Chapter 32
Mia cracked the door and peeped into the hall.
The corridors were buzzing. Sleepy-eyed girls in pajamas stood in the open doorways, trying to figure out what was going on.
Other girls were just coming home from the party, tipsy and talking too loudly as they asked their hall mates what the police were doing there.
Celeste attempted to herd them into their rooms.
Officer Oates’s voice grew closer with every passing minute. I didn’t imagine we had long before we’d be forced to let her in. Mia shut the door and bolted the lock.
“What are we going to do?” Ava asked urgently. “We can’t just hide in here until they find us and point fingers at each other.”
“Why stop now?” Vero asked snidely. “That’s what you all have been doing for an entire year, right?
” Mia and Ava stared at her, speechless.
Vero made a sound of disgust. “No wonder Zoey sat with this secret as long as she did, after watching the two most powerful board members in the house single out the only other brown girl here. And don’t lie to yourselves and say you laid the blame on me because I made myself look guilty.
You, the chapter, the school, the police, Emory Willingham’s parents …
You all had me pegged for this days before I ran. ”
Blood rushed to Mia’s cheeks. “You’re right.
We made some horrible assumptions. We’re sisters.
Every one of us. We should have acted like it and supported each other.
The responsibility for the poker nights was all of ours to share.
We should have shouldered it together.” Mia released a sigh.
She smiled at Vero, Ava, and Zoey as if it felt good to get all of those thoughts off her chest. “We’ll stick together this time, a united front.
We’ll tell the police Veronica didn’t steal anything and it was all a big misunderstanding. ”
“That’s it?” The tips of Vero’s ears burned red and I thought steam might shoot out of them.
“It was just a big misunderstanding to you? We’re just supposed to laugh it off now, have a group hug, and move on with our lives like none of this ever happened?
It happened to me!” she said, making Ava and Mia flinch.
“I had to drop out of school! I watched the door slam shut on every dream I had for my career and my future! I had to leave my mom and my aunt! I had to start my entire life over with what I could carry in my backpack and, contrary to what you’ve been telling yourselves all this time, there was never any money in it!
I had nothing, Mia! And now you expect me to just suck it up and accept your half-assed apology? ” Vero’s hands shook with rage.
I touched her arm, afraid Officer Oates might hear her.
“No, Finlay! I’ve spent too much time hiding; I will not be silent now!”
“You’re right,” I said in a low voice. “There’s no excuse for what these girls did to you, and there’s nothing they can say that will erase the damage they caused. But at least now they know the truth and they’re willing to try to make it right.”
“They can’t!”
“I know,” I said, frustrated for her. She should be angry.
She had every right to be furious. She shouldn’t have to be silent to protect these girl’s feelings, and she sure as hell didn’t owe them any mercy.
But in a matter of moments Officer Oates was going to knock on that door, and as much as I hated to admit it, Mia was right; they needed to present a united front if they were all going to get out of this situation unscathed.
“No one is saying you shouldn’t be angry, but maybe for now you can be the bigger person. ”
“Why does the burden always fall on the victim to be the bigger person? I have always been the bigger person, Finlay! Maybe it’s time they grow up!”
“She’s right,” Mia cut in. She looked shamefaced—far less regal than she had when she’d walked into the room moments ago. “Ava and I will take full responsibility for falsely accusing you, Veronica.”
“But what about Zoey?” Ava asked. “We can’t lie to the police about where the money was. What will happen to her?”
They all looked to Vero. She was the one whose life had been turned upside down by Zoey’s impulsive decision. No one would begrudge her for wanting to shift the blame where it belonged.
Zoey stared at the floor, awaiting a verdict.
“Zoey’s not a thief,” Vero said after a thoughtful pause.
“She made a mistake and she owned up to it. I’m not going to turn my back on her.
Like you said, we’ll take the responsibility together.
We’ll tell the truth and explain everything that happened.
Once you and the chapter drop your charges against me, we’ll just have to convince Celeste and the rest of the house not to pursue any new charges against Zoey.
If she returns all the missing money and offers to step down from her position on the board, and if we all agree to pay back Emory’s parents, hopefully that will be the end of it.
We can make restitution to any other families that have come forward, and we’ll agree to donate whatever’s left to a charitable cause.
With any luck, Celeste and the Office of Student Conduct will be lenient. ”
“I’m sorry, too, for everything we put you through,” Ava said. “Your friend is right. We can’t take back the things we did, but we can do better now. Don’t worry, Zoey. We’ve got your back.”
“Together then?” Mia asked.
“Together,” Ava agreed.
Vero put her arm around Zoey’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “KG’s before D’s.”
“I hope the D is for detectives,” Cam said. The girls laughed.
We all started at a loud knock on the door.
Cameron shoved his duct-taped belt under Zoey’s comforter and sat on top of it on the bed, his hands folded in his lap, doing his best to look innocent.
Zoey took a deep breath before flipping the dead bolt.
When she opened the door, Celeste stood on the other side of it, wearing a rumpled sweatshirt, pajama pants, and a pair of fuzzy Crocs.
There were rollers in her hair and sleep marks on her face.
Officer Oates and a campus police officer stood behind her.
Celeste’s eyes widened when they landed on Vero. “Veronica! What are you doing here?” I couldn’t tell if she was upset or relieved to see her. “Officer Oates said you were in the building, but I told her she had to be mistaken. You know you aren’t supposed to be on campus.”
“I came to talk to Zoey.” Vero turned to Officer Oates and smiled. “Thought you’d never get here.”
“Very funny,” Oates said flatly. “You can save the rest of your standup routine for the judge.”
“I thought my ankle monitor was fried. How’d you manage to find me?”
“Got lucky,” Oates said, patting Vero down.
“Dispatch got a nine-one-one call from a disgruntled Uber driver who claimed he was shortchanged by two women who had promised him cheeseburgers in exchange for a ride. He was going on and on about how Quarter Pounders are supposed to have onions on them and his didn’t have any.
Dispatch was about to hang up on him when he mentioned one of the women was wearing handcuffs.
He told her he’d dropped you off near Frat Row and insisted we initiate a manhunt.
Apparently, the missing onions were a real hot button. ”
Cam held up his fast-food bag. “Can I get the guy’s number? Sounds like he got Arnold Schwarzenegger’s—” Zoey clamped a hand over his mouth.
Officer Oates turned and frowned at him. “Do I know you?”
Cam shrugged, a deer caught in headlights.
“You sure I haven’t arrested you before?”
He shook his head.
Reluctantly, Officer Oates turned her attention to Bennett. “You live here?”
“No, ma’am.”
“You can wait in the hall,” she said, dismissing him.
Bennett nodded and followed the campus police officer out the door.
“I’ll go with you,” Cam said, slinking out after them.
When they had both left the room, Officer Oates zeroed in on me and Vero. “You two have some explaining to do.” She pulled a pair of handcuffs from her belt and started toward me.
“This really is just a big misunderstanding,” I said, backing into the wall.
“We’ll discuss it at the station.” Officer Oates turned me around and snapped the cuffs onto my wrists. I was going to have one hell of a time explaining all this to Nick and my sister. But at least Vero would be off the hook, I reminded myself as Officer Oates nudged us toward the door.
Zoey, Mia, and Ava all scurried to block the exit.
“Wait!” Zoey pleaded.
Celeste attempted to shoo them out of the way. “Ladies, step aside and let the officer do her job.”
“No,” Zoey said, lifting her chin. “There’s something I need to say to you, and I’m going to say it now.” The room hushed. Mia gave Zoey an encouraging nod. Ava held Zoey’s hand as she swallowed and said, “Veronica wasn’t the one who took the money. I was.”
“Zoey,” Celeste said in an indulgent tone. “I know you’re upset and you want to help Veronica, but making up stories right now isn’t going to—”
Zoey dragged her chair out from her desk and stood on top of it.
She stepped onto her desk, balancing precariously as she reached above her head to push a ceiling tile aside.
She snaked an arm into the hole and pulled a backpack from it.
With shaking hands, she unzipped it, holding it out for everyone to see.
It was full of stacks of crinkled bills, wrapped in rubber bands.
“I took it from Veronica’s closet the morning you called the meeting,” she told Celeste.
“I was worried that if you found the money in her room, she’d get in trouble for having it.
Veronica was telling the truth all along.
The money was in her closet when she left for the party, and she never knew I was the one who took it because I never told her. ”
“Oh, Zoey,” Celeste said, her face crumpling. “Why would you do such a foolish thing?”