Homecoming Queen (3 page)

DJ grimaced at the thought that being tortured in a fashion show would somehow feed a stray cat. Not that she didn’t care about stray animals — she certainly did; but she would rather scrub out stinky dog kennels than parade herself across some runway for a bunch of stuffy, rich town ladies. She hoped she could come up with a way to get out of this later — jump a freighter to China perhaps?

“Well now, Taylor,” said Eliza in her sweet southern drawl. “Long time no see. How’ve you been doing anyway?”

“Fine.” Taylor took a piece of dry toast and broke it in half.

“Where have you been?” asked Kriti with open curiosity. Her dark eyes studied Taylor closely, as if she were trying to figure out the mystery girl. Kriti and Taylor actually had similar coloring, since Kriti was Indian, but that is where their similarities ended.

Taylor tossed Kriti a warning frown. “None of your business.”

Grandmother cleared her throat, but said nothing.

Taylor looked up at Eliza as if they had all been talking about nothing more than last Friday’s high school football game. “I assume that Mr. Harper is still casting for
South Pacific
today?”

“He is,” said Eliza coolly.

“We all think that Eliza will be cast as Nellie,” added Rhiannon.

“And Rhiannon tried out for Liat,” announced Eliza. Her eyes were locked on Taylor now. This was the role that Taylor had hoped to get. And to be fair, Taylor was a perfect typecast for the Polynesian beauty.

Taylor’s arched brows lifted slightly higher. “Rhiannon as Liat? That seems a bit of a stretch.”

“She has the voice for it,” said DJ.

“I’d obviously need a wig and makeup.” Rhiannon looked uncomfortable. “Besides, nothing has been decided,” she said quickly.

“That’s fortunate.” Taylor nodded smugly.

“And, really,” continued Rhiannon. “I mostly wanted to work on sets and costumes anyway.”

“Good for you,” said Taylor, again a bit too smugly. DJ wondered if Taylor really thought she had bagged that role, especially after being gone most of the week. Sure, the girl could sing and act and even looked the part, but to have that much confidence — well, it just made DJ’s teeth hurt.

Then, suddenly it was time to head out for school, and the usual mad rush for purses and jackets and last-minute mirror checks kicked into full gear. Once they were outside, everyone except Taylor made a mad dash for Eliza’s car.

Taylor casually got in DJ’s car, acting like it was no big deal for everyone else to opt to ride with Eliza today. Never mind that they were packed like sardines into Eliza’s small, white Porsche. Of course, DJ wasn’t surprised that no one wanted to ride with Taylor and her. But as she started the car, she wondered if perhaps this might be a nice opportunity for her to gently break the news about Casey’s involvement in the MySpace incident. And not to get Casey in hot water, but DJ felt fairly certain that Taylor would hear it from someone at school anyway. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise DJ if Taylor heard from the police before the day was over.

“So,” DJ said as she backed out of the driveway. “I don’t suppose you ever figured out who was behind the MySpace scam, did you?”

Taylor quickly turned to look at DJ. “Do you know?”

DJ kept her eyes on the road. “If it makes you feel any better, Taylor, she is really, really sorry.”

“It wasn’t you, was it?” asked Taylor in a voice that sounded slightly rattled and not like Taylor’s normally assured self.

“No. Of course not.”

“Oh.”

“But it is someone we know.”

“You mean someone from right here in town?” ventured Taylor. “Someone from Crescent Cove?”

“Yes.”

“I thought it might’ve been someone from my old high school, you know, back in California.”

DJ could tell that Taylor’s guard was down, ever so slightly. Even so, DJ was determined to tread carefully. “No, it was actually someone from the house, Taylor. And just so you know, the only reason she did it was because of what happened with you and Bradford. She — ”

“Rhiannon?” Taylor sounded shocked now.

“No. Not Rhiannon. She’s not like that.” DJ took in a quick breath. “It was Casey, Taylor, and it was simply because she felt sorry for — ”

“Casey!” Taylor slapped her forehead. “Of course. That little lowlife loser. I should’ve known it was her.”

“She’s not a lowlife loser. And she’s very sorry.”

“Not as sorry as she’s going to be.” Taylor’s voice was smooth and cold now, with a lethal edge to it.

DJ swallowed hard. What exactly did Taylor have in mind?

“I should’ve known it was her from the start,” continued Taylor. “It’s just her style to pull a chickenhearted stunt like that. Sneaky little lowlife loser girl!”

DJ was feeling desperate now. Why did Taylor have to act like this? “Casey wasn’t thinking. She just felt sorry for Rhiannon. We all did.”

“You weren’t involved in the MySpace thing, were you?”

“No. I already told you that.”

Taylor nodded. “Only Casey would sink that low.”

“Only because she wanted to take revenge for Rhiannon.” DJ slowed down for the intersection. “What you did to Rhiannon was wrong, Taylor.”

“Not as wrong as what Casey did to me. That wasn’t just wrong, it was illegal. And Casey is going to be one sorry — ”

“You’re not going to press charges, are you?”

“I most certainly am.”

“But, Taylor, Casey is really — ”

“I’ve heard enough about stupid Casey. If she were really sorry, she’d speak to me herself, DJ.”

“She’s probably afraid of you.”

Taylor laughed. “She ought to be, that stupid little cowardly snake.”

DJ knew it was useless. As soon as they were at school and parted ways, she called Casey on her cell phone. They weren’t supposed to have them on at school, but classes hadn’t started yet.

“Hey,” said Casey in a dejected tone. “What’s up, DJ?”

“Taylor,” said DJ quickly. “I sort of broke the news to — ”

“You told her it was me?”

“Well, she was going to find out. I thought maybe I could soften things.”

“Did you?”

“Not exactly.”

“How not exactly?”

“She is
really ticked
, Casey.”

“I figured.”

DJ didn’t know what to say. She was afraid to tell Casey too much, worried that Casey might freak.

“She’s going to press charges, isn’t she?”

“It sounds like it.”

“Well, that settles it then.”

“Settles what?” DJ braced herself.

“I mean, at least I know where I stand. I’ve already confessed. All Taylor needs to do is press charges.” Casey’s voice broke. “I really am toast.”

“You better call your parents, Casey.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Maybe they can get you a lawyer.”

Casey kind of laughed. “I guess I’ve finally proved it to them.”

“Proved what?”

“That I really am the black sheep.”

“Oh, you’re not — ”

“I better go,” Casey said quickly. “Talk to you later.”

DJ said good-bye, closed her phone, turned it off, and slid it into her bag. This was not going well.

“Hey, DJ,” said Eliza as she joined her in the hallway. “Going my way?”

“Duh.” They both had English Lit for first period.

“Who were you talking to?” asked Eliza. “It looked serious.”

DJ told her about the Taylor/Casey scenario.

“Man, I would hate to be in Casey’s shoes right now.” Then Eliza kind of laughed. “Well, I mean, besides the fact that they are Doc Martens and remind me of army boots.”

DJ shook her head. Why had she expected anything more from Eliza? That girl never seemed to take anything too seriously — well, unless it directly involved Eliza. But then Eliza had grown up in the lap of luxury. She’d been raised to be a princess. Why should her nonchalance about someone else’s misfortune surprise DJ?

After DJ was seated in English Lit, she said a silent prayer for Casey, begging God to do something — and to do it fast — and to do it before Casey did something even more stupid.

3

“HEY, GOOD LOOKING,”
said Conner as he came up behind DJ in the cafeteria. He slipped his arm around her shoulder, giving her a friendly little squeeze. “Where you been hiding out?”

DJ narrowed her eyes slightly. “I have
not
been hiding.”

“But you
are
grumpy.” He frowned then smiled in a teasing sort of way. “Probably because your old friend Taylor is back in town. I saw her in chemistry, and it looked like she must’ve enjoyed her vacation.”

“If you think that’s true, you should’ve seen her last night. And, for the record, yes, I am a little grumpy.” She forced a smile. “Sorry about that. But it seems like this whole thing is about to explode, and it feels like I’m doing damage control.”

“Don’t worry so much.” He leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. “I don’t like seeing my favorite girl all stressed out.”

“It’s just that I feel like I’m caught in the middle.”

“Well, didn’t I try to convince you that Taylor was perfectly fine?” He jabbed her gently with an elbow. “And you were so certain she’d been abducted. So, where was she hiding anyway?”

“She’s not saying.” Then DJ told him about Taylor’s threats against Casey.

“Poor Casey,” he said with genuine concern. “But, really, she should’ve known better. The law is really starting to tighten down on Internet crimes.”

“I know. But she thought she was doing it for Rhiannon.”

“What a mess.” He nodded now like he was beginning to understand her concerns.

DJ glanced around the cafeteria for Casey, but didn’t see her anywhere. She was probably trying to keep a low profile for a while. DJ didn’t blame her. Conner and DJ got their lunches and went over to sit at the table where Eliza and Harry were already seated. Kriti and Rhiannon soon joined them, and it seemed that all anyone wanted to talk about was Taylor and Casey. Everyone speculated over which way it was going to go, but everyone agreed that it was not looking good for Casey.

“We probably won’t be seeing much of her,” said DJ. “I think she plans to lie low.”

“Speaking of going underground,” said Eliza, “where is Taylor?”

“Probably pressing charges,” said Kriti. “In geometry, she told me that Casey is going to get what’s coming to her.”

“I feel so sorry for Casey,” said Rhiannon sadly. “I wish I could do something.”

“I don’t think anyone can help her now,” said Conner.

“Besides a good lawyer,” said Eliza.

“The girl is going down,” said Harry.

“Hey, here comes Taylor now,” said Conner.

“Hi, kiddies,” said Taylor as she took an empty chair next to DJ. “What’s up?”

“We’re wondering the same thing,” said DJ. “What’s up with you?”

“Yeah,” said Conner. “Did you call the cops on Casey yet?”

“As a matter of fact, I left a message with Detective Howard at the CCPD,” said Taylor.

“What did you tell him?” asked DJ.

“Just that I’d suffered a little breakdown as a result of the Internet harassment and that was the reason I’d been missing. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

DJ swallowed hard. “Yeah, I’ll bet.”

“And I left another message with my mother’s attorney.”

“About what?” asked Eliza with catlike curiosity.

“What do you think?” Taylor opened her water bottle.

“So . . . you’re really taking Casey down then?” asked Harry.

Taylor nodded firmly. “Oh, yeah.”

“No room in that cold, cold heart of yours for forgiveness then?” ventured Conner.

She glared at him then peeled off the top of her yogurt container.

“What if Casey apologized?” asked DJ hopefully. She’d been thinking about what Taylor had said in the car this morning, about Casey being too cowardly to apologize.

Taylor’s eyes glinted. “Oh, she already apologized.”

DJ blinked. “She did?”

“Sure. Just a few minutes ago.” Taylor held up her spoon as if to study it. “She came to me with tears and everything. She even promised to make a public statement to the whole school, confessing to everything.”

“And you just blew her off?” said Conner.

“Pretty much.” Taylor stuck a spoon in her yogurt and stirred.

“Wow,” said Harry with his hands held up like he was feigning fear, “remind me not to step on your toes.”

“That’s right,” said Taylor. “People who mess with me are just begging for trouble.”

“Hey,” said Eliza. “On a lighter note, I hear that nominations for homecoming queen start up next week.” Then she sighed as if this was sad news. “You know what, ya’ll? I’ve always dreamed of being homecoming queen. And now that I’m the new girl, I won’t even have a ghost of a chance.”