All Grown Up (Eden High)

“Get in line! Shit, wrong thing to say in front of him.

“I have to go back to the house. I left everything there. I guess you’ve taken care of everything for this evening.”

“Of course… wait a minute. That conversation you just had with the girls, didn’t you already square everything with them? Why would they be asking you the same thing twice?”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point. It’s not like them to keep repeating themselves over and over again. Unless they think I’m going to screw up.” He didn’t look convinced, and neither was I.

“I told them about you two going on ahead so you can have some alone time; I don’t see why they had to question you still.”

Maybe because they don’t believe you anymore than I do! I didn’t say that shit out loud, but I was thinking it. And now, with the girls acting so suspicious, my radar was going off like crazy.

SIAN

“They’re definitely up to something. Giving them time alone, my ass.” I bit my nail nervously and looked around at the others.

“But how are we going to figure out what? This isn’t like back home where we know all the blind spots to keep out of the way of their spying shit. We can’t go listening in at doors without getting caught.”

“Good point Valerie but we don’t exactly have a choice now, do we? I can’t get into Jace’s phone or computer anymore, not since he changed the passcode and none of you can get into the others’. The only way to stop them from doing something stupid is if we get there before them.”

“But what can they do? She’s behind bars.”

“Seriously, Tammy? We’re talking about Jace here. He had her in solitary for the first six months of her stay in prison, and if the laws hadn’t changed, he’d have left her in there indefinitely. At least we know they think it’s Liz who’s been sending the notes.” That was a lucky break for us and one we only got because Tammy overheard Shayne griping about having to deal with the other girl again.

“I already sent that information to the other women. I’m not sure what they can do with it, but at least we have them helping us try to navigate these hardheaded asses.”

“Who’d have thought there were others out there like them, huh?” Belle still always seems a bit shook at the crap the men get up to, but I’ve long come to terms with the fact that Jace at least has a whole lot of shit going on.

LIZ

I’ve been on pins and needles ever since I saw Shayne and his friends in the parking lot this morning. What the hell are they doing here, especially now at this time? I was almost wishing I’d taken the option to home school for the time being so that I didn’t have to see anyone, but the choice had been taken away from me. Mandy had seen to that.

I have no idea how someone behind bars can still have the freedom to torment someone on the outside. I don’t even have the time to think about that kid Cassie in the first place, and Mandy refuses to divulge what these cryptic messages are about. It sounds like that stupid movie from years ago where a bunch of high school kids ran someone off the road or some crap. But I don’t see that mousy little girl doing something like that.

“Liz, are you paying attention? What was the last thing I said?”

“How should I know?” It’s been months since I’ve shown even a spark of my old self. So much has happened since Mandy got arrested, and I testified against her in court. I’ll admit I did that out of anger and not thinking straight, but once the dust settled and I had some time to think, I knew that I’d made the wrong move.

Even though I knew she couldn’t reach me from behind bars, I knew that the vindictive bitch would find a way to hurt me, and she had. The same reason I’d given in and testified against her is the same thing she’s using to blackmail me into doing her dirty work.

I’ve long stopped being the mean girl I used to be. These days I mostly keep to myself since Kelly and the others have chosen to keep their distance. Even though we all got caught up in Mandy’s schemes, they see me as almost as bad as she is because of the Sian thing. I can’t help that; what’s done is done, but I can’t seem to get them to see that I was just caught up like the rest of them. Now they treat me like a pariah.

The teacher and I had a stare-off, and I guess she saw the dead look on my face, the look that said I’d pretty much given up because she sighed and let me off with a caution. My guts stayed tied in knots for the rest of the day, and I chewed my nails to the quick with worry. Maybe I should just tell the guys what was going on. I’m not sure that that’s why they were here, but I can’t imagine that Cassie hadn’t told them something, seeing as they were all here all of a sudden.