Heart on a Chain (31 page)

I hear another car pull up and feel Henry stiffen, but assuming it’s just Emma and Dr. Jamison returning, I ignore it.

“
Hey, Henry, you didn’t tell us this was where the party is,” a voice calls, and I feel my joy shatter. I turn and see Corey, Brock and Kaden with their dates coming through the trees. I relax again; these guys are alright, though I would have preferred being alone with Henry.

And then I see Jessica. She’s with Ian, who’s just now emerging from the dark. I freeze in horror, my insides turning to liquid fear at the sight, thoughts of my last dance with her rushing back. This is almost a duplicate of my last dance; from me being with the cutest, most popular boy in school, to the fact that I have brazenly worn makeup and have curls in my hair, and am dressed in white.

Henry feels the change in me and looks down, confusion in his eyes as they search my pale face. For one second, I felt a keen, crushing ache in my heart that Henry would be a part of Jessica’s cruelty, that he would set all of this up to hurt me. Even as my body reacts to this hurt by pulling away from Henry, my mind is already rejecting it. I
trust
him.

“
Are you alright?” he asks, tightening his hold on my waist. I let him pull me back in, pressing myself closer as I nod.

“
I don’t know how they found us, I didn’t tell anyone—” Then his face falls. “It must have been Amber. She came here today to set up the backdrop. I’ll make them go away.” He starts to move away from me and I hold tighter. I know that Henry already spends too much time with me and not enough with his friends, and I don’t want to be the cause of anymore of that.

“
No, it’s fine,” I tell him. I try to smile, but know it doesn’t look true when his expression darkens.

“
I’ll make them go away,” he says, gruffly.

“
No, let them stay.” I keep him from walking away again. “Please. For me.”

He looks at me oddly, and I can tell he wants to refuse, but he doesn’t, nodding instead. The guys all come over, shaking his hand and smacking him on the back, each of them saying “hi” to me and telling me I look “good.” The girls also say hello, but still are a little unsure of me, hanging back in their own circle.

Only Jessica stands away, by herself. She looks oddly uncomfortable, glancing at me then back at the ground. She seems even more anxious than me.

Huh.

I decide I’ll just stay near Henry, secure in the knowledge that he won’t let anything bad happen to me. The others decide they need a picture of just the guys, which leaves me standing to the side while Amber takes pictures. I feel exposed and vulnerable.

Jessica takes the opportunity to walk up to me, and instinctively I cower away. She sees this and her face falls in dismay.

“
Can I talk to you?” she asks me, hesitantly.

I look at her, then back to where Henry stands with his friends, laughing as they goof around for the camera. There isn’t really any way to call him to me without seeming like a complete coward. I consider calling him anyway.

“
I promise I’m not going to do anything.” She steps a few paces back from me. “Look, I’ll stand here. I just want to tell you something, and then I’ll go. I shouldn’t have even come, but Ian wanted to stop, and I didn’t know it was where you and Henry would be.”

I keep silent, distrust running rampant through my veins.

“
I know you have no reason to believe me,” she says. “And I don’t blame you for hating me. I have done some really awful things,” her voice hitches and she looks away, guilt suffusing her face. “
Really
awful,” she reiterates. “And I wish I could take them back, but I can’t. I am
really
sorry, but that doesn’t change those things, does it?” She glances at me, but I don’t think she’s expecting an answer, and I probably couldn’t have given her one anyway, I’m so stunned by this odd speech.

“
I’ve been so horrible to you. We were friends once, remember?” Again she glances at me, not wanting an answer. “I was stupid and petty and jealous and
cruel
and I have no excuse. I heard about, you know,” she looks away, seeming embarrassed, “your mom and all, and all I could think was that you needed a friend. And when you needed a friend I was there making sure you didn’t have one, that you didn’t have anyone you could count on. And I’m really,
really
sorry, more sorry than you’ll ever know. I wish I could make it up to you. I feel really bad, but I guess probably not as bad as I’ve made you feel for all these years.”

I can’t speak, wondering what’s behind this amazing confession. I’m waiting for the punch line—or even just the punch—or the prank to cause me humiliation, or whatever it is she has planned.

“
I just wanted you to know I’m sorry.” She glances at me again. “Tell Ian that I went home, okay?” She turns to walk away. I look back at Henry, and then decide to take a chance.

“
Jessica,” I call. She stops and turns back toward me.

“
Don’t go,” I say.

“
What?”

“
Stay.” I shrug then wave vaguely toward the fire. “We’re going to make s’mores.”

She looks at me questioningly, taking a hesitant step back toward me. “Are you sure?”

I’m not, but I nod anyway.

“
Have you ever had a s’more?”

She smiles waveringly.

“
Yeah, they’re pretty good.”

“
They’re
really
good. You should stay.”

She walks back over toward me, stopping a few feet away.

“
This is your night,” she says. “I don’t want to ruin it.”

“
So don’t,” I tell her. “Stay and have a s’more.”

“
Okay,” she agrees with a small smile. I smile back, my uncertain smile matching hers. It would seem we have reached some kind of a truce, at least for tonight. I can live with that.

Chapter Twenty-Four

One week before graduation
is my trial date. I borrow one of Claire’s dresses, a modest, unassuming, light blue one. It’s nicer than anything I own—even though the few clothes I have in my closet seem to be multiplying, somehow producing clothes nicer than my second-hand ones. Claire claims she was just going to throw them out anyway.

I’m a mass of nerves, hoping I won’t have to go to prison for something that had been completely unintentional, at the same time believing absolutely that I deserve to be punished for causing the death of my mother.

My father has taken the day off work, and has managed to be sober and clear-eyed as he drives me to the courthouse. He’s very quiet, and I know he’s as nervous as I am, though I don’t know why. It won’t really change his life much if I’m home or in prison.

Rufus meets me at the courthouse, calm and soothing, a complete contrast to my previous courthouse experience with my first lawyer. We walk inside, and I see Henry waiting for me, sitting on the row behind where I will sit, with Emma and Dr. Jamison next to him. He reaches out as I pass and touches my hand, which nearly undoes me. I want to step into the protective shelter of his arms and hide there.

I move into my seat at the defense table, glancing back at him. Behind him I watch as Jessica comes in and sits on the back row. She smiles at me tentatively. I’m still unsure of her motives, not sure if she’s here for support or to gloat.

Since the night of the prom, she’s been marginally friendly to me at school. It’s a bit awkward between us from all of the previous animosity. I don’t think either of us are quite sure what to do with this truce.

The judge is announced and the woman walks in who is to decide my future. She’s older, professional, face unreadable. She doesn’t even glance my way as she takes her seat. The court is called to order, with my case announced and the prosecutor raises a hand, making an announcement I hadn’t expected.

“
Your honor, in light of the evidence and sworn testimony provided us by the defense, and the reports filed by police officers on the scene as well as the ME’s report, the people move to dismiss the case against Kathryn Mosley at this time.”

“
I assume the defense has no quarrel with this?” the judge asks, sounding bored, as if she had expected no less. She peers at Rufus over the tops of her glasses.

“
No, your Honor.” He doesn’t sound as stunned as I feel, but I can hear the relief in his voice nonetheless.

“
Good.” She removes her glasses and turns her gaze on me. “Ms. Mosley, I have reviewed your case, and I see no fault here on your part. I’m sorry for the trauma you have suffered. The system failed you; you should have been better protected. I believe the state owes you an apology for that.

“
Case dismissed.” Her tone has remained even throughout this speech, so when she pounds the gavel, I look at Rufus, confused. He’s smiling at the prosecutor, shaking her hand and thanking her. I look back at Henry who’s sitting behind me. He looks hesitantly hopeful. The judge rises along with the rest of us and leaves the room. This time she does look at me, and a slight smile lifts her mouth.

I look back at Rufus.

“
What just happened?” I ask.

“
I guess you could say we won. The charges have all been dropped.”

“
Dropped? Forever?”

He laughs. “Forever. They read your statement, saw the pictures. They knew they had no case; there was obviously never any malicious intent, only self-defense. I would have been surprised had they pursued this any further.”

“
So that’s it?”

“
That’s it. You walk out of here free and clear. You don’t ever have to think about this again.” He shifts uncomfortably as he realizes how his words sound; how do you tell someone to forget their mother is dead by their hand, whether intentional or not? “I mean, as far as
legally
you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Henry understands before I do. He gives a whoop and scoops me up, right over the wooden divider, into his arms and twirls me around. He plants a kiss on my stunned lips, and then sets me down for Emma and Dr. Jamison to hug. My father walks over, in his slightly crumpled suit and stands before me, shifting nervously. I’m not sure what to say to him. We haven’t spoken at all about what happened, and I’m not sure how he feels about the fact that his wife is dead because of me—and that I’ve just been given a get-out-of-jail-free card.

His eyes shift anxiously between all of us, including Rufus, who Henry belatedly introduces to my father. They shake hands, my father uncomfortable with his strange role here; he’d been required to be here because I’d been seventeen at the time of the incident, but now he’s no longer necessary.

He rubs my arm awkwardly.

“
See you at home, then,” he says, following the rub with a pat.

Abruptly I lean forward and hug him. He’s surprised by the unexpected motion, his arms coming up spontaneously to touch me at the waist.

“
Thanks, Dad, for being here.” I want him to know I appreciate his effort.

He nods, then turns to leave, assuming, I guess, that I’ll get a ride home from the Jamison’s. Paul, Emma and Rufus follow him, Emma tucking her arm through my father’s. I watch him walk out and my eyes land on Jessica, still sitting at the back of the room.

“
I’ll be right back,” I tell Henry.

I make my way to the rear of the room, Jessica standing as I come near.

“
I… I hope it’s okay that I’m here,” she says.

“
Why
are
you here?” I ask, genuinely curious.

She looks down, then beyond me, searching for words. Finally her eyes come back to mine.