Chapter Seventeen

Then Again, Maybe It Does Matter How You Play the Game

 

 

 

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Lexi’s mom asked as they neared the front of Cherry Grove High.

“Sure, no problem.” Maybe when the nightmare was really over she’d take a few days off, but not yet.

Lexi’s mom rolled past the drop-off curb and pulled into a spot. “I didn’t mean school, I meant the appointment with Mrs. Howell.”

“Oh, sure. She’s cool. You’ll like her.”

Lexi reached for the door but her mom stopped her by putting a hand on her arm.

“It’s not too late, is it? For us?”

“What made you change your mind? About Dale?”

“When Ash showed up, saying you’d ditched him, Dale and I argued about going to look for you. He kept refusing to go, saying I was being overprotective and a fool for thinking you’d obey the curfew. He kept saying we should let Ash go find you. That’s when it was obvious that Dale cared more about what Ash—his star pitcher—thought, than whether or not you were safe.

“While I was driving around, scared out of my mind looking for you, you know where I found Dale?”

Lexi shrugged.

“At that diner. In the back room. With some twenty-year-old waitress.”

“Sick.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

Her mom pulled the keys out of the ignition and dropped them into her purse. “I should’ve accepted what you said, that something was wrong.”

“All I wanted was for it to be just the two of us, you know, like this—just talking, doing stuff, depending on each other—like before.”

The image of her mom taking down Ash with one swing of the bat snapped into her head. “Actually, I do have Dale to thank for my rescue.”

Her mom sagged against the window. “Dale? Hello, I’m the one who showed up.”

“I know, but you never would’ve found me if super-suspicious Dale hadn’t put that tracker on my phone.”

Lexi pointed to her bag. “I wouldn’t care if you kept it. That way you could come and save me again.”

“It’s gone already. Just like Dale.” She swung the door open. Lexi followed.

The scene in front of the school was the usual—clear sun glinting off the factory-fresh gloss of new Acuras, Volvos and a couple of plain Fords. Pieces of Lady Gaga, Cake and, thanks to Spaz, ICP swam through the air. Clusters of freshman girls lingered by the doors, each girl tapping on her phone, talking and checking out the older guys.

Jazz slipped through girls, rushed toward Lexi and threw her arms around her. “You have to tell me everything.”

Lexi hugged her back, laughing when Jazz wouldn’t let go of her. “I will. I promise.”

“You’re sitting with me, right?”

Jazz pointed to a banner Lexi had somehow missed. The words ‘Fresh Start Pep Rally!’ screamed at her in bright red letters. The black outline on the banner made it look hideous.

Jazz finally let go of Lexi. “This school is ridiculous, I know, but at least we don’t have to go to class.”

“Of course I’m sitting with you, but I’m going to be a bit late. Mom and I are going to see Mrs. Howell.”

“Oh, hey, Ms. Welks.”

“Hi, Jasmine.” Lexi’s mom gave Jazz a quick hug. “I’m glad your parents let you come back. Lexi’s been missing you.”

After Lexi promised to find Jazz at the pep rally, they split up. Once Jazz was out of earshot, Lexi stepped away from her mom. “I’ll meet you at the office. I have to get some stuff from my locker.”

 

* * * *

 

The girl’s bathroom was empty.

Lexi went to stand by the mirror then sent a quick text to Zeke—

 

Now.

 

She pulled out her lip gloss, opened it and waited.

“So what is it that’s so epically urgent?” Monica asked as she rushed in.

Lexi leaned against the bathroom wall, positioning herself in the corner just the way she and Zeke had set it up. “Did you hear they found Jon’s bike glove in Ash’s bedroom?”

“So what? Aren’t you glad I kept you from going to the cops?”

“No, actually I’m not. You told me Jon was okay.”

“That was to keep you quiet. And you can see I was right about Ash. I put the glove in his room just to make sure he didn’t get away with anything.”

“He could’ve killed us.”

Monica’s laugh came out as a hoarse bark. “He wasn’t going to kill us. And it’s all over now. Be glad nobody ever figured out that Jon was with us that night. Drunk Jon was our little present to poor sad Ash.”

A shiver ran down Lexi’s back, but she hid it by putting on another coat of lip gloss. “Not our present. Your present. I don’t remember any of that.”

“Yeah, you never did get a handle on the drinking.” Monica looked her up and down. “But it was fun sharing our little secrets, wasn’t it?”

Even if the cops charged her for her involvement, Lexi had to keep talking to get everything she needed. “Guess seeing a dead guy doesn’t freak you out like it does me.”

“That was always the problem with everyone in science club. So squeamish, always acting like babies when it was time to do something real.”

A roar of applause from the start of the assembly was followed by the stomping of hundreds of feet. Lexi waited until it faded. “I’m not squeamish. I’m not afraid to do something real.”

“Yeah. Sure, Lexi.” Monica straightened and turned sideways, admiring her perfect boobs. “You keep thinking that and maybe I’ll let you be second place boosters’ president. You know, like a runner-up? You could be my personal ass, not just one day but every day. What do you think about that?”

“I think I’ll do something real, just to show you I can.”

Monica paused, stopping to give her a more serious once-over. “You’d be surprised how exciting it is, doing something just to prove to yourself you can. And it’s such a rush when it works out.”

Monica started to leave, but Lexi grabbed her arm.

“What do you think will happen to Ash?”

“Who the hell cares?”

Lexi squeezed her fingers around Monica’s wrist. “Ash tried to frame Z.”

“If he’d been able to hold himself together, it would’ve worked. He always did crack at the worst possible time.” Monica smirked so hard it was a snarl. “Guess that’s why he was never his dad’s favorite.” She yanked her arm free and left.

 

* * * *

 

“I saved a copy on my hard drive. Here’s yours.” Zeke held out a tiny flash drive. “Best video you ever made.”

Lexi took the drive. “Thanks.”

“Glad to do it.”

“Sorry about what happened to you. That crap Monica pulled was nasty.”

He shrugged. “Thanks for believing me about not making those other ones, in the bathroom.” He grinned and Lexi saw a flash of that side of Z that had caught her attention before everything went to hell. “I should’ve seen it coming,” he said.

“I bet Ash feels the same way.”

“He didn’t kill Jon, you know,” he said.

Lexi let out a slow breath. “Or Peter. I haven’t quite figured how she did it, but I know she did both of them.”

“That’s pretty extreme, just to shut me up about the video.”

Tracing the edge of the drive with her fingernail, she added, “And to prove she could do it.”

“That’s epically wrong.”

He was right, of course, that it was wrong to do something that twisted just to prove you could get away with it. But Lexi was starting to see what Monica meant about doing something real. Guess the trick was to define ‘real’ the right way.

“Putting this out there might screw you up, too.”

“I know. But I’m done with secrets and lies.”

Zeke pointed to the flash drive. “They won’t be able to use that in court.”

“I know.” Lexi dropped the flash drive into her bag. “It’s a start, though, and sooner or later the cops will figure it all out, then that girl will finally get what’s coming.”