by Fox, Logan
“I mean,” I say quietly, trying my best to keep my cool, “did they know about the party? Did you—?”
“Of course I told them,” Addy says, frowning at me like she thinks I hit my head. “But they never found anything. There were no witnesses that night. The last people to leave saw Jess having a fucking blast with Briar and Marcus.”
I sigh as I run my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know what to say, Addy.”
She starts pacing, her long legs barely taking three strides before she’s done the length of the bathroom basins. “I don’t want you to say anything.” Her green eyes narrow, focusing her anger on me like a laser. “I want you to stay away from him. Stop antagonizing him.”
“Antagon—” I splutter before cutting off with a wretched laugh. “Fuck, Addy, you don’t think I want him to leave me alone?”
“What do you mean?” She stops pacing.
“He…”
Fuck. I should have told her yesterday, but I was a chicken shit little bitch.
I shift my weight from foot to foot, holding up a hand when Addy opens her mouth, mentally willing her just to give me a few seconds to get my mind sorted out.
What’ll happen if I tell her about the woods? She’d say I have to file a report with the police.
In a case where a teenage girl ‘killed herself’, they did nothing.
Here, it’s my word against Briar’s. Plus, I didn’t tell anyone, and they’d probably flag that as suspicious.
Why now, Indi? Why didn’t you tell your grandmother, your new friend, your fucking guidance counselor?
Yeah, I tried telling a teacher, and a whole bunch of kids — Addison included — saw how well that shit went down.
Telling Addy will change nothing. She already suspects Briar of having killed Jessica — saying he mauled me in the woods before letting me run away isn’t going to help.
But it might incense her to the point of random violence.
“You’ve seen how he is with me,” I say weakly. “He’s had it in for me since he saw me.”
“Yeah…” Addy plants her hands on her hips, and studies me from the corner of her eye. “What was that about? You made it sound like he’d done something.”
Her eyes widen, and it’s like watching dawn rise over a fog-shrouded hill.
“We’ve met before,” I say, hoping my brain will catch up in time and provide me with enough ammunition to lay down some covering fire.
“You and Briar?” Her knuckle goes back into her mouth. “When?” she asks, the word muffled around her finger.
Yes, when, Indi?
“Sunday night,” I say slowly, my brain still scrambling.
She tilts her head expectantly. “What did he do?”
“He, uh…” I glance away and will myself to form a lie out of nothing. “It was my fault. I, I trespassed. I went onto his property.”
“And?”
“He…chased me off.”
Addy’s eyebrow quirks up. “That’s it?”
“What?” I snap. “It was fucking dark. I was terrified.”
She lets out a little snort, and then shakes her head. “This is what I mean. He’s fucking dangerous. Stay away from him, got it?”
I shrug. “Why wouldn’t I?”
The corner of Addy’s mouth crooks up. “Briar has a way of…getting under your skin. Trust me, it’s best if you just pretend like he doesn’t exist.”
She leaves the restroom with a final glance back in my direction.
Easy for you to say, Addy. But, if anything, I’ve gotten under his skin. And all he seems to want is to destroy me. Kinda difficult to ignore the damn school bully.
Chapter Fourteen
Indi
Briar doesn’t show up to our Psych class, and he’s not in the cafeteria at lunch either. Addison and I sit in our usual seat by the window, and take turns keeping an eye on Briar’s table. Addy toys with a French fry, dipping it repeatedly in her little plastic tub of ketchup as she idly glances over to Briar’s table.
For someone who told me to avoid him like the plague, she can’t seem to stop thinking about him.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, shoving away my plate. “I can’t just stick my head in the sand and wish this all goes away.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Briar.” I point in the direction of his table with my chin. “If he’s guilty, then there must be something we can do to prove it.”
Addy drops her eyes. “Like what? The police closed the case, Indi.” She shrugs and drops her fry back onto her plate as if her appetite disappeared.
“We gotta dig up some dirt on him. Maybe someone saw something. Maybe one of his friends—”
“That’s the point. They’re his friends. They won’t rat him out.”
“Unless they don’t realize they’re doing it.”
She frowns at me. “What?”
“All we need to do is catch one of them out in a lie.”
Addy lets out an expressive sigh. “You have a plan?”
I drag my plate back and shrug as I pop a fry into my mouth and wash it down with some soda. “Who was there that night when you left?”
Addy starts counting on her fingers, the glitter on her nails catching the fluorescents.
“Briar, Marcus, Dylan, Zak, Jess. I think one of the cheerleaders too…” Addy squints, and scans the cafeteria. “Don’t look now, but there’s a girl with a blond bob a few benches away. Tiffany. She was there.”
I chew on another fry before glancing around. I spot Tiffany a few seconds later. “You friends with her?”
Addison snorts. “I’m not friends with anyone after what happened.”
“What do you mean?”
Addison’s eyes darken a little. “They all think I’m full of shit. I tried to speak to everyone about that party, if they’d seen anything.” She grins and tips her head. “Why do you think I hang out with you now?”
I laugh. “Because I’m the only one who’s willing to spend time with a lunatic like you?”
She points at me with a ketchup-dipped fry. “Eg-fucking-xactly.” The fry disappears into her mouth. “But see, you’re new. You haven’t besmirched your name for the sake of justice. You can speak to Tiffany.”
I nod, discretely studying Tiffany’s table. “They all cheerleaders?”
“Yup,” Addison says glumly.
“Were you one?”
She lets out a most unladylike snort. “Please. I have better things to do with my time.”
“Well,” I say, grabbing my tray. “It’s been nice knowing you, Addy.”
She gives me a lopsided smile. “Good luck.”
“Yeah…” I glance over to the bedazzled, glittering, fake-eyelashed crowd on that bench and my stomach tries to turn inside out. “I don’t need luck. I think I need a fucking exorcist.”
Addy chuckles as I leave our table. I could have made a scene, made it look like we were fighting, but honestly I couldn’t give a shit.
My strength doesn’t lie in fudging the truth — I get by on stubbornness alone.
* * *
Heavily mascaraed eyes turn to me when I slide my tray onto the side of the cheerleader’s bench.
“Sorry to disturb you, ladies, but I heard a rumor one of you slept with Prince Briar.”
The table immediately falls silent, until a girl I can only assume is the head cheerleader rushes to her feet. “Fuck off, virgin.”
“So it was you then?” I ask, lifting my eyebrows as if this is all the confirmation I need. I lower my ass, and the girl closest to me scoots over to make room for me. I stick a fry in my mouth and chew, staring at the standing cheerleader with utter fixation.
“He got a big dick?”
The girl’s cheeks turn pink. “I didn’t fuck Briar,” she says, and then glances at her friends. “I swear, I didn’t!”
“Didn’t…or didn’t want to?” I inquire with a deep frown.
A chorus of gasps break out. Suddenly
everyone except Tiffany’s looking at their plates. I glance across at her for the first time, and make sure she sees me looking at her.
Yeah, she saw me, if her glare’s anything to go by.
“I gotta go,” she mutters, standing.
“Yeah?” I get up too. “Mind if I walk with you? This new school is so confusing…”
Tiffany stares at me for a second, and then shrugs. “Whatev.” She strides away, and I have to hustle to keep up with her.
I stop her outside in the hall.
“What?” she snaps, her bob swaying as she turns to face me.
“I just want to talk,” I say, lifting my hands, palms up.
She narrows her eyes at me. “I didn’t screw Briar.”
I slip a hand in my pocket and draw out one of Addy’s golden joints, but only far enough for Tiffany to see it glitter. “I just want to hang out,” I say, putting as friendly a smile on my face as I can manage. “You in?”
Her eyes dart to the joint. For a moment, I get a feeling she’s one of those teetotallers that doesn’t smoke, drink, or fuck during school. But then she sets her mouth to the side and gives me a nod.
“Sure.”
She shows me a cool little sesh spot by the bleachers, mostly blocked by a supporting wall and the mesh of steel framing. We light up and pass the joint silently between us. It’s half done before I speak.
“Anyone else in that group know you smoke?”
Tiffany shrugs. “Some. Not the bitches, obviously.” Her words escape with wisps of smoke. “Did Addison send you to talk to me?” Tiffany asks as she hands back the joint.
“What makes you—?”
“Cut the shit.” She squints at me. “India, right?”
“Indi,” I say.
She shrugs as if she’d gotten close enough for it not to matter. “That chick’s got a fucking bug up her ass about that whole thing with Jessica.”
“So you don’t think anything freaky happened at the party that night?”
I’m leaning with one foot up behind me on the wall, she’s perched on one of the bleacher’s struts. After another shrug, she squints into the distance, twisting her fingers around each other. “Freaky things always happen at parties. It’s kinda the point.”
“So tell me.”
Tiffany sighs and drops her head between her arms. “I told her everything already.” She looks up, frustration outlined by the unhappy curve of her mouth. “We were all fucking wasted. Then the guys started doing coke. That’s when I left.”
“And Jess was still fine when you left?”
Tiffany lets out a tiny snort. “Course she wasn’t fine. She was drunk as fuck. Briar was higher than a kite. Marcus…” She shakes her head, her blond hair swaying. “I’m sure ten minutes after I left, every one of them passed out.”
“Were you friends with Jessica?”
Tiffany shrugs. “She was on the squad, so yeah, kinda.” Tiffany reaches for the joint, which I’d forgotten I was holding, and then clicks her fingers at me for the lighter. She cups her hands around the joint and lights it, hitting it hard before handing everything back to me. “But we never braided each other’s hair or shit like that. Jess kept to herself a lot.”
An antisocial cheerleader? Addy didn’t mention that.
“Who was her closest friend besides Addison?”
Tiffany lifts her eyebrows in thought. She purses her lips and says, “Briar, I guess. It was always just the three of them.”
“Addy was friends with Briar?”
“Yeah,” Tiffany says through a short laugh. She sits back and gives me a faint smile. “Everyone said they were…” She squeezes shut her eyes, clicking her fingers, “—fuck, what’s the word?”
“Polyamorous?”
“Yeah.” Tiffany nods enthusiastically. “That’s it. What you said. Everyone said they were like menaging and shit.”
Another thing Addison didn’t bother to mention, unless it was just a rumor.
“Did you see when Addison left?”
Tiffany nods. “Oh yeah,” she says through a laugh. “Everyone saw when she left.”
“What do you—?”
“She was cussing out Jess so fucking bad.” Tiffany’s eyes are wide as she swipes her hand back and forth. “I don’t know what they were fighting about, but that shit was crazy. They looked like they wanted to claw each other’s faces off.”
My skin prickles and I bring the joint to my lips, pulling at it without even realizing what I’m doing. I shouldn’t — I’m stoned enough — but I need something to help with all these unexpected revelations.
“You know what the fight was about?”
Tiffany shakes her head. “I was way too pissed. But it was probably about Briar. You now, ‘cos they were both doing him?”
No, I didn’t know, but thanks to Tiffany, my understanding of the situation is a whole lot clearer.
And with clarity, comes anger.
Who the fuck does Addison think she is, using me as a pawn in some twisted game? Maybe she killed Jessica, and she can’t live with the guilt anymore.
Or…
Stay away from him.
Was she really protecting me…or was she just trying to protect herself?
“Thanks, Tiffany.”
“Thanks for the weed,” she says, grinning brightly at me. “This day was sucking donkey balls.”
“Better now?” I ask with a laugh.
She gives me a double thumbs-up as she gets to her feet. Then she’s off, headed back to the school building. I grind out the rest of the joint under my heel and take Tiffany’s seat.
I can see a small section of the fence from my vantage point.
The fuck do I know about any of this? I’m a fucking outsider. Then again, as an outsider, I have no vested interest in any of the parties involved. I’m like some out-of-town detective called in to deal with a small-town murder where everyone’s a fucking suspect.
Didn’t know I’d be acting all Nancy Drew and shit, but I guess it’s better than hanging around waiting for Briar to bully me.
* * *
The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur until Addy finds me outside my locker. I haven’t been actively avoiding her — I just minimized trips to my locker and used my height — or lack thereof — to my advantage.
“You don’t answer your phone anymore?” she asks, cocking an eyebrow as she leans her hip against the locker next to mine.
I close my locker door and give her a shrug. “In case you’ve forgotten, I have a week of school to catch up.”
“Oh.” Addison drops her eyes, and gives me a sympathetic smile. Yesterday morning in the car I told her that I’d lost my mother. Not how — no one needs that shit in their head — but again, instead of gushing, she changed the subject. Back then, I thought she was a real swell gal for being supportive without being nosy.
Now I’m wondering if she’s just stacking up good karma points to use when I confront her with all the juicy tidbits I discovered today.
“Well, then maybe we can go to the mall and grab an early dinner tonight?”
I know all she wants is to find out what Tiffany said, but I’m still processing everything. After all, in my role as Detective Virgo, I need to ensure every interaction with the possible suspects can be used to the best of my advantage. If I’m going to feed Addison info, I have to make sure she’s giving me something in return.
Yeah, I’m still baked as a fucking potato. I can’t deal with this shit right now. All I want is to get home and wash this day off me.
I haven’t gone girly since Mom died, but I really need some me-time tonight. I’m thinking rose-scented bubbles and possibly — possibly — some wine. A glass…maybe two.
“Tomorrow.”
Addison pouts, but then smiles away the sulkiness a moment later. “Okay. Tomorrow.” She holds up her phone. “But at least just reply to my texts? I worry.”
I nod, patting the pocket of my blazer. The hard case of my mobile makes a co
mforting tapping sound against my fingers.
“Meet you tomorrow for our morning blunt?” she asks, lifting up the side of her lip with a shrug.
“Only way you’re luring me back to this hellhole,” I say through a laugh. Addy nods, looking satisfied, and waves as she disappears into the crowd.
Hopefully, by then, I’ve figured out what I’m going to tell her. And the questions I’m going to ask.
Chapter Fifteen
Briar
I get in my car and peel out of my parking spot. The growl of my Mustang’s V8 engine rumbles through me as I tear down the road.
You killed her.
I rub a hand over my chest, and fist my fingers when I realize what I’m doing.
I need a fucking cigarette. Marcus and I both quit smoking last year so Coach would stop shitting on us for getting out of breath on long passes, but right now I couldn’t give a shit if I never score another touchdown.
After picking up a packet of cigarettes at one of the filling stations, the cab of my Mustang fills with smoke. I turn up the radio till I can’t hear anything anymore, even my own thoughts.
Because fuck it, I’m done having Indi in my head. Thinking about how soft her lips were against mine, how sweet her mouth tasted. The tiny sound she made when I—
I push my foot down on the gas, overtaking a slow-ass hybrid. It honks its horn at me, and I shove my hand out the window and flip it the finger.
Minutes later, when I realize where I’m headed, I slam my foot on the brakes. I’m on one of the roads leading out of town, and luckily I’m the only one in sight, because my Mustang fishtails. I grit my teeth, barely managing to keep her from spinning out of control.
I end up in a cloud of dust on the side of the road, my engine rumbling angrily before I turn off the ignition with a trembling hand.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I run my fingers through my hair.
I need space.
I kick open the door and rush outside, hauling a deep, dust-tainted breath and coughing. When I turn to hack up and spit into the bushes alongside the road, a nearby road sign catches my eye.
