“A witness left a message that someone who looked like me was loitering outside the restaurant late that night.”
“I don’t know who called.…” But she also thought it was her mother. I could see it on her face. The fear, that she was being disloyal, like she was walking the edge, breaking some secret code. “I told Mike and the police that I didn’t think you did it, that I didn’t see your truck outside or anything.”
“Why are you telling me this, Ashley?” I was surprised she was ratting her mother out, even if she was dancing around it, and wondered at her motive. She’d clear my name of the theft if I let her film me? Something else? She had an agenda, I was sure of it.
“It’s not right that you got fired. I feel really bad.” She did look upset, near tears. And her face was blotchy, like she might have been crying before. “I had a huge fight with my mom tonight because I said I was going to tell Mike she was at the restaurant. She said she couldn’t believe what I was insinuating, that if I didn’t trust her then maybe she shouldn’t help me pay for the Vancouver Film Festival this year. And there’s more.…”
“More about what?”
She dropped her voice, her eyes big. “I heard her talking on the phone. She sounded really angry about someone, which isn’t unusual—she’s always complaining about something—but she was saying they had to make sure the person they were talking about couldn’t cause them any more problems.”
“That could have been about anything.” But I felt my pulse speed up, my nerves alert and on edge. The same feeling I’d get when I was inside, right before a big fight broke out.
“I know, but she was acting weird. She didn’t know I was watching but she was still quiet and looking around, not saying names. And she’s been snapping at me over nothing. She and my dad had a screaming fight.”
I was silent, thinking over everything. My fear was obviously accurate. Shauna might have more planned for me than a simple theft. I flashed back to high school, how Shauna had wanted to destroy my life, how she had succeeded.
As though Ashley had read my mind, she said, “Why does she hate you so much?”
Her face was serious and scared. I sensed she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know, like she was aware she was opening a door that she might not be able to close. But she couldn’t stop herself, had already gone too far. I felt the same way. I wanted to tell her to leave, but she was a key. I might not know which lock she fit yet but I wasn’t ready to let go of her either. We held gazes, the only sounds now the ticking of my clock and Captain’s breathing.
I decided to follow Ashley’s lead and shoot straight from the hip. “It started in ninth grade. She liked some guy, and when he talked to me one day she flipped out. She made my life hell, spread lies, and made sure I had no friends. She forgot about me until high school, when she got a crush on Ryan and he picked me instead. After that, she made it her mission to destroy my life.”
Ashley was nodding. “My mom comes across tough, but she’s actually really insecure. She wants—needs—everyone to like her, and she’s super-competitive. Like she wants all my friends to think she’s the coolest mom. It’s probably because my grandpa was always busy when she was a kid, and now he spends more time with me. But I don’t care—she shouldn’t take it out on me.”
A surprisingly insightful comment, but I didn’t see how it was going to help my situation any. I felt tired, worn-out. I thought things had changed, had actually dared to believe I could finally have a normal life. Now the noose was closing around my neck again, and Shauna was holding the end of the rope.
“I’m going to do it,” Ashley said. “I’m going to tell Mike that Mom was at the restaurant.” She was scared to death, you could see it in her face, but she also had a fervent energy, high on the idea of doing the right thing.
I thought over her statement, feeling relief at first: Mike might let me come back; Suzanne would see that I was telling the truth. Then I wondered what Shauna’s next step would be. If she was gunning for me, it might be better to let her think she’d won. She might back off for a bit, give Ryan a chance to find out more about that night at the lake.
“Don’t,” I said. “I don’t want you to get in shit with your mom, and Mike will be pissed that you let her in. You need the money for school.”
She looked shocked. “You got fired.”
“Patty wanted me out of there anyway. She was just waiting for an excuse.”
“But it’s not fair.”
I remembered being shocked when I was arrested for Nicole’s murder, thinking how unfair that was, how unfair everything felt when I was a teenager. But it’s an imperfect system and I learned that most things in life weren’t fair.