Chapter Thirteen
“What’s the surprise?” Beside me, Emma looked across the cafeteria table at Courtney as she unwrapped a squished peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Courtney licked her finger after taking the Tupperware lid off her salad. “Wait until Gigi gets here.”
Bryson stood from the table beside ours, the legs of his chair screeching against the linoleum floor.
His eyes met mine for a flicker of a moment before he averted his gaze.
I set down my string cheese, swallowing my self-hatred for going along with Courtney’s lie all these months later.
Somehow, Courtney had managed to convince the rest of the school that Bryson and Jake were responsible for the dish soap on the locker room floor.
While I was still staying at Courtney’s house, I’d snuck into her room another time in hope of deleting the photo she’d taken of me holding the dish soap.
But after trying every four-digit number combo I could think of, I’d finally given up.
Apparently, when it came to locking her phone, Courtney was smarter than I’d given her credit for.
I watched Courtney take a bite of her salad. If she’d ever discovered someone had ripped that drawing out of her diary, she’d never said anything. At least not to me.
Bryson strode past Emma’s seat at the cafeteria table. “Bitch,” he muttered under his breath.
Beside me, Emma’s head jerked upward. “What’d you say, dickweed?”
She made a move to get up, and I grabbed her forearm.
“Emma, don’t.”
Courtney met my gaze from across the table.
She’d been right. Aside from the two football players hating us, they had faced no repercussions for what we’d accused them of.
They’d lost a few friends, but surprisingly, like Courtney had said, most of their male friends didn’t seem to care.
Even thought their prank was cool. Among most of the guys, they were actually more popular now.
“So, what’s this exciting news you have for us?” Gigi sat beside Courtney, plopping her backpack on the floor next to her after setting her cafeteria tray on the table.
Courtney turned to Gigi. “You know that prom dress you saw in Seventeen that you said was to die for?”
“The one that cost almost two thousand dollars?” Gigi twisted her long hair around her finger. “Of course I do.”
Courtney grinned. “I ordered it for you.”
My mouth fell open. Even though I knew Courtney’s family was rich, it was so different from my own reality that sometimes it still shocked me.
Gigi gaped at Courtney. “You did?”
Courtney nodded.
“Wow.” Gigi placed a hand over her heart. “I don’t even know what to say. Thank you.” Gigi smiled, but it looked strained.
I glanced at Beth. She and I had both wondered how Gigi could be so quick to believe Courtney wasn’t responsible for the topless photos in the school hallways. But seeing Gigi’s reaction now made me suspect Gigi hadn’t given Courtney a pass after all.
“You’re welcome.” Courtney swiped her hand through the air.
“But that’s not my exciting news.” She straightened, swiveling in her seat to face Beth, Emma, and me across the table.
“Okay, so I know we’re still a few months away from graduation, but I read in a magazine how senior trips can be a great bonding experience and how friends who take them are more likely to stay close when they get older.
And since I was our team captain, I thought I should be the one to plan the trip. ”
Emma’s eyes darkened when Courtney mentioned the position she’d taken over after Emma had broken her ankle, despite the volleyball season being over.
“So, since Palmer’s mom won’t let her go to Mexico like I wanted for spring break”—Courtney rolled her eyes—“I thought of another trip we can take that will be really bonding, and something we’ll remember forever.”
“What?” Beth asked before popping a Dorito into her mouth.
Courtney’s eyes widened with excitement. “A rafting trip. On Memorial Day weekend. Down the Sol Duc River. We’ll hike in, camp overnight—”
Gigi choked on her Diet Coke. “Camp?”
Courtney nodded enthusiastically. “I already bought all the supplies at Swain’s.”
Beth set her empty chip bag on the table. “Isn’t that dangerous?” She shot me a sideways glance, tucking a frizzy, dark wave of hair behind her ear.
Courtney shrugged. “We can totally handle it. My brother did it with some friends a few years ago when he was training for the Marines.” Her green-eyed gaze fell to Beth’s bag of chips. “It might also help you lose a few pounds. You’ll have to work it off somehow if you keep eating like that.”
My head jerked toward Beth to gauge her reaction. Why does Courtney have to be so mean sometimes? Beth had always been pudgy, even in kindergarten. But she wasn’t fat—she just wasn’t built with the same lean frame as some of the rest of us. Okay, all of us.
Beth stuck another Dorito into her mouth, and I was relieved to see that she looked unfazed by Courtney’s snide remark.
Gigi stared at Courtney. “We’re not Marines.”
Courtney batted her eyes, turning to meet Gigi’s skeptical gaze. “We’re athletes.”
“I don’t know,” I said, doubting my mom would allow me to go.
Courtney slapped her palm on the table. “You guys. It’s going to be amazing. A wild adventure. We need this. If we can raft the Sol Duc, we can do anything.” She gestured to me. “Like go to medical school.” Then to Beth. “Or become president of a university.” She motioned to Emma. “Or—”
“You two aren’t gonna get away with this.”
Our heads turned toward Jake scowling at Courtney and me from the end of our table. He turned to Emma. “Your mom should be suing them.” With a clenched jaw, he pointed his finger at Courtney, then me. “They’re lying.”
My blood ran cold as I studied Courtney.
“Bryson and I had nothing to do with that dish soap in the locker room,” Jake said, “and you all know it.” His long pointer finger traveled around our table.
“Or maybe you did it yourself?” He cocked his head toward Emma.
“For attention. And now what? You’re hoping to get rich by ruining Bryson’s and my lives? ”
“Screw you, Jake.” Courtney shot him a sharp, menacing glare.
Gigi scrunched up her face, looking at Emma across the table. “What’s he talking about? You’re not suing them, right?”
Emma flushed, looking uncomfortable. “My mom is suing the school over my medical bills. But not Bryson and Jake. Our insurance didn’t cover as much of my hospital bills as she’d hoped. She didn’t know what else to do.”
As Jake braced himself on the back of the empty chair across from Emma, a harsh glint lingered in his narrowed eyes, revealing the fury he was trying to contain. “And now the school’s coming after us,” Jake seethed.
Jake looked straight at Courtney, then to me. The accusation in his hazel eyes sent my heart into overdrive.
Jake turned to Emma with a wolfish grin, lips twisting at the corner, sharp and cutting, as though savoring her discomfort. “It’s not my fault your dad left, and your mom never went to college.”
Emma was out of her seat before any of us could stop her. With both palms, she shoved Jake. He fell backward onto a table filled with freshman. A girl shrieked as Jake landed on the table, spilling milk down the side onto her lap. She jumped from her seat.
“Hey!” Mr. Reynolds, our twenty-two-year-old school-lunch monitor speedwalked across the cafeteria with his hand in the air. “Stop right now!”
Jake sat up, and with gritted teeth, Emma lunged for him, but Courtney stepped in front of her as I reached up and tugged on Emma’s arm.
“I said stop,” Mr. Reynolds yelled. “You’re both going to the office.”
The cafeteria had gone quiet.
Jake pushed himself off the table. “Shit, Emma.”
“Watch your language,” Mr. Reynolds snapped.
Emma leaned toward Jake, pulling against my grip on her arm. “Like you’ll ever know anything about making money—you’ve always had everything handed to you. Loser.”
Mr. Reynolds stepped toward Emma. “That’s enough.” His tone was sharp, demanding obedience.
Jake picked his hat up off the floor. “My parents are gonna sue you. And you’re going to lose.”
“Let’s go. Now.” Mr. Reynolds put his hand on Jake’s back, guiding him toward the door. “Come on, Emma.”
Emma turned to Courtney and me, the anger in her eyes now replaced with tears. “I asked my mom not to sue. But my surgery bill was so much . . . she didn’t know what else to do.”
I looked to Courtney, willing her to tell the truth. I’d never expected there to be this ripple effect from one stupid action. Keeping this secret was making me sick. Staring at Courtney, I knew she’d never confess. I had to be the one to do it.
“Emma, I—”
“Good for your mom.” Courtney wrapped her arm around Emma, cutting me off. “Those guys shouldn’t be able to get away with hurting you like that. What if you’d hit your head? You could’ve died.”
I gaped at Courtney.
“That’s all the more why we should do this trip. We’ll never get this year back.”
Mr. Reynolds whipped around. “Emma! The office. Now.”
Courtney lowered her arm as Emma followed after Mr. Reynolds and Jake.
The cafeteria’s silence morphed into murmurings as Courtney returned to her seat. While Emma and Jake were ushered into the hall, Courtney lifted her salad fork as if nothing had happened.
“So, who’s in?”