One of Us is Lying(11)
“Kevin, maybe one weekend off?” my mother murmurs, but her heart’s not in it. She knows it’s a losing battle.
“Best thing Cooperstown can do is business as usual,” Pop says. “Slacking off won’t bring that boy back. God rest his soul.”
Nonny’s small, bright eyes settle on me. “I hope you realize none of you kids could’ve done anything for Simon, Cooper. The police have to dot their i’s and cross their t’s, that’s all.”
I don’t know about that. Officer Budapest kept asking me about the missing EpiPens and how long I was by myself in the nurse’s office. Almost like he thought I might’ve done something with them before Ms. Grayson got there. But he didn’t come out and say it. If he thinks someone messed with Simon, I’m not sure why he isn’t looking at Nate. If anybody asked me—which they didn’t—I’d wonder how a guy like Nate even knew about EpiPens in the first place.
We’ve just finished clearing the table when the doorbell rings, and Lucas sprints for the door, hollering, “I’ll get it!” A few seconds later he yells again. “It’s Keely!”
Nonny rises to her feet with difficulty, using the skull-topped cane Lucas picked out last year when she faced up to the fact that she couldn’t walk on her own anymore. “Thought you said you two didn’t have plans tonight, Cooper.”
“We didn’t,” I mutter as Keely enters the kitchen with a smile, wrapping her arms around my neck in a tight hug.
“How are you?” she murmurs in my ear, her soft lips brushing my cheek. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
“Okay,” I say. She pulls back and reaches into her pocket, briefly flashing a cellophane packet and a smile. Red Vines, which are definitely not part of my nutritional regimen, but my favorite candy in the world. The girl gets me. And my parents, who require a few minutes of polite conversation before they head out for their bowling league.
My phone chimes, and I pull it out of my pocket. Hey, handsome.
I duck my head to hide the grin that’s suddenly tugging at my mouth, and text back: Hey.
Can I see you tonight?
Bad time. Call you later?
OK miss you.
Keely’s talking to my mother, her eyes bright with interest. She’s not faking it. Keely isn’t only beautiful; she’s what Nonny calls “sugar all the way through.” A genuinely sweet girl. Every guy at Bayview wishes he were me.
Miss you too.
Chapter Four
Addy
Thursday, September 27, 7:30 p.m.
I should be doing homework before Jake stops by, but instead I’m sitting at the vanity in my bedroom, pressing fingers to the skin at my hairline. The tenderness on my left temple feels as though it’s going to turn into one of those horrible oversized pimples I get every few months or so. Whenever I have one I know it’s all anyone can see.
I’ll have to wear my hair down for a while, which is how Jake likes it anyway. My hair is the only thing I feel one hundred percent confident about all the time. I was at Glenn’s Diner last week with my girlfriends, sitting next to Keely across from the big mirror, and she reached over and ran a hand through my hair while grinning at our reflections. Can we please trade? Just for a week? she said.
I smiled at her, but wished I were sitting on the other side of the table. I hate seeing Keely and me side by side. She’s so beautiful, all tawny skin and long eyelashes and Angelina Jolie lips. She’s the lead character in a movie and I’m the generic best friend whose name you forget before the credits even start rolling.
The doorbell rings, but I know better than to expect Jake upstairs right away. Mom’s going to capture him for at least ten minutes. She can’t hear enough about the Simon situation, and she’d talk about today’s meeting with Officer Budapest all night if I let her.
I separate my hair into sections and run a brush along each length. My mind keeps going back to Simon. He’d been a constant presence around our group since freshman year, but he was never one of us. He had only one real friend, a sorta-Goth girl named Janae. I used to think they were together until Simon started asking out all my friends. Of course, none of them ever said yes. Although last year, before she started dating Cooper, Keely got super drunk at a party and let Simon kiss her for five minutes in a closet. It took her ages to shake him after that.
I’m not sure what Simon was thinking, to be honest. Keely has one type: jock. He should have gone for someone like Bronwyn. She’s cute enough, in a quiet kind of way, with interesting gray eyes and hair that would probably look great if she ever wore it down. Plus she and Simon must’ve tripped over each other in honors classes all the time.
Except I got the impression today that Bronwyn didn’t like Simon much. Or at all. When Officer Budapest talked about how Simon died, Bronwyn looked … I don’t know. Not sad.
A knock sounds at the door and I watch it open in the mirror. I keep brushing my hair as Jake comes in. He pulls off his sneakers and flops on my bed with exaggerated exhaustion, arms splayed at his sides. “Your mom’s wrung me dry, Ads. I’ve never met anyone who can ask the same question so many ways.”
“Tell me about it,” I say, getting up to join him. He puts an arm around me and I curl into his side, my head on his shoulder and my hand on his chest. We know exactly how to fit together, and I relax for the first time since I got called into Principal Gupta’s office.