Getting REVENGE on Lauren Wood (21 page)

“What happened to giving up the revenge plan? You couldn’t resist one last chance to get her back?”

“I did give up the plan. I stuck the stuff in her purse a while ago, but I swear I didn’t call LaPoint. I’d been planning to make an anonymous tip to the cheerleading coach, but that was before we talked and I decided to dump the whole revenge plan. I never told anyone.”

“The cheerleading coach? Why?”

“So Lauren would be kicked off the squad. They have a zero tolerance policy. Cheerleading was the only item that I hadn’t checked off.”

“Well, you wouldn’t want to leave anything unchecked.”

“I keep telling you, I’m done with all that,” I said, throwing my arms up in the air. “Someone else called LaPoint.” I was practically yelling at this point and I noticed that the janitor had turned off the floor buffer and was watching us like our little drama was better than cable TV. I gave him a smile and pulled Brenda down the hall. We went outside and stood by the door.

“I didn’t plan for this to happen,” I said. Brenda gave a snort. “Okay, I planned it, but I gave up the plan. I don’t know who did this today. Maybe someone else saw a chance to get her back. Who knows, maybe karma finally caught up to her.”

I shuffled in place. I’d waited a long time for Lauren’s downfall. I’d dreamed about it for years. Now that it finally happened it didn’t feel nearly as good as I’d anticipated. Especially with the way Brenda was looking at me.

Brenda’s mom pulled into the parking lot and flashed her lights.

Brenda shook her head at me, then jogged over to the car and got in. I waved as they drove away, hoping it would infuse Brenda with confidence that somehow things would work out for the best.

So much for victory being sweet.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

T he door to the school slammed open, and I jumped back out of the way. Mrs. Wood stormed down the stairs, dragging Lauren behind her. Neither of them saw me. I was afraid to move and draw attention to myself.

“Never in my life have I been so humiliated,” Mrs. Wood said. It was clear to see where Lauren’s nostril-flaring talent came from: Her mom’s nostrils were wide enough to comfortably hold a tennis ball in each.

“It wasn’t mine. I’m telling you, someone planted it there,” Lauren said. Her face was red and blotchy.

Mrs. Wood spun around and Lauren pulled back as if she thought her mom would hit her. Mrs. Wood yanked Lauren closer by her wrist so that she could yell directly in her face.

“I don’t care if it’s yours. What I care about is that you are
dragging the name of this family through the muck. You better believe that there are plenty of people in this town who would love the chance to tear down your father and me, and you just gave them a way to do it.”

“But it isn’t true.”

“I don’t care about the truth, Lauren. I care about how it looks. I care about what people think is the truth. You know, I don’t ask that much of you, just that you stay at the top of your game, that you represent this family to the best of your ability, and you can’t even do that.”

Mrs. Wood shook her head in disgust and stomped toward the street.

“Mom, I’m scared,” Lauren said in a wobbling voice. She was still frozen on the stairs.

Mrs. Wood spun back around. “Well, Lauren, frankly I don’t care what you feel. What we need to focus on is how we’re going to fix this. Your father is going to get a lawyer and you’re going to do whatever we need you to do to make this situation go away. You can save your tears for some other time and place.” Lauren’s mom yanked open the door to her Lexus SUV, her diamond bracelets winking in the sunlight. “Move it,” she said, getting in and slamming the door behind her.

Lauren’s shoulders slumped over and she walked slowly to the car. Her mom sat in the driver’s seat staring straight ahead. When Lauren got to the car she looked up and saw me standing by the side of the school door. I saw her chest hitch and
she started crying harder. She opened the door and crawled into the SUV and her mom tore off before she had finished closing the door.

“I’m sorry,” I said, but no one was there to hear it.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

T here is no doubt in my mind that I have the strangest parents in the world. They wear only all-natural fibers and actually like the taste of tofu tacos. They’ve dragged me to all kinds of weird self-exploration workshops where I learned to meditate, chant, rub crystals, and burn sage stalks to smudge the evil spirits from my life. I’m pretty sure both of them think they have been through previous lives. They’re weird, but they love me. They love who I am, not what or who they wanted me to be or thought I could be. They want me to be happy. I knew without a doubt that if the situation had been reversed, if I were in Lauren’s shoes, they would want to know the truth and they would stay with me until we figured it out together.

It was possible that the worst thing in the world wasn’t being betrayed by your so-called best friend; maybe the worst thing was being betrayed by your family.

Lauren wasn’t in school the next day and there wasn’t a soul
in all of Lincoln High who didn’t know why. A couple of geeky juniors who had been on the receiving end of some of Lauren’s cruel comments over the years spit on her locker as they walked past, and someone else had written
bitch
on it in marker. It was clear that while Lauren might have been popular, that wasn’t the same thing as being well liked.

Bailey, Kyla, and the rest of the cheerleading squad were warming up for a lunchtime practice. Apparently there was some big cheerleading derby or something coming up that called for extra practices. Bailey had asked me to come for moral support, so I sat on the slick gym floor watching and picking at my sandwich.

“Hey, can you give a message to Lauren for me?” One of the guys from the football team said as he jogged past.

Kyla gave a curt nod.

“Tell her if she’s looking for blow, she don’t need to do drugs. She can have this.” He grabbed his crotch and gave it a shake. The rest of the guys burst out laughing.

“That was disgusting,” Bailey said, looking away and pulling her leg effortlessly up above her head in a stretch. “I still can’t believe the whole thing.”

“It’s not like it’s the first time she did something without thinking,” Kyla pointed out.

“True, but I don’t think she did it,” I said. “I think someone stuck that stuff in her bag for LaPoint to find.”

“That’s terrible. Who would do that to Lauren?” Bailey asked.

“That’s what we need to figure out,” I said.

“Now we’re going to be Nancy Drew?” Kyla asked with a laugh. I had a sudden flash of Lauren cutting her palm so we would be in trouble together after our Nancy Drew adventure had gone bad.

“Yeah, now we play Nancy Drew. We figure out a way to clear Lauren’s name.”

“I feel terrible about what happened, but I don’t want to get messed up in the situation.” Kyla bent over, bouncing as she touched her toes. She looked back at me. “What? I’ve got my cheerleading slot to think about. Anyone mixed up in drugs is an auto off the squad. Who knows what happened? Maybe she was holding them for someone. Maybe they
are
hers. At the party last week she took a toke off someone’s joint. She’s no angel.”

“Smoking that stuff is wrong.” Bailey’s mouth pressed into a thin line. Clearly Mary Poppins did not approve of recreational weed. “You start with marijuana and then it leads to heavier stuff. She could have ruined her life.”

Kyla rolled her eyes. “Don’t freak out, Miss Just Say No. She got caught with two joints. It isn’t like she was shooting heroin. The whole thing is no big deal. Her cheerleading days are over, but Daddy’s lawyer will keep her out of any real trouble.”

I looked over at Bailey and she looked away, pulling at her pleated skirt.

“It isn’t that I don’t want to help Lauren. It’s just, my parents
told me I’m not allowed to hang out with her anymore. They’re like superstrict and stuff,” Bailey said.

The cheerleading coach blew her whistle and motioned that she wanted everyone to join her in the center of the gym floor. I stood up and chucked the rest of my sandwich into the trash.

“I don’t know why you want to help Lauren so bad. You know she totally talks shit about you,” Kyla said. “You might think she’s your friend, but she’s not. Lauren hates competition, and as far as she’s concerned, you never knew your place.”

“She never said anything that bad,” Bailey said, clearly feeling awkward. “Lauren just gets sort of short sometimes. She hates change.”

“Whatever,” Kyla muttered, doing a few last twists at the waist. “I wouldn’t worry about her. Things have a way of working out for Lauren.” Kyla ran off with her skirt flipping up.

“It’ll be okay. I think it’s super nice you want to help her out, but maybe she needed to get caught to keep herself from getting into even deeper trouble. It might have been the best thing that could have happened to her.” Bailey gave my arm a soft rub.

Oh no. She didn’t.

“Bailey, did you turn in Lauren?”

She pulled back. I could read her like an open book. She was thinking of lying, but she didn’t have the slightest idea how to do it. Dishonesty wasn’t something that came easy to her.

“It isn’t that I wanted her to get in trouble.” Her eyes filled
with tears. “Real friends do what’s right, even when it feels wrong.”

I sank down to the floor. Lauren was taken down by Mary Poppins. Bailey kneeled in front of me on the floor. “What happened?” I asked.

“I went in her purse to get a mint and I found the drugs.” Bailey twisted her hands together. “Lauren was never into that stuff before, but she’s been all weird and tense lately. I’ve been worried about her. I think she’s getting on the wrong track.”

“So you turned her in to LaPoint?” I glanced around to see if anyone else was paying attention to our discussion.

“I prayed about it first. I wanted to do the right thing. Now she can get the help she needs.” Bailey’s lower lip was shaking. “Are you going to tell her it was me?”

My mind was whizzing around like a salad spinner. “No. I won’t tell her.”

“I really did do it because I care about her.”

“I know you did.” The coach blew her whistle again. “You better go.” Bailey squeezed my hand and then ran over to join the rest of the squad. I clamored up to my feet, brushing off my jeans.

I wasn’t sure how she did it, but Lauren had found herself a true friend. I wanted another option, but I couldn’t think of one. It wasn’t about doing it to help Lauren; it was about doing it because the person I wanted to be would do the right thing. If I was going to get a life, it should be one worth having.

Chapter Forty

I sat outside LaPoint’s office, my knees bouncing up and down. I had to think that waiting to tell was going to be worse than the actual telling, but the way the secretary kept shooting looks over at me like my days were numbered made me wonder. I had the sense no one who met with LaPoint got out alive. I had never been in trouble like this before. I wasn’t sure what the process would be. Would LaPoint call my grandma? Would they kick me out of school?

Suspension might not be a bad thing. There was no telling how it would go once the rest of the school found out what I did. They might love me for taking down Lauren, but more likely they’d think I was a freaky stalker psycho who lied about everything. Maybe Grandma would be willing to homeschool me for the rest of the year so I could graduate. Then again, once my grandma found out I had lied to her about the revenge plan there was the very serious possibility
that she wouldn’t feel like doing me any favors.

The door to LaPoint’s office swung open and he stood there like a leering Count Dracula. The secretary didn’t say a word; she just pointed at me. I felt like doom-and-gloom music should start playing, but the only sound was my pounding heart. I stood up and tried to ignore the fact that every square inch of my body was sweating like I had run a marathon. I walked past Mr. LaPoint and sat in the chair across from his desk.

Mr. LaPoint’s office was done in an early prison warden–style, stark and cold. He wasn’t the kind of guy to have a lot of knickknacks and mementos hanging around. There was one framed picture on his desk, but it looked like the fake-family shot that came with the frame. I didn’t notice any torture devices, like thumbscrews, but I supposed those weren’t the kind of thing you’d leave laying around. I nibbled on the skin next to my thumbnail, but when I saw him looking at me I pulled it out of my mouth and sat on both of my hands. I waited for him to say anything, but he just sat there at his desk, his hands folded in front of him on the desk blotter.

“So …, ” I said, my voice trailing off, but he still sat there silently. I wanted to look at my watch. It felt like I had been sitting there for an hour at least even though I knew it had been a couple minutes at best. Apparently Mr. LaPoint didn’t subscribe to the “how to make things easier on you” school of discipline.

“I came to confess something,” I said finally.

“Go on.”

“I put the joints in Lauren Wood’s bag.”

“I see.”

When I’d thought of how this situation might go, Mr. LaPoint simply saying “I see” hadn’t been one of the possible outcomes I had imagined.

“So, I guess you’ll clear Lauren’s name. I don’t know if you need to call my grandma to pick me up or not.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Okay.” I waited for something to happen. I’d pictured Mr. LaPoint to be more of a yeller. I thought he was going to try to get out of me where I’d gotten the drugs or pull my fingernails out until I confessed my secret identity. Nothing. He sat there with his hands folded on the desk, looking at me. “Where do we go from here?” I asked.

“You go back to class, Miss Dantes.” He pushed back from the desk and stood.

“Class?” Was that a joke? Would I go to open the door and find myself taken down by a taser?

“While I appreciate the sentiment, lying isn’t tolerated here.”

“What?”

Mr. LaPoint gave a chuckle. “You’re friends with Miss Wood, aren’t you? You hang with her little crowd.”