Cameo (16 page)

“There's no one in here. Come on.”

He went, and I followed. The stark whiteness of the kitchen kind of freaked me out, and then there were spotlights everywhere! We ducked below the counters. I looked up for a minute and spotted a door at the back of the kitchen. The woman we had seen earlier came through the dining room door.

“Michelle!” she yelled.

She was dressed in a maid's uniform, holding a tray of those little finger sandwiches that didn't have any crusts. We scrambled around to the breakfast bar and hid underneath it. Jason peeked out over the ledge. I looked through the gaping entrance to the living room. Anyone coming from that direction could've spotted us a mile away. The maid cracked that lone door in the back. “I have sandwiches, Michelle,” she said in a heavy Spanish accent.

“Bring them down,” Michelle yelled.

Jason put his hand out for me to hold. “We're going to wait for her to come up, and then we'll go down,” he said.

“Maybe we should hide in the dining room,” I said.

I mean, who were we kidding? We weren't hiding from anyone with the 1,000 watts of light hitting us from every angle. We scurried across the kitchen back to the refuge of the dark dining room.

“Let's just get under here in case anyone comes in,” I pointed to the table.

“I have to see her come back up,” he said.

“Right.”

What was going on? Wasn't I supposed to be leading this mission? I couldn't be too mad though, his idea did make sense. Jason cracked the door open. A slither of light shined through the room. He kept one eye on the housekeeper. I watched the entrance to the foyer.

“Okay, she went in the living room,” he said.

“Showtime,” I said.

Next thing I knew, we were creeping down a narrow staircase. Jason quietly walked down a couple more stairs. He kneeled down a little until he could get a full view of what was going on. First he stared starry-eyed, then he squinted. He stood tall in front of me with his eyes glued to the floor. I could see he was carefully searching for the right words.

“Let's just bounce,” he whispered in my ear.

What? I hadn't just crawled under some foreign dining room table and ducked the housekeeper to just up and go. Please! The part of me that was leading this mission was trying to be strong. I took a deep breath.

“Not today,” I said.

He put his arms out and held onto the banister firmly so I couldn't get past him. I tugged at his arms as hard as I could.

“Are you for real?” It was becoming increasingly difficult to whisper. My temper was flaring up.

“Chill. Listen for minute. Sometimes, things look like one thing, but they're something else,” he said.

“Don't I get a little more out of my fortune cookie? Tell me some words in Chinese.”

I could see he was doing everything he could not to laugh. So I took another tug at his arm with no luck.

“Okay. You can stop grabbing me now,” he said.

“Like you don't like it,” I retorted.

He moved his hands from the stair rail to my waist as I crept past him to get an eyeful of the action. He lifted me up and placed me on the exact step he was on, as if I would see things the same
way he did from there. He continued to hold onto me. I slowly ducked my head down to peek through the space between the banister posts.

I'm not sure which came first, my mouth dropping or the feeling of tears weighing down my lower lids. I know I had known it, but to see it felt like a stab in the chest—now I knew how Caesar felt. Uh! That AP English reading had me all discombobulated, thinking of all types of conspiracy theories.

She was like my sister. I ripped Jason's hands off me. All of a sudden, I was Wonder Woman. I flew down the stairs and practically leapt my way over to the pool table where Michelle and Cindy stood. At this point, the wow factor of this glamorous farmhouse didn't faze me. The marble floors in the basement and the hand-painted mural on the ceiling were all part of Michelle's image. See, it would seem like someone who lived here should be above this whole stalking thing. But we all knew her cards.

As I approached, I could see Cindy handing Michelle the Dare Go Undercover bag I had been begging her for for three months. And it was so unlike me to beg! Pleading is not my look. It was a
StarletShop.com
limited edition, for Christ's sakes. As if her betraying me and secretly cavorting with my enemy wasn't enough!

“I guess you took one for the team, getting your leg all bruised up and everything.”

“No!” Cindy said.

I stood a couple of feet away from the best friends. Cindy had an iced latte in her hand, and she was notorious for throwing coffee on people. In junior year, she and Jane had gotten into a heated debate over some gossip about Cindy's latest boyfriend that Jane ran in the morning texts. It made it seem like he went both ways. Suddenly the supersize chocolate coffee Cindy had been drinking was all over Jane's face. I had no time for that. If she poured coffee on me, there would be no going back.

“Can't get enough of me, huh?” Michelle said.

My word, she was like that psycho from
Fatal Attraction
. Inside of that unbalanced mind of hers, we all wanted a piece of her.

“What are you doing?” Cindy whispered to me.

“Blowing this shit wide open!”

Usually I tried to curb those curse words. It was sort of unladylike, but I couldn't be censored now.

“Just let it ride. It's over. I got it. Go home,” Cindy said.

“Right. What, are you two swapping your favorite finds? All this time! This is the depths of deceit.”

I was so upset I didn't even think I was making any sense, but she knew what I meant. That was the thing about a best friend—they knew you. They knew what you meant and how you felt even when you were too angry to articulate your feelings. I was torn between wanting to cry tears of anger and wanting to choke the hell out of Michelle.

“Stop following me! You will not come to my house anymore. This whole thing is so over,” I said.

“Whatever do you mean?” Michelle giggled under her breath.

“Just shut up for freakin' once.” Cindy grabbed Michelle by the shirt collar. “It is over. Just freakin' admit it so we can all go home, because if you scratch me again I will cut you!” Cindy continued.

“Get out! All of you! Including you, Jason. Vala, get back to work.” Michelle looked right through me, over my shoulder.

When I turned around, what did I see? Jason, tucked away in a corner near the bottom of the stairs, talking to a girl I'd never really seen around before.

“It seems like you want everything I've got. My ex-boyfriend, my ex-best friend, my picture in the yearbook. Do you want to double as me too?”

I drew a long breath as I racked my brain for more clever things to say. I was so angry my hand was twitching. It took everything in me to keep from slapping Michelle. One part of me figured there was no reason to be civil at this point. The other part of me said to just walk away. So I did. I had nothing left. I was running on empty. I couldn't believe Cindy. I had never been let down so much in my entire life.

“Did he tell you he's a member?” Michelle shouted.

Everyone in the basement stopped in their tracks. My eye caught Jason's. He stood up and knocked his head on the low ceiling by the staircase. Was this house made for midgets or just people under six-foot-four?

“I'm not in it. I never went to a meeting or anything. It's just part of being on the team.”

“So that's what Roger meant when he said he couldn't tell me in front of the ‘basketball player.'”

In a matter of hours, everything I had known was gone. So I did what anyone ex-popular girl in my shoes would've done. I walked up to Cindy and snatched that Undercover Starlet
^™
bag right off the table. She owed me at least that. I stormed past Jason, up the stairs. I realized things would continue on as they were without me. The juniors would finish working on the yearbook, Cindy would continue to be shallow, and I would always be the outsider with the worst luck with guys. But one thing would change. Even if Michelle decided to come after me again, mystery was not in her arsenal.
The cat was out of the bag, and I was ready to go toe to toe with her. I could sense that she knew it too. The only question was: How was I going to get home?

“You don't want her either,” Michelle said to Jason.

“Don't act like you know me. This is the second time I've talked to you since I've even been at this school,” he said.

“Third,” Michelle corrected him.

“At least she didn't come after you with a
mask
on and send strange notes and write things on the wall. You're sick! Then you took a sucker hit at Cindy and threw her down the stairs. Stay away from Nia if you know what's good for you!” Jason said.

“And I'm taking all my freakin' stuff back. I run half of this! So maybe you should be afraid.” Cindy snatched up her things.

What? Was she trying to buy peace with her accessories? Please!

I tripped on the top step. As I fell forward, I felt two arms reach out and grab me, pulling me toward a warm body.

“I got you. I need you in one piece for prom,” he said.

“Is that what you need?” I pulled his arms from around me.

“We don't have to rush. Just take your time,” he whispered to me even though I was out of his reach. It was as if he knew I was listening out for him.

It angered me that he seemed to know just how I was feeling. I had that fight-or-flight thing going on. I was either going to wring someone's neck or run. I hurried to the door. I practically slid across the floor. When I reached the door, I stopped. I didn't know why, but for some reason I couldn't leave. Not like that.

“So who was she?”

I was jealous. Even I hadn't realized it until the words floated right out of my mouth. If this was just lust or infatuation, would I be jealous? I didn't even know if I was the possessive type. I'd only been in one relationship, if you could call it that.

He drew his lips together as if they had been pulled together by a drawstring. He thought hard. He reached past me and grabbed the doorknob. “Let me get that so we can go,” he said.

“We? Here I am confronting this witch who's been making my life a living hell, and you're getting your rap on with some girl!”

“Whoa! I think you need to bring that down a notch. And maybe we could leave before we argue,” he said.

“No.”

“Well, first off, I wasn't tryin' to talk to her. Second, I was asking her why Cindy was giving Michelle money,” he said. I turned away from him. “Do you still want to talk about this in here?” he asked.

I waited and waited for him to turn the doorknob. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I felt his breath on the back of my neck. He was in no rush to open that door. I think he was smelling my hair.

“So when are you going to be gone?” Michelle asked. Her voice was most unpleasant, so scratchy and sour-sounding.

“Don't turn around,” Jason said.

I didn't. I even surprised myself. Normally, I would've lashed out at him attempting to control me, but somehow it felt more like he had my back.

The door was quaintly slammed behind us. This was all turned around. It was nothing like the way I thought it would be. I was supposed to be the one with the attitude. I was the one who was
supposed to emerge as the victor. Yet somehow it felt like the tables had been turned. This wasn't about some damn yearbook photo, that was for sure! I had come too far. Plus, I had dragged Jason into this.

Michelle couldn't just go around thinking she could screw around with anyone she wanted to. There were codes to live by. People were entitled to live in peace. I was tired of her being all up in my space disturbing my peace. Though I was sure Jason would sleep well tonight, resolution or not, I wouldn't. It was high time I had the final word, not some punk-ass freak—even that description was too courteous for that deranged witch. No one should have to look over her shoulder in her own house—except maybe her.

“So what did she say?” I asked.

“About Cindy?” he asked.

I nodded my head, yes.

“She just said Cindy and Michelle were arguing about you before we came in. Then I asked what they were doing, and she said they were laying out the yearbook. I asked her to make sure that we were in.”

I knew he was just saying “we” so I wouldn't feel alone in this stalking boat. He would have no problem getting his picture in the yearbook, especially the way that girl was looking at him. She wanted him for breakfast and maybe seconds for lunch. Even I didn't look at him like that … yet.

At the curb, I had to leave him behind.

“I'm coming,” he contested.

“No, because both of us will be caught. Something is not right! I just feel like I have to see her room. Something tells me that if I get into her head a little, I can turn this around.”

“So you're not the type of girl to leave well enough alone?”

“I thought you might've figured that out back at the door—while you were deciphering my conditioner scent, that is.”

He wandered past me toward his car. I think he felt a little embarrassed. I had to cough to keep from laughing.

“I'll call you when it's over,” I said.

“All right, I'll be here at my car.”

“I'm a big girl. I'll be okay.”

“You handle your biz. Call me, text me, or whatever if you need me.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“You're kind of feisty, though.”

“Are you scared for her or for me?”

“I definitely am not scared for you.” He laughed. It was weird.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You're the only girl I know who would do this.”

“I have no choice. It has to be done!” I could see a smile in his eyes. “You like that, huh?” I asked.