Dirty Fraud

by Eden Beck

  Wills looks down at me with concern. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  I shrug, and say, “I guess I just didn’t want it to become a thing.”

  He frowns, but just squeezes my arm reassuringly.

  Eli, meanwhile, looks totally intrigued. “She died of an overdose,” he repeats to himself quietly. “Is that so?”

  “It is,” I tell him, my mind already working out how we can politely extricate ourselves from this conversation as fast as possible.

  “Fascinating.” He bites his lower lip thoughtfully and then reaches his hand to my shoulder, and gives me a little awkward pat, picking a few loose hairs off my shoulder as he does.

  “Sorry,” he says, “I’m a little neurotic. Carry on! I’m sure you two are busy.”

  “Yes,” I say, already dragging Wills down the hall towards the staircase. “Thanks for … um … stopping to say hi.”

  He waves at me as we go. “Perhaps we’ll talk again sometime soon.”

  I can’t get us out of their fast enough. He seems strange, and it’s weird that he is so interested in my family and my life, but I think he doesn’t mean anything by it. He was looking at me weird tonight, but I chalk it up to him just being an academic. That’s how brainy people are sometimes, I guess.

  The next morning, Wills and I sit for our SAT retake test. We’re both nervous and excited—we’ve worked so hard for this, and we have a lot riding on this next set of scores. Blair and Dana wait outside of the room for us, and they each give us a hug for luck before we go in.

  Wills and I sit beside each other and give one another a last look before the test begins. When the clock starts, it’s pencils to paper, and this time neither one of us looks up until we’re done. It’s grueling, even worse the second time around … but at least, this time, I’m fairly certain I didn’t completely bomb.

  Either way, it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Whatever that test score is, it’s out of my hands now. As soon as we step out of the testing center, I’m immediately embraced by Dana and Blair, who are pacing outside.

  “You’re done!” Dana exclaims excitedly as I hug her in return.

  “I am! Thank God that’s over!”

  Blair lets me loose and eyes me cautiously. “How do you think you did on it?”

  I smile nervously. “I feel like I did pretty well this time. Definitely better than last time, at least.”

  Wills is all smiles. “I don’t know about you …” he says, “but I’ve taken this test enough times to know I totally aced it.”

  We won’t get test scores back for several weeks, just in time to meet college application deadlines, but we’ll worry about that when the time comes. For now, there’s only one thing left to do—celebrate.

  And here, that means ice-cream and brownies in the cafeteria. I’m riding so high that I barely pay any attention to the fact that Victoria is sitting alone at a table not far away. If anything, it’s just another reason to celebrate. Every moment Astor isn’t at her side is a reason to celebrate.

  “I know this is just chocolate,” Blair tells us with a smile on his face, “but we’ll do it properly when we have the Christmas party down in the wine cellar.”

  Dana looks surprised. “A Christmas party? What wine cellar?”

  I look at the boys, “Please, you guys are the experts.”

  I went to a party in the wine cellar last year when Victoria and I were still friends, before Halloween … and it left me with some mixed feelings. I’m not sure if I’m really looking forward to going to another party there now, but my common sense tells me that I have nothing to worry about. This time is different. Now, the same boys who tormented me last year adore me more than anything, and they’d never let anything happen to me.

  Blair has gotten stuck describing the rapture of the cellars down below the school like they’re the ballrooms of a palace, not a gritty set of dark, damp rooms meant for storing casks of wine.

  “Oh no, it’s top dollar, Dana. We just happen to have a key, thanks to Astor, so we go down and take the liberty of using the room now and then. We’ve never been caught. It’s pretty swanky.” Blair assures her.

  Wills nods. “It’s like a five-star speakeasy. Top notch.”

  Dana is amazed. “Really? Here at the school?”

  “Oh yeah. It’s really nice,” I agree with the boys. Maybe I was letting my past experiences cloud my memory of it. With all the lights and candles, it really was quite nice. “There’s even a library that I may never get you out of.” I tease her and share a glance with Blair. He gives me a sympathetic smile and squeezes my hand.

  Dana suddenly looks a little dubious. “Hold on a second, when is this party taking place?” she glances over at me. “We still have that science project to work on … unless you’ve forgotten, again.”

  I promise her I haven’t, but, of course, I have.

  “What science project?” Blair asks curiously. “I mean, the party is technically tonight … but how long can it take?”

  Dana launches into telling him all about it. She uses the same fondness to describe the experiment that he did when he described the wine cellars he’s hoping to drag us down to.

  “Hold on a second,” I finally say, cutting her off before she launches into a full-on explanation of all the chemical compounds involved in the project. “We’ve got the whole day and a half ahead of us … but only if we actually get started now.”

  I manage to drag her off to the science lab before she bores either of them with the details of our project, and we finally get to work. I’d hoped to have a little time before the party starts to get ready, but it ends up taking longer than it should just to gather the materials required for the experiment. Dana picked it out because the aptly named “rainbow flame” seemed appropriate, and I just followed along since I knew she’d end up doing most of the grunt work either way.

  I just wish she’d chosen something a little less … flammable.

  After the little incident at Blair’s, I’m not keep to see a re-do.

  Chapter 20

  By the time the party is already starting down below the school, we’re barely halfway through. We gather up our supplies and throw them in a cardboard box when the teacher isn’t looking, so we can work on it first thing in the morning before the lab opens up.

  We’re already late, so we don’t bother going up to the room to change. I told them to go ahead, but the boys are waiting for us as soon as we make the trek back up to the main building through what’s turning out to be a snowstorm.

  I’m frost-covered and freezing when I spot them, but that doesn’t last long. Blair takes the box from my arms and Wills lends me his coat. They’re both dressed to the nines, leaving Dana and I looking frumpy in our school uniforms. But it’s no matter.

  We lead Dana to the hidden doorway and go down several flights of stairs in the old stairwell, all the way down past what Dana is sure is the lowest level of the school.

  “I had no idea there was anything this far down here,” she murmurs as we make our way through another dark hallway lit only by the LED lights on the boy’s cell phones. “Are you sure about this?” she asks me, and I squeeze her hand in mine as we keep walking.

  “Come on Dana, grow some balls.”

  She just wrinkles up her nose. “That’s what the smell is,” she says, pinching her nostrils shut. “It smells like balls. Sweaty ones.”

  Both Blair and Wills chuckle as we turn to head down one last, long dark hallway, and reach a big metal door. We knock the ‘shave and a haircut’ code, and the door swings open.

  It’s packed. Way more so than the party I attended last year. The cellars are also well lit, toasty warm and every table is laid out with food—so I don’t care.

  “I didn’t expect to see this many people here,” I say as we walk in and the door is closed behind us. I’m already trying to map out the fastest routes to one of the famous cheese trays.

  “The Christmas party is
always a big one,” Wills tells me in my ear. “You weren’t here for this last year, so you didn’t know. It was a shame really, you should have seen Blair.” He shoots Blair a look and Blair blanches. One day, I’m going to want to hear that story, I think. Wills grabs my shoulder and squeezes it. “Don’t worry, he says. We’ll make sure this year is even better. This is going to be a night you’ll never forget.” He grins at me.

  Blair looks at the rest of us. “But first, let’s get some drinks!”

  Wills nods. “Definitely!”

  Dana, always the voice of reason, points out the box of dangerous chemicals Blair keeps waving around under his arm. “You should probably do something with that,” she says. “Before we get too drunk and someone here tries to set it off for shits and giggles.”

  “That,” I say, “is a very good point.”

  Blair hands Dana the box and points out a closet down the hall. “The vintages in there are no good. No one should touch it.”

  He’s just about to leave to fetch the promised drinks, when he turns and practically walks straight into Astor and Victoria. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple look so tense. She sees me and narrows her eyes, reaching her hand up to Astor’s arm, but he pulls his arm away from her.

  Dana takes the opportunity to slip away—stowing the project out of harm’s way and avoiding the awkwardness in one fell swoop.

  “Hey you two. I’ll be back in a minute,” Blair says, also abandoning us. Now it’s just me and Wills.

  Astor is watching me, and I know that he doesn’t care if Victoria sees him do it. I wish he would just stop. The more he does this sort of thing, the more likely she’s going to come after me in another fit of jealousy. The last time worked out better than expected, but I’m not sure I’d look good bald if she took her scissors to my scalp a second time.

  I turn to Wills and lean up to kiss him, hoping that it will diffuse Victoria’s worries. He kisses me back and smiles.

  Victoria narrows her eyes coldly at Dana across the room. “What is she doing here?”

  Wills jerks his head up and raises his voice above the music playing around us. “She’s our guest, Vic, and she’s welcome here, so don’t be rude. If you don’t like her being here, then you can leave.”

  Victoria’s mouth falls open and she turns away from him to tug Astor’s arm. He turns and snaps at her.

  “Stop pulling on me! I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

  In a bitter rage, she turns and stalks off. I catch Blair peeking around the corner with a tray of drinks, and seeing her gone, steps out with a smile.

  “Coward,” I whisper, but he just winks and hands me an extra-big glass.

  “Call it what you will … that bitch is not going to ruin this party for me.” He clinks his glass against mine. “I’ll avoid her all night if I have to, and I suggest you do the same.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” I say.

  As soon as Dana comes back, we do drink. We toast a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year … and many other things until we’ve had to refill our glasses a second time. This year, there seems to be a great many things to toast. Too many. If I don’t step away from these three soon, I’m going to end up like I did last year—vomiting on the floor and hungover for two days straight.

  I loop my arm through Dana’s and announce I’m giving her the grand tour of the place. It seems a suitable excuse to take a break from drinking without looking too much like the pussy I really am.

  Besides, I still haven’t gotten ahold of those cheeses. I feel them whispering to me from one room over, just begging to be spread out on crackers and devoured. I’m about to step out into the corridor with Dana when Astor catches me by the shoulder. He’s broken away from the other two, who look like they’ve started organizing a drinking game around the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Looks like we got out just in time.

  But Astor isn’t letting me go. “Wait. Let one of the boys take her. I want to talk with you.”

  I look up at him and shake my head. “No, Astor. I’m not doing this. You know how I feel about it.”

  He shakes his head. “No! Please, just talk with me! You can catch up with her in a few minutes.”

  “Oh shit.” It’s Wills. Suddenly, he and Blair are back at my side, their drinking game forgotten. He points towards the door. “That guy, Eli is here.”

  I can’t see him above the crowd, but Blair is squinting at something over everyone’s head. “He’s brought someone else too. We’d better take care of this.”

  Wills nods, and the two boys start pushing their way back towards the door. “I’ll distract him by telling him about my SAT,” he says. “Ask him to make some phone calls or something for me. He won’t be able to refuse.”

  Astor is still tugging on my sleeve like a kid trying to get my attention, and I finally cave.

  “Hey Dana, why don’t you take a look around yourself for a minute?” I say, gesturing to Astor. “We need a moment alone. I’ll catch up with you.”

  She raises her eyebrows at me, but she leaves us … not before taking my half-empty wine glass along with her. “Now, if you want it back, you can’t forget about me.”

  “Forget about you? Never.”

  She just rolls her eyes, waves the glass in front of my face, and squeezes off into the crowd on her own. I’m barely alone with Astor for a second before I hear my name called across the crowd and the music.

  “Teddy!” I look up and see that Eli Hamilton is headed straight for me with some older, somehow familiar-looking guy. “Teddy! We have to talk to you!”

  I look up at Astor. “It really just wasn’t meant to be.”

  “No, this has to be now,” he says, his voice growing urgent. “Let Wills deal with him.” He grabs me by the arm and starts trying to tow me off to the corner, but I wriggle myself free.

  Wills has indeed slowed the rep and his friend down, but now my curiosity is piqued. I’m much more interested in hearing what Eli has to say to me rather than hear Astor try to make another indecent proposal.

  “Give it up, Astor,” I shout over the drone of the crowd. “Go find your girl. Where is she anyway?”

  I turn around in a circle, but don’t spot Victoria anywhere.

  Astor rolls his eyes. “I don’t care where she went! I need to talk to you.”

  Eli has pulled free of Wills’ grasp and is heading directly toward me, calling my name. I wave an arm up over the crowd, and they hurry over. If I can’t shake Astor, then he’s just going to have to hear what Eli has to say too.

  His friend is staring at me hard when they get here, not saying anything. Again, he looks familiar, but I just can’t place my finger on it. I’m sure I’ve never met him before in my life, or I would remember. Eli tries to steer me towards a quieter corner in the back, but we aren’t having an luck, so he just has to raise his voice.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, astounded.

  He pauses and looks around. “What, the cellar parties? Teddy, I was coming to cellar parties when I was a student here. I’m not going to say anything. That’s not why I’m here. Listen, remember when we were in the hall, talking?”

  I nod. “Yes.”

  He looks slightly sheepish. “I took some of your hair.”

  Astor looks at Eli like he just said he’s been sniffing my panties, and I don’t blame him. Maybe this guy is a weirdo after all.

  “Okay …” I say, not able to hide the wariness from my tone, even over the loudness all around us. “Um. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say to that.”

  “No … it’s not like that. I took it to run a DNA test!” As he tells me, a grin spreads over his face. The guy next to him just keeps looking at me like I’m a ghost, and it isn’t helping his case.

  “You did what?” I’m still trying to work out how he got ahold of my hair. He must have plucked a couple strands off my shoulder when he did that weird shoulder pat.

  “I ran a DNA test on it!” Eli repeats, leaning clo
ser to me.

  There’s an outburst of noise from one of the other rooms, but it’s hard to make out exactly what it is over the rest of the party.

  “I got the results back!” He shouts again, even louder. He’s obviously excited, but I’m getting distracted. I hear an odd noise again, something deep and rumbling … and then something sharp and high pitched. A scream?

  I glance at Astor, wondering if he’s hearing it too, but Eli is growing impatient. He takes my shoulders and I turn my head swiftly to look at him.

  “You have to listen to me!” He looks down at his hands, almost in wonder. “This is the sort of thing you wait your whole career for,” he says. “We don’t often get the chance to see this kind of good, thanks to what we do.”

  I don’t get the chance to hear what this good is supposed to be, because my fears are confirmed as another sound pierces the noise, and this time it’s unmistakable. Those aren’t screams of delight, but terror.

  An odd smell overwhelms me, and a split-second later, smoke starts billowing out from beneath a doorway to my left—the same doorway Dana disappeared through a few minutes earlier.

  Panic grips me at the same moment the rest of the room disintegrates into pandemonium. I rip myself free of Eli’s grasp and run towards the smoke. It’s hard going, the bodies pressing and pushing me back with every step. Just as I reach them, Victoria comes hurrying past me, coughing and choking. I grab her arm and make her look at me.

  “What’s going on?” I demand, and then I see it. From the elbow down her arms are stained in colors pulled straight from a box of crayons, or this case, a boxed science project.

  The rumbling noises, the screams, the smoke—it all makes sense now.

  “You. You got into the rainbow flames!” I shout at her. She grits her teeth and tries to pull away from me. “What did you do?” I demand furiously. She knew what she was doing. She must have overheard us at lunch.

  She doesn’t answer. She doesn’t even look at me with the same hateful, spiteful look as she has every other time for the last year. Her face is blank, and that is so, so much worse. I try to hold on to her, but she yanks herself away from me and runs for the front door without another word.