Her father sighed heavily. “They found her car at the Galleria Mall. It was parked in the garage. A security guard ran the plate because it sat there overnight. They also found her cell phone on the ground next to the car, and I know my daughter never goes anywhere without her cell phone. So we think something may have happened.”

  “Arthur is calling in favors because the police are saying she has to be missing forty-eight hours,” her mother added. “But in the meantime, we were hoping you girls could help us.”

  Alexis’s father was about to say something else when the phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and looked at the caller ID. “Excuse me, this is the police.”

  “Mrs. Lansing, do you all think something happened to Alexis?” I asked after her husband had stepped outside.

  “We don’t know,” she cried. “God, please don’t let anything happen to my baby.”

  When Alexis’s father returned, he looked visibly irritated. “This is ridiculous,” he snapped. “The police want to know if it’s possible that she would run away.”

  “What?” her mother sniffed. “Did you tell them, of course not?”

  “Of course I did.” He ran his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth. “Alexis has no reason to run away.” He sounded like he was choking back a lump in his throat. “But at this point I don’t care why she’s gone. I just want her back.”

  It was heartbreaking to see Alexis’s parents so upset—especially because they had been two of the most together people I knew.

  Watching them, I became determined. I didn’t know how, but I was going to do whatever it took to find out what had happened to Alexis. I just hoped that nothing bad had happened. If I ever got a chance to see my friend again, I vowed, I would never again mess our friendship up.

  31