Unfriended (31 page)

“Connor,” I snapped at him, and he looked at me, surprised.

“Yes?” he asked, a little hesitantly.

“Are you dating Roberta Briggs?” I asked, hoping, for Schuyler’s sake, that the answer was no.

Connor frowned at me. “No,” he said. “Did someone say that I was?”

“I was just wondering,” I said quickly. “Are you dating
anyone?”
It was strange to have to ask this question,
since normally, I would have just checked Constellation. But Connor wasn’t on it any longer, and so I’d lost that resource.

“No,” he said, looking slightly offended by my tone. “Why?”

“Schuyler’s miserable,” I said bluntly. “She misses you. She wants to get back together, but doesn’t think you want that.”

Connor just blinked at me, and I had a feeling that I’d thrown him for a loop, since he’d probably just expected to get coffee at Stubbs, not an interrogation about his love life and then relationship advice from me. “But …” he started.

“If you want to be together, you should be,” I said. “Especially if there’s no reason for you to be apart.” He nodded slowly, apparently thinking this over. I checked the time on my phone and realized that I had to get going. “Sorry if this is none of my business,” I said, shouldering my bag and standing up. “I just … thought you should know.”

“Right,” Connor said, still looking a little dazed. “Um, thanks, Mad.”

“See you,” I said, hoping that this actually would be the case. I gave him a quick smile and headed out of Stubbs, crossing my fingers that this might have done some good.

I stepped out into the late-afternoon sunlight and hurried over to my car, as I was now running late for Phase 2.

INBOX 1 of 30
From: Isabel
Date: 7/1, 4:45
P.M.

I would LOVE that. It’s about time!
Dinner?

OUTBOX 1 of 16
To: Isabel
Date: 7/1, 5:20
P.M.

Sounds good. Stanwich Yacht Club? 7?—Justin

INBOX 1 of 31
From: Isabel
Date: 7/1, 5:22
P.M.

Yes, that’s perfect. You’ll make a reservation?

OUTBOX 1 of 17
To: Isabel
Date: 7/1, 5:55
P.M.

Okay. See you soon.—Justin

INBOX 1 of 32
From: Isabel
Date: 7/1, 5:56
P.M.

Looking forward to it!

Pacing in the back alley behind On A Blender, I checked the time and looked around for the reinforcements that were supposed to be on their way. I could feel my pulse racing. It might have had something to do with the sheer amount of caffeine I’d had today, not to mention the smoothies with extra energy powder I’d made myself when I’d arrived at work. I’d taken over so that Daryl and John could make it to their second job on time, since it was crucial for our plans that they not get fired tonight.

I had closed up as usual at six, except for a few small
differences tonight. I had turned the freezer off, and then had locked the front door and exited through the back, making sure to keep the alley door propped open.

I had been sitting on the milk crate until my nervousness had taken over, and I’d started pacing, constantly checking both phones for any sign of change, and getting more and more anxious.

“Hey!” I turned and saw Dave, followed by Turtell and Ruth, heading down from the street and toward the alley. I felt my face relax into a smile. The cavalry, such as it was, had arrived. My phone beeped, and I looked down at it to see the Constellation update that had just been posted.

“Hi,” Ruth said, hurrying up to me and looking, for some reason, happy. Not that this was a problem; it just wasn’t what I had expected. “Sorry we’re late.”

“Yeah,” Dave said, glancing at Ruth and Turtell. “There was … traffic. Is she here yet?”

“Not yet,” I said. “I’ve been listening for the front bell, and haven’t heard it.” I looked at the three of them, wondering if I was missing something. They
all
looked a little too happy, considering what was going on. But maybe I had just lost perspective on what normal happiness looked like, during my swan dive into misery.

“Did Isabel take the bait?” Dave asked, and I nodded.

“She’s going to be there at seven,” I said. “So Kavya
really needs to show up with him …” I checked the time once more. “Now.”

“I’m sure she’ll be here,” Turtell said, pulling out his own phone. “Unless she bailed,” he added after a moment.

“Don’t say that,” I said quickly. As I watched Turtell texting—most likely Kittson—I couldn’t help notice that his hands were dirty, like he’d been at work. “Glen,” I started, “did you—”

“What?” he asked, sounding uncharacteristically nervous. He glanced over at Dave, and I saw his hands and forearms looked equally grimy.

“What were you guys doing this afternoon?” I asked. The boys looked at each other, and I remembered the earlier Constellation updates. “Was there some mini truck repair going on?” I asked.

“Yes,” Dave said immediately. “My truck threw a wheel, and Glen lent his expert advice.”

“
Shh
,” Ruth said suddenly, holding up her hand. We all fell silent, and sure enough, I could hear the bell over the door of the smoothie shop jangling faintly, and low voices from inside the shop.

I walked up to the back door and eased it open. I could hear Kavya’s voice. She was laughing, and it didn’t sound faked, either. “So this is where the smoothies get made,” she was saying.

“This is great,” Justin said back. He sounded happier, and more relaxed, than I’d heard him in a while. “You’re sure it’s okay that I’m here?”

“Oh, sure,” Kavya said. “We practically don’t have a
manager. And if you want to learn more about smoothies, I have to give you the full tour, don’t I?” Justin laughed, and I felt a tiny stab of guilt. He clearly thought he was on a great first date. I hoped he wouldn’t take it too hard when he found out it wasn’t real. “So … want to check out the
freezer?”
Kavya asked, projecting the last word much louder than the others.

“Oh. Um, sure,” Justin said, and I could hear his smile in his voice as he said it.

“Great. So we’re
going to the freezer now
,” Kavya practically yelled.

I looked at Turtell, Dave, and Ruth, who nodded. Ruth counted out fifteen seconds, then we began moving. I opened the back door and stepped into the brightly colored smoothie shop. Turtell, Dave, and Ruth followed.

I pointed to where the freezer was, then climbed the two steps and stood outside it. The heavy metal door wasn’t totally soundproof—I could hear some low laughter from inside. I took a deep breath and pulled the door open.

Inside, Justin and Kavya were standing very close together as she pointed out the rows of slowly thawing fruit to him. Justin had a slightly dazed smile on his face that fell as he turned and saw me. “Madison?” he asked, sounding baffled. His gaze shifted behind me, to where Ruth, Turtell, and Dave were clustered in the doorway. His expression grew even more confused. Which made sense. If you thought you were going to be making out with a hot girl, to have your ex and three of her friends show up was probably not what was expected. “What’s
going on?” he asked. “I thought you guys were closed.”

“We are,” I said. “But we’re hoping you wouldn’t mind, um, hanging out here for a while.”

“Well, no,” he said, “because that’s what we were doing …” his voice trailed off and he glanced at Kavya, who had taken a step away from him, and toward the rest of us. “Weren’t we?” he asked.

“Not exactly,” she said with a shrug. “Sorry.”

Justin looked back at me, comprehension slowly dawning. “Now wait just a second,” he said.

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Ruth said. “But did you really believe that, out of nowhere, a cute girl would want to make out with you in a freezer?”

“I would,” Dave said immediately.

“Me too,” Turtell replied. “When miracles start happening to you, don’t ever ask why.”

“Guys,” I said, shaking my head. I had a feeling this wasn’t exactly helping.

“Not that you’re not totally hot,” Kavya piped up. “Because you are. And under normal circumstances … I mean, who knows, right? But Madison promised she’d work for me on Friday and every other Tuesday if I helped her out, and that was an offer I just couldn’t refuse.”

“But …” Justin said, looking flabbergasted, from Kavya to the raspberry section and back to me again, “… you can’t, like, kidnap me.”

“Dude,” Turtell said, taking a step inside the freezer and standing next to me. I noticed that his voice had gotten a lot lower, “nobody’s kidnapping anyone. You came
here of your own free will, walked into the freezer voluntarily, and then the lock happened to malfunction.” Turtell cracked his knuckles and raised an eyebrow. “You got me?”

“But …” Justin said, looking more confused than ever.

“Sorry about this,” I said, and meaning it. Justin had crossed over to the dark side when he’d joined Isabel, but I was sure that nobody liked to spend time in a freezer involuntarily, even if the freezer was turned off. “It’ll just be for a little while. It’s crucial to the next part of the plan that Isabel think you’re about to meet her at the Stanwich Yacht Club.”

Justin blinked, and looked around at all of us. “Are you serious?” he asked.

Dave nodded. “Afraid so,” he said. “But I promise it will be painless.” He looked hard at Turtell, who grumbled but stopped cracking his knuckles.

“We wouldn’t do this unless it was necessary,” Ruth added. “But people’s futures are on the line here.”

“So this is actually happening?” Justin asked. He glared at me. “I can’t believe you would do something like this, Madison.”

“Well, I can’t believe you would team up with Isabel to hurt me,” I shot back, hearing my voice tremble. “Do you have any idea how hard she’s worked to ruin my life? And you
helped
her.”

Justin opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came. After a second, he broke our eye contact and looked away, his expression troubled—with more, it
seemed, than just why he was being held in a freezer against his will.

Before I could say anything else, I heard the bell over the front door jingle. All of us in the freezer, well, froze. “Kavya,” I said, in a much lower volume than I had just been using.

“The door,” Kavya said, snapping her fingers. “I knew there was something. I was supposed to lock it again, wasn’t I?”

“Hello?” the voice—it sounded vaguely familiar—called from the front of the store. It seemed to be what we needed to snap back into motion again.

“Hey!” Justin yelled. He took a step toward the door, just as Dave and Turtell stepped in front of him, blocking his path. I hustled around the boys, and Ruth and I both stepped out into the hallway. I caught Turtell’s eye and he nodded, and I pushed the heavy silver door closed and turned the lock. I could hear muffled voices coming from the freezer, but I hoped that they wouldn’t be audible to whoever had decided that they needed a smoothie
right now
.

I looked at Ruth, and she gave me a nod and a tiny, encouraging smile as we walked down to the main counter area—where Tricia, of all people, was waiting.

“Hi,” she stammered, staring at me. She glanced at Ruth, and her expression became, for a second, almost as confused as Justin’s.

“Um, hi, Tricia,” I replied, not quite able to stop myself from looking back to the freezer. Feeling like we really hadn’t needed this tonight, I turned back to
her, hoping she wouldn’t wonder why I was wearing a black tank top and black jeans, and not a T-shirt that read
Blender Bias
. “I’m sorry, but we’re actually closed,” I said. “I just hadn’t … um … locked the door yet.”

“No,” she said, still looking lost. Then she cleared her throat and seemed to regroup a little. “I mean, I didn’t want a smoothie,” she said. “I just saw on Constellation that Ruth and Glen and Dave were all here, and I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d drop in.”

I glanced at Ruth, who bit her lip. “Yes,” I said quickly. “They were just keeping me company while I closed up. And Glen and Dave are, um …” I paused for just a second, trying to come up with some reason why their phones had them here but they didn’t appear to be physically present.

“In the freezer,” Ruth added quickly. “Getting some … fruit.”

At that moment, the muffled voices from inside the freezer became raised, and Tricia looked back toward it.

“That’s them,” I said quickly.

Tricia nodded, but her eyes lingered on the freezer for another second before she turned to me. “I didn’t expect to see you, Madison,” she said, her brow slightly furrowed. “I thought I saw a Constellation update that you were at home. And playing some Grand Theft Auto?”

“Right,” I said, my mind racing. “That. Yes. I was. I just love those, you know, video games. But then my coworker got, um, busy, so I had to fill in.”

“Well,” Tricia said, looking at me for a moment before smiling wide. “I’m so glad that everyone is friends again!
I thought that you’d left us forever! But I guess you’re hanging out again?”

“Yes,” I said, forcing a smile, hoping she wasn’t mad that I hadn’t called her to tell her I was now friends with everyone again. “It’s kind of a long story….”

Tricia nodded, but she looked around the shop again, like she was trying to find something. “I also thought I saw that Justin Williamson was here,” she said in a voice that sounded like it was trying a little too hard to be casual.

I thought with a sudden knot in my stomach about Justin’s phone in my pocket, and how it had aligned with everyone else’s. I took a breath, thinking about how I could spin this somehow, when Ruth spoke.