"It's your fault, Reed," Ariana choked out, sputtering at the floor. "I killed Thomas, but you made me! Why did you have to come here? You ruined everything!" That was all Detective Hauer needed to hear. He brushed past me and Noelle and grabbed Ariana around the forearm, hauling her to her feet.
"Ariana Osgood, you are under arrest for the murder of Thomas Pearson," he said, as one of the officers came forward to handcuff her. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. ..." Ariana continued to weep as they walked her past us. She tipped her face forward and her blond hair fell over her cheeks, hiding her from sight. Ariana was the first of the Billings Girls to really talk to me. She had been my first friend here. The skin on my face prickled and the rest of me felt numb. Two hours ago we were all laughing and chatting in the limousine, warm and cocooned together. Friends.
"What just happened?" I said to Noelle, tears spilling down my cheeks. "What just happened?" She stepped forward and put her arms around me. I crumpled into her, my whole body shaking with sobs. "It's okay, Reed," she said quietly. "Everything's going to be okay now." "Miss? Could I have the knife, please?" One of the officers held his hand out to Noelle. We both looked up. I hadn't even realized she was still holding it. She turned it so that the handle was forward and handed it to him. He nodded his thanks.
"Anyone want to try explaining what happened up here?" he asked. I dried my eyes with my hands. Noelle and I looked at one another. Who knew where or how to start? Then Detective Hauer returned and dismissed the other officers. They scurried off obediently. "Good to see you a
live," he told me. "Thanks," I said. "Are you all right, Ms. Lange?" he asked Noelle. She nodded. "You're going to want to arrest me, too, Detective," she said. Her voice had this odd detachment I had never heard before. Like she was talking to us from some other plane. "I have a confession to make as well."
His eyebrows shot up. "Noelle" "No, Reed. It's enough. I've had enough. It's time to end this," she said. She looked at Detective Hauer and her playful smile lit her eyes for a brief moment. "Got any more handcuffs?" He eyed her warily but then placed his hand on her back. "I don't think that will be necessary just yet," he said. "Why don't we all go back to the station and you two can tell me the whole story? Then we can decide who gets cuffs and who doesn't." Noelle took a deep breath and shook her hair back. Always poised. "Sounds fair to me." She walked ahead of us, and Detective Hauer touched my arm lightly, holding me back. "You gonna help me sort all this out?" he asked.
I looked around the roof, at the spot where Ariana had knocked the wind out of me, the crumbling wall where I'd almost met my death, the lacrosse stick that had saved me, still lying on the floor. The hands that had killed Thomas had almost killed me tonight. The hands that had killed Thomas. I looked into the detective's eyes and whispered, "I'll try."
NEW RULES
I was exempt from finals. When everything was taken into account--one boyfriend dead, another falsely accused, and an attempt on my life by a supposed friend--it all resulted in me finally being deemed a charity case. So on that Monday morning, when the rest of my history class was scratching away in their blue books, I was packing my bags.
The room looked bare without my stuff. My sheets shoved into my laundry bag, my books stuffed into my backpack. By leaving everything the Billings Girls had ever given me in the closet, I was able to fit all my clothes back in the one suitcase I'd brought with me in September. I wanted to start over. And if that meant going back to being the old me--cotton instead of cashmere, nylon instead of silk--I was fine with that. I picked up my cell phone and stared at the blank screen. I'd taken it back from Noelle and Ariana's room the day before, but I'd yet to turn it on. There would be messages on there, I knew. From my brother, whom I'd e-mailed. From my dad, whom I'd asked my brother to talk to. From Josh? Maybe. Hopefully. But part of the reason I hadn't turned it on was that I didn't want to find out if he hadn't called.
My digital watch beeped, startling me. The history exam was over, which meant it was time to meet Constance for lunch. I pushed myself off my bare bed, pocketed the phone, and paused at the door. Would I ever see this room again? I had no idea. There was a decision to be made about my future, but I didn't feel remotely ready to make it yet. As I looked around the room, though, I felt nothing at the thought of leaving it behind forever. Not that I was surprised. Since wrapping up my interview with the police on Sunday morning, I'd been numb. I'd barely felt anything at all.
I closed the door behind me. Down the hall, the door to Kiran and Taylor's room was open. I wandered over to it. Leaned in the doorway. The place was completely empty, save for the Easton- issue furniture. The maintenance staff had come in that morning and packed up everything from the two bedrooms. The blinds had been thrown open to let the winter sun in. All of Kiran's coats and shoes and makeup were gone, all of Ariana's books and scarves and sweaters, all of Noelle's tons and tons of crap. Just days ago, they were here. Hanging out. Studying. Trying to pretend everything was normal.
My heart constricted and I took a sharp breath of surprise. I was going to miss them. Even after everything. I was going to miss them. Or the people I had thought they were. The people who had promised to give me everything. The people who were supposed to change my life. "Hey." I turned around to find Natasha hovering behind me. She wore her lucky sweater--a blue cardigan with leather patches on the sleeves that belonged to her dad. "Hey. How was your test?" I asked. "Piece of cake," she said with a small, wry smile. "I just stopped by our room. It's kind of empty." I said nothing. Looked back at the barren room before us. "You don't have to take everything, you know. They do lock up the dorms." "I know," I said. There was a long moment of silence. I braced myself for the questions. The ones I couldn't answer. "So, did you hear they arrested Taylor?" she asked. Not at all what I expected her to say. I whipped around. "They did? When? Where was she?" "Back home in Chicago," Natasha said. "She's been in public school for the past three weeks, if you can believe it."
"You're kidding." So not at a treatment facility, as Noelle and the others had told me. Not having a psychotic break. Whatever they told you about me is not true, she'd written in her e-mail. The words finally made sense. "Apparently her parents thought Easton was a bad influence on her, so they changed her e-mail and phone numbers and enrolled her out there," Natasha said. "A bad influence, huh?" I said. "Where would they get that idea?" Natasha exhaled and smiled. "What's going to happen to her?" I wondered. "To all of them?" Natasha leaned back against the wall in the hallway. "They'll charge Ariana with murder, or maybe manslaughter if her lawyer kicks ass and declares temporary insanity. The rest of them ... at the very least, they'll be charged with kidnapping, assault, endangerment," she said. "But if they really want to make an example of them, they charge them with aiding and abetting, both before and after the fact." "Wow. How do you know all this?" I asked.
"I'm going to be a lawyer," she said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, you can bet they're going to have the best criminal attorneys in the country. Noelle, Kiran, and Taylor? They may just get off with a slap." A rush of heat lit my face. "No." "Yeah," Natasha said. Then she added, apologetically, "It's the world we live in." My throat had all but closed up. I had no idea how to feel about that revelation. I wanted them to be punished for what they'd done to Thomas, but then Noelle, Kiran, and Taylor . .. they were still my friends. My friends who had made a huge, stupid mistake, but my friends. If they didn't have to rot in prison, that would be a good thing.
Except that they should. They should be punished. For what they did to him. For how scared he must have been . . . I shoved the thoughts away. Couldn't deal with them now. Couldn't deal with them ever. "I get Noelle's side!" "Fine by me. I like the window." Cheyenne and Rose emerged from the stairwell toting boxes and hangers full of clothes. They shoved open the door to Noelle and Ariana's room and bustled inside. "What the...?"
Natasha and I moved across the hall to the doorway. Rose was already hanging her things in Ariana's closet, while Cheyenne inspected the dust on Noelle's desk. She ran her finger across it and wrinkled her nose. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Lattimer said we could move in," Cheyenne said casually, slapping her fingers to clean them. "It is the best room in the house, and it's not like they're coming back." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "You couldn't at least wait until next semester?" Natasha asked. Cheyenne shrugged as she opened the box on the bed. "Someone was going to take it. We just wanted to make sure we got here first."
"God, Cheyenne. Could you be any more callous?" Natasha asked. Cheyenne was amused. "Natasha, you're acting like Noelle and Ariana did nothing wrong. They murdered someone, for goodness' sake." She glanced at my rapidly paling face. "No offense." "None taken," I croaked. "The point is, they got themselves kicked out. Let's not martyr them, okay?" Cheyenne said. She pulled her satin jewelry box out of the cardboard one and placed it atop Noelle's dresser. The dresser behind which I'd once found that envelope full of naked pictures of Dash--the ones Noelle had planted for me to find as a joke. I smiled at the memory now, even as my eyes filled with tears. This was ridiculous. Twenty-four hours of numb and now, all of a sudden, I was feeling everything all at once.
"I have to go," I said.
"That's right! I heard you were leaving early," Cheyenne said. She stepped up to me and gave me a quick hug, pressing her face into my shoulder. "Have a fantastic break, Reed. Just try to put this semester behind you, because next semester everything is going to be different." I attempted to smile. Different. Right. How could it not be? "I can't wait!" Cheyenne trilled. At that moment Vienna and London burst in, Vienna in her pink coat, London in her baby blue, both with white wool hats pulled down over their thick hair. "Cheyenne Martin! What do you think you're doing?" London demanded. "I'm moving into my new room," Cheyenne said.
"Oh, no way!" Vienna said, tossing her sweater bag on Noelle's bed. "This is our room. Our mothers were both in Billings, which means we have pri!" "You cannot just take the good room," London said. "That is just nonacceptable." "I think you mean unacceptable," Natasha corrected. "Whatever. My brain is mush from that history final," London said. "The point is, we're moving in here. Not you. We'll stage a sit- down if we have to." "That would be a sit-in, sweetie," Vienna said, whipping her hat off. "And that's exactly what we'll do."
"Girls, girls, girls," Cheyenne said, shaking her head. "Do you really think it's appropriate to cause a scene right now considering all that's happened?" Vienna and London looked at one another as if they were suddenly embarrassed. "Oh... well... yeah. Of course. What happened with Noelle and them is awful," Vienna said. "Just terrible," London agreed.
There was a moment of silence. Rose continued organizing her clothes. "But still! That doesn't mean you can just swoop in here and change the rules!" Vienna protested. Natasha laughed under her breath. "Might I suggest a compromise?" Cheyenne said. She hooked her arm around London's back, then reached out for Vienna as well. Sandwiched between their big-haired curviness, Cheyenne looked even tinier and wirier than ever. "You two can have Kiran and Taylor's room! The view from there is just as pretty." "Yeah, but--" "And you know, I was thinking that next semester we could implement
an interior governing system for Billings. You know, like a real sorority," Cheyenne continued. "How would you two girls feel about being co-social chairs?" The Twin Cities stared at each other, wide-eyed. "What, exactly, would our powers be?" London asked.
"Well, we'd need to figure that out as we went along of course, but I'm thinking event planning, decorating, invitations. . . ." London and Vienna were nodding in unison. Cheyenne really knew how to play to her audience. Natasha rolled her eyes at me and together we walked out. In the hallway I was surprised to find that I was smiling. The Twin Cities were always good for that. "Well. Sounds like next semester is gonna be a blast," Natasha said with false enthusiasm. "I can't wait to get back. How about you?" she asked pointedly. "Yeah," I said, my smile faltering. "Can't wait."
RETURN TO BRADWELL
"I'm thinking about not coming back." Constance tripped over the leg of her chair and then fell into it, dropping her tray on the table with a clatter. Her face was a picture of devastation. She was wearing those braids again, the ones that made her look ten years old. I felt like I'd just kicked Little Orphan Annie in the gut.
"What? No," she said. I shrugged and looked down at my untouched sandwich. The door opened and I tried my hardest not to look up at the people entering. I had no idea how I'd act if I saw Josh. I felt so incredibly, monumentally stupid and guilty and chagrined and sad every time I thought about him. Part of me felt that if I saw him I would just burst into tears, which would not help the feeling-stupid part. But part of me was aching to see him so badly I could have keeled over from the pain.
"Reed, everything is going to be different now," Constance said, shaking her bottle of Snapple. "They're gone. We all know who killed Thomas. It's over. Next semester everything's going to go back to normal." "Yeah, but what is that?" I asked, desperation twisting in my chest. "Since I've been here, it's been all about Noelle and then Thomas and then Josh. ... I don't even know what normal is here." "So don't you want to find out?" Constance asked. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. I wished I could feel that. I really did. But all I felt was overwhelmed. And tired. And thoroughly confused.
"I don't know. It's not like I'm dying to go back to Croton High," I said. Just imagining the gray cinderblock walls, the institutional lockers, the dingy cafeteria with its fading reading is FUNDAMENTAL posters made me sad. "But it might be a better alternative to starting over again at Billings." Constance eyed me sympathetically. Then, right before my eyes, her entire face lit up. A total transformation. "So don't go back to Billings!"