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hang out. I had been hoping they could all meet, considering everything Noelle's dad had done for me on the island, but he was on his way to California for some business meeting. It seemed like no one I knew was ever in the same place with their parents for very long.
"Mmmm. I finally get to meet Scott Brennan," Noelle said, actually licking her top lip.
"Ew. No. I think you two should stay very far away from each other," I said.
"Afraid I'll eat him alive?" Noelle asked with a smirk.
"He'd puddle at your feet," I replied.
"Fair enough." She looked out the window and sighed. "I can't wait to get back to Billings and get you moved into my room. One more term and I finally get that elusive diploma."
For the first time in a long while, I found myself thinking about everything Noelle had been through in the past year. The trial after Thomas's murder, getting expelled from Easton, being on probation. She was supposed to graduate last spring, but that hadn't happened thanks to her punishment. Last fall, however, her father had found a way to get her back into Easton and she'd spent the last few months repeating the first half of her senior year. Now she was actually going to get to finish out her high school career and get on with her life. But she was going to be a year behind all her peers--behind Dash and Natasha Crenshaw and all the others. It must have been torture for a person like her, a girl who was always in charge and in the know, to be bringing up the rear for once.
And now she was so looking forward to getting back to Billings
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when who knew what surprises might be waiting for us there? I couldn't handle the idea of her not knowing, not being prepared for the fact that Billings might be threatened--again. I took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge.
"Noelle, Sawyer said something to me at brunch this morning about a conversation he overheard between your dad and his dad and someone on the phone."
Noelle lifted her head and eyed me curiously. "About?"
"He said they kept mentioning Billings, and basically, it just sounded bad, "I told her, fiddling with the string on my hooded sweatshirt. "I think they might be talking about splitting us up again."
Noelle laughed. "Uh, no. If that were happening, I'd know about it."
"But I-"
"Reed, please," she said, pushing her hair behind her shoulder. "Leave the heavy thinking to me. If there was anything going on with Billings, Daddy would have told me. End of story."
I wanted to believe her. Normally I would. But I couldn't get Sawyer's words out of my mind. "For the good of the school ..."
"But your dad doesn't know everything, does he?" I said, shifting in my seat. "It's not like he's on the board or anything."
Noelle laughed openly, shaking her head as she reached for the W magazine on the table in front of her. "No. No board appointment for Daddy. He likes to work behind the scenes. Kind of like the great and powerful Oz."
My brow knit as I looked at her. "What did that mean? Did her father somehow have more power than the board? I had never even
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seen him before this trip. As far as I knew, he hadn't been to campus in the year and a half I'd been at Easton.
"But I-"
Suddenly Noelle snapped the just-opened magazine shut and looked up at me, her eyes bright. "I just had the most fabulous idea! You and your mother should join us at Bliss tomorrow!"
Okay. I guess we were changing the subject.
"Noelle, that's really nice, but there's no way we could afford--"
"Shut up. We'll just put it on our tab," Noelle replied. "Come on. You knowyou need to relax before school starts. And has your mother ever even had a massage?"
"Not that I know of," I replied.
"Afacial?" she asked.