Chapter 13
Ella
At noon, I meet Briggs behind the building and tell him what Ms. Higgins said.
We both agree it has to be her. She hates bullies, rich kids, and athletes, so it makes sense she’d want Briggs, Parker, and Finn to be punished.
And she’s into astronomy, so it’s entirely possible she was out there that night to look at the stars and ended up seeing the hit-and-run.
“What are we going to do?” I ask Briggs.
“Parker and I will do what she told us and see if that buys us more time.”
“What if it doesn’t?”
“We’ll bargain with her. If it’s Ms. Higgins, I’m guessing she’s torn between turning us in and letting us go.
She wants to punish us, but she probably also feels some guilt over turning us in and ruining our futures.
I’m thinking that’s why she’s taking so long to go to the cops.
Maybe she thinks these assignments she’s giving us are a way of punishing us without having us go to jail. ”
“That actually makes sense.”
He smiles. “And that surprises you? I thought by now you’d figured out I’m smarter than I look.”
“You are, but you’re also really hot.”
He grabs me, pulling me against him. “We need to finish what we started at the park.”
“I thought you didn’t want to.”
He kisses me — a deep, passionate kiss that fires up that intense need from last night, a need I’m hoping he’ll satisfy right here, right now.
He pulls away. “I need to go.”
“Wait, when are we finishing this?”
He just smiles and walks off.
Why is he torturing me? Working me up and then leaving? That’s so mean.
When I’m back in the school, I walk by Ms. Higgins’ classroom and hear her laughing. It’s one of those nervous laughs you use with a guy when you really like him.
“I’d love to,” she says. “But I have my astronomy club meeting tonight.”
I stop and listen, not sure what I’m expecting to hear. It’s not like she’s going to admit she’s the mystery texter.
“Oh, Chuck,” she says with that nervous laugh. “You say the funniest things.” She pauses. “I’d love to go back there! That restaurant was wonderful.” She pauses again. “Yes, I’ll talk to you later.”
This morning, I was sure Ms. Higgins was the person sending those texts, but as I thought about it more, I started doubting it. There has to be a way to find out.
“Ella.” Ms. Higgins sees me as she comes out of the classroom. “Did you need something?”
“Um, I was just going to ask you about the next assignment, but I didn’t want to interrupt your phone call.”
“Oh, sorry,” she says, sounding flustered. “I shouldn’t be taking personal calls at work. So, what was your question?”
“Nothing. I figured it out.” I smile. “Was that a guy you were talking to?”
“It was. He’s a principal at a middle school.” She smiles, then looks down, seeming embarrassed. “Ella, I shouldn’t be talking about this with you.”
“I only asked because you seem really happy.”
It’s true — she does seem happy. But would a person who saw a hit-and-run and is sending threatening texts be happy? I’d think she’d be nervous and tense, not happy.
“Do you go out with him on the weekends?” I ask.
“We go out every Saturday night, sometimes Fridays too.”
The accident was on a Saturday night. If she were on a date, she wouldn’t have been there to witness it.
“How long have you dated him?” I ask.
“It’s been about a month, maybe longer. We started seeing each other right before the end of winter break, so however long that’s been.”
“And you’ve been out with him every Saturday night?”
“Yes.” She tilts her head. “Ella, why are you so interested in this?”
“I was just wondering. I hope it works out. See you at class!” I say as I walk off.
It’s not her. It can’t be. She was on a date that night, and I’m guessing the date didn’t involve sitting in the woods on a hill overlooking a dark, deserted road.
It’s not her, I text Briggs. I’ll explain later.
If it’s not Ms. Higgins, who else could it be? Would it be another teacher? But who?
The halls are filling up now that the lunch period is almost over.
I go to my locker, and as I’m putting in my combination, I hear some girls cackling in a high-pitched voice.
It sounds like Vanessa, one of Aubrey’s friends.
She’s done some local commercials and thinks she’s famous because she’s on TV.
“Oh my God, look at her face!” I hear Vanessa yell so everyone can hear.
“It’s about to pop!” I hear Aubrey say as she laughs.
I turn back and see Charlotte trying to get through the crowded hallway, her hand covering her chin. Vanessa and Aubrey are on each side of her, keeping pace with her.
“She should be on that reality show,” Vanessa says.
Aubrey gasps. “Totally! The one where the doctor—”
“Leave me alone!” Charlotte says, hurrying down the hall, her face bright red. Vanessa and Aubrey intentionally made a scene, and now everyone is staring at Charlotte.
“Get away from her!” I shove people aside to get to Charlotte.
“Aww,” Aubrey says to Vanessa. “Looks like Charlotte’s girlfriend is coming to save her. Do you think they still do it when her face looks like that?”
“Leave her alone!” I yell at Aubrey.
People in the hall stop, forming a wall around Charlotte so she can’t get past.
“Show them your face!” Vanessa says to Charlotte. “It’s so disgusting.”
“What’s going on here?” Briggs’ deep, powerful voice cuts through the laughter and murmuring crowd.
“Briggs, you have to see this,” Aubrey says, pointing to Charlotte. “I didn’t think she could get even uglier, but then this happened.”
Vanessa bursts out laughing.
The crowd parts as Briggs, with his tall, muscular body, walks up to Charlotte.
“Show him,” Aubrey says to Charlotte. “Show him that giant crater on your face.”
Briggs’ eyes shoot to Aubrey. “Shut the hell up!”
Shock covers her face, and her jaw drops. She’s speechless, for the first time ever.
The hallway is silent, everyone staring at Briggs.
His eyes move back to Charlotte, who still has her hand covering her chin. “You don’t have to show me.”
Charlotte glances at me beside her, like she doesn’t know what to do. I give her a look to go along with it, knowing Briggs won’t do anything to make it worse. This is his assignment: to stand up for someone he normally wouldn’t.
“Briggs, just let her show you,” Vanessa says. “It’s the biggest fucking zit you’ve ever seen. Like, seriously, it’s huge.”
Briggs puts his hand on Charlotte’s shoulder and leans down to her. “Ignore her. Ignore all of them. There’s nothing wrong with your face. We all get zits.”
“I don’t!” Aubrey says, shoving me aside to get to Briggs. “Just look at it. I swear you’ve never seen anything like it.”
Briggs glances at me, then back at Aubrey. “Did you just shove her?” he asks, pointing at me.
Aubrey shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe. Who cares? It’s Trailer Girl, Charlotte’s lesbian lover.” She laughs, and Vanessa joins in, then some other people start laughing.
“You think this is funny?” Briggs yells, quieting the crowd. “Would any of you like to be in Charlotte’s place right now, having everyone fucking laugh at you?”
Nobody responds.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” He looks at Aubrey. “You want to know how it feels to be humiliated?”
She’s too shocked to answer.
“Okay, here we go,” he says. “You’re a fucking bitch with no personality who’s boring as shit. The only reason you’re popular is because of me. Because you dated me. How’s that feel? Does it feel good?”
“You asshole!” She smacks his arm, which doesn’t even make him flinch.
“As for you,” he says to Vanessa, “hanging out with Aubrey, and acting like her, isn’t going to make you her friend. She doesn’t even like you. She only lets you be in her presence because you do whatever she tells you.”
Vanessa looks at Aubrey. “Is that true?”
“No! He’s just being an ass.”
“Does she still make you stop and get her coffee every morning before school?” Briggs asks Vanessa.
“Yes, but—”
“Stop getting her coffee and see if you’re still friends.”
“I’m not listening to his!” Aubrey huffs. “Let’s go, Vanessa.”
Vanessa follows Aubrey as she makes her way through the crowded hallway.
“Show’s over,” Briggs says to the crowd, then he looks at Charlotte. “You okay?”
She nods.
“C’mon, Charlotte.” I grab her arm and lead her through the hall to the door, taking her outside. “What happened?”
She slowly lowers her hand. There’s a massive zit on her chin, big and red and oozing with pus. It’s the worst zit I’ve ever seen, and I’ve had some really bad ones.
“It showed up last night,” she says, “and it keeps getting worse.”
I shrug. “It’s not that bad.”
“Ella!” She hits my shoulder.
“Okay, it’s bad, but it’ll get better. Did you put anything on it?”
“I tried everything. Every zit cream I had, even the prescription kind. Then I tried an ice pack, which did nothing. Then this morning before school I went online and tried all these home remedies but everything I try just makes it worse.”
“I guess you just have to give it time to go away.”
“And deal with that?” She points to the school.
“I don’t think people will say anything after seeing Briggs’ performance just now.”
“Yeah, what was that about? Why’d he stand up for me?”
“I don’t know. I guess he was just being nice.”
“Are you and him back together?”
“Um, kind of. I’m not sure.”
I didn’t tell her what’s been going on with Briggs and me. I didn’t want to jinx it. Things are good between us right now, and I don’t want it to change.
“Let’s go back inside,” I say.
“I don’t think I can. I’m too embarrassed.”
“You have any makeup in your bag?”
“No, but there’s some in my car.”
“C’mon.” I head to her car.
“Ella, it’s not going to work,” she says, following after me. “I already tried.”
“We’re going to try again.”
We go to her car, and I try my best to cover the zit with concealer, but then more oil seeps out of it, causing the makeup to run off. She’s just going to have to deal with it, but at least nobody will make fun of her. If they do, they’ll have to deal with Briggs.