She's So Dead to Us (18 page)

“Oh, that’s fair,” Faith said sarcastically, shifting her weight from one tiny hip to the other.

I laughed and whirled on her. “I’m not being fair? Were you even there? All my mom wanted to do was please you people, and she got torn to shreds.”

“Well, if you don’t want us to hold what your dad did against you, then you can’t hold what happened last night against us,” Faith said, arching her eyebrows. “We didn’t do anything.”

My spirits fell slightly. Okay. She had a point there. Except—

“Right. So, what was that little parting comment you made on my way out?”

Faith blushed and looked away.

“She’s sorry for that. Right, Faith?” Chloe said, staring her down.

“Yeah. Sorry. It was a knee-jerk thing,” she replied, not looking me in the eye.

“Look, after last night we all got together and talked about it, and we realized you’re right,” Chloe said, tossing her perfectly coiffed hair over her shoulder. “Your dad was the one who messed up. Not you.”

I automatically glanced at Hammond. He cleared his throat and looked away. Little did Chloe know that I had messed up too. Big time.

“So listen, we’re having our annual going away party next Sunday night,” Shannen said. “We’re all going to meet at the new pool annex at nine o’clock. You in?”

“We’re breaking into the pool?” Trevor said excitedly.

“Skinny-dipping! Sweet!” Todd added.

They slapped hands over their heads.

I couldn’t contain the rush of excitement, even as I hated myself for having it. They were actually inviting me to something. One of our old traditions. Every year we all went away for a few days over Christmas, and every year we said good-bye to each other by throwing a private party in some forbidden location. Of course, I wasn’t hopping a flight out of Newark this year, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t go to the going away party.

Annie trained her camera phone on me. Right. Hadn’t I just sworn to her and David that I never wanted to be friends with these people again? But that was before this. Before they’d blindsided me with a white flag. Jake quietly closed the door of his locker and wandered over, standing behind Shannen’s left shoulder. I didn’t dare look at him, but I could feel the warmth of his gaze all over my skin.

“It’ll be just like old times,” Chloe said with a smile.

My heart fluttered. Just like old times. They were offering a truce. A real one. Wouldn’t it be kind of jerky to throw it back in their faces?

“So? What do you say, Ally?” Shannen asked.

I glanced at the camera apologetically. “Okay. I’m in.”

“Cool,” Shannen said with a smile. “We’ll see you there.”

After the Cresties had walked away and Annie, David, and I were left alone, none of us said anything for a solid minute. With Jake gone, I finally started to cool down—to think clearly again.

“Come on, you guys, it’s just one party,” I said.

David pushed himself away from the wall. “Yeah. A party with evil.”

“But you heard what they said, right?” I asked, tugging a few books out of my locker.

“Got it all on film,” Annie said, pocketing her phone.

“And it sounded real, right? They really felt bad.”

David and Annie looked at each other. “Sure. If you trust the face of
evil,”
Annie said.

“You can’t play both sides, Ally,” David said. “You can’t be both a Crestie and a Norm.”

A tingle of apprehension went through my chest. “Why not?”

“Because . . . it’s just wrong,” David said, lifting both shoulders. “Like, on a primordial level.”

“He’s right. Your head might actually, literally explode from the pressure,” Annie said. She looked at David. “We are so going to lose her.”

I sighed and slammed my locker door. “Okay, Melodrama Girl. You’re not going to lose me. It’s just one party.”

David took my hand and looked into my eyes, his expression all mock-serious. “Just promise me you’ll come back.”

He was kidding around, but a hard stone of guilt formed in my gut. Because one of the reasons I had said yes, one of the reasons I was already looking forward to this, was that Jake was going to be there.

“I promise,” I said. “I’ll come back.”

I paused my Xbox and glanced at my watch. It was nine fifteen. The going away party started at nine. Was Ally there yet? Were they actually being nice to her? My whole body itched, and I leaned back against my bed, my legs splayed out on the floor. I wanted to get the hell out of here, but I couldn’t leave. Not yet. Because I was grounded. I hadn’t talked to my mother since Sunday night dinner. By Tuesday my parents had decided that I couldn’t go out with my friends until I started acting like a grown-up. As if that was how they were acting.

“Jake, aren’t you supposed to be taking a practice test?” my mother asked, appearing in my doorway. She was all dressed up in a fancy black dress, diamonds dangling from her ears.

I felt hot all over. Just like I did every time I was forced to ignore her.

My father joined her. “Jake. Your mother is talking to you.”

“Have a good time, Dad,” I said.

My mother heaved a sigh and walked away. My father straightened his tie as he entered my room. “Jake, I’ve had just about enough of this behavior.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve had just about enough of hers.”

“That’s it!” my father shouted. My heart stopped. He never shouted. Ever. “I want you to go downstairs and apologize to your mother right now.”

I stood up from the floor and faced him. I felt shaky inside but wasn’t about to cave. “Is she going to apologize for what she did?”

“And what offense, exactly, do you imagine your mother has committed?” my dad asked.

“You were there. You saw what she did to Ally Ryan’s mom.”

“And why do we care so much about Ally Ryan or her mother?” he asked.

“What does it even matter? She was awful to her and she doesn’t even know her,” I shot back. “I’m supposed to be okay with that?”

My father sighed and looked at the floor. “Son, these women . . . these dinners . . . they’re very important to your mother.”

“I know.” It had taken just over a year of ass-kissing and designer-clothes hoarding for my mother to get us our invite into the Sunday dinner crowd. When it had finally happened she’d actually cried from happiness. I’d never remotely understood why, but I knew it was important to her.

“So, you have to understand, son, this Melanie Ryan woman . . . she’s known your mother’s new friends for years,” my father said. “They grew up together, went to school together, vacationed together. And now that she’s back—”

The truth hit me like a lacrosse stick to the head. “She’s scared. She thinks they’re gonna dump her.”

“Well, yes,” my father said matter-of-factly.

Unbelievable. My mother had the exact same mentality as my friends. When in doubt, be a bitch. What little respect I had left for her started to crumble.

“Try not to be so hard on her, Jake,” my dad said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking at the floor. I wanted out of this conversation. “Okay.”

He patted my cheek twice and walked out, off to dinner at Ruocco’s, where they were meeting up with all the other parents. I watched them from my window, the same one I’d been looking through when I’d first seen Ally, as they got into my mom’s Mercedes and pulled out. I waited until the lights had disappeared at the bottom of Vista View Lane before I went down to the garage to get my bike.

Not the ideal mode of transportation, but unlike Shannen I wasn’t into stealing my parents’ cars without a license. I had just hit the automatic garage door opener when my cell phone rang. Shannen stuck her tongue out at me from the screen.

“Hello?” I said.

“Jake! Where are you!? The Idiot Twins brought this mini Ping-Pong table, and we’re playing beer Pong! Chloe’s already losing, and guess what? She finally cracked and told us where Ally’s dad is.”

Shit. My mouth went dry. “She did?”

“Yeah. He’s working at one of Mr. Appleby’s delis in the city. He’s not even a waiter. He’s a counter dude, like, slicing bologna for a living!”

I heard Faith crack up in the background and Chloe begging Shannen to shut up. Babbling that she shouldn’t have spilled. Couldn’t have agreed more.

“No way,” I said flatly. Because I had to say something.

“It’s so hilarious, you know? Ally was always showing off about how perfect her father was, and now it turns out he’s a cheat, an abandoner,
and
a minimum-wage earner.”

I had to bite my tongue to keep from snapping. I guess the fact that they were talking about this meant Ally wasn’t there yet.

“Anyway, get your butt over here,” Shannen said.

“I’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Oooh! Are you taking the Jag? You have to give me a ride when you get here.”

“No. I’m taking my bike.”

I was about to hang up when she cackled, “You can’t ride your bike all the way to the club!”

I froze, my fingers curled around the handlebar. “I thought we were going to the pool annex.”

The cackling got louder. “No! That’s just what we told Ally! We’re at the boathouse.”

“What?” I said through my teeth.

“Yeah. We already called the cops to tell them someone was breaking in at school,” Shannen said with a laugh. “They should be there in . . . well, now.”

More laughter. WTF was wrong with them? Ally could get in serious trouble. She could get arrested. Why the hell would they do this to her?

“Sorry. I thought you knew. Now get your ass in the Jag and get over here!” Shannen said, still laughing.

I wanted to tell her off. Tell her what a total bitch she was being. Ask her how she could possibly be so cool one second and such a psycho the next. But I bit down on my tongue and said nothing. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. And I was losing time. I turned my phone off and tore out of the driveway as fast as I could pedal.

I told my mother I was going to visit David at Dunkin’ Donuts, where he worked a few nights a week. After the Sunday dinner debacle, she hadn’t mentioned my old friends or prodded me about hanging out with them. Not once. Ironic that I was finally going to a party with them now that she was no longer interested. I felt bad about lying to her, but it was just a little white lie. I was going to be right across the street, and it wasn’t like I was going to do anything she wouldn’t approve of. Other than breaking into the school.

Tugging my coat close to my body against the frigid December air, I jogged over to the school parking lot and walked up the hill to the new annex, my shoes crunching on the leftover salt from the last ice storm. My heart pounded with excitement, and I told myself it was because I was doing something borderline bad. It had nothing to do with Jake Graydon. Nothing at all.

Maybe, after the party, I actually should go visit David.

There were no cars in the parking lot, but I wasn’t surprised. Chloe was the only one with a license and a car, and they’d probably parked on a side street to avoid suspicion. I walked up to the double metal doors and pulled on the handles. Nothing. They must have found another way in. All the top windows of the annex were open. I crept slowly around the side of the building, looking for some clue as to how to get inside. There, pasted to a new green Dumpster, was a big red arrow pointing up. There was another taped to the top, and a third pointing up at the window above.

I paused, my pulse skipping around in trepidation. Chloe and Faith had scaled a Dumpster and climbed through a window two inches from the ceiling? Somehow, I didn’t see it. But then, Hammond had probably let Chloe climb up his back and step on his head to get through.

I laughed at the visual. Well, it was either go up or go home. I’d never been one to back down from a dare, so I decided to risk it. I grabbed the hinge on the lid of the Dumpster and scrambled on top. The noise reverberated for miles, scaring the crap out of me. I caught my breath, looked up at the window over my head, said a quick prayer, and jumped. My hands grasped the cold, sharp and unforgiving window ledge. I gritted my teeth and pulled myself up. My blood rushed in my ears, and I strained with all my strength.

Worth it. This was all going to be totally worth it.

I hoisted myself up and twisted sideways to get through the window. On the other side were the bleachers. I eased myself onto the top row and lay there for a moment, breathing in the thick scent of chlorine. I’d made it. I was okay. When my breathing finally started to slow, though, I realized something was very wrong. The place was dead silent.

I sat up. The pool was open but dark, its clear water so still I could read the depth measurements painted on the wall on the far side. The only light in the place came from the glowing, red emergency exit signs over the doors, and through the windows from the parking lot lights. It was freezing. Even colder than it was outside.

“Hello?”

My voice echoed throughout the room. No response.