So far, no one has asked about me.
Then there are the texts from my best friends.
Vanessa: I thought you picked Cush and that things would be back to normal this year, but canceling the after-party without any explanation is the last straw. Everyone has been asking me about it, like I’m your social secretary. I told them all to fuck off. I had your back on the Cush thing, but you can't be trusted anymore. I’m giving away your seat at our lunch table. You’re through.
Vanessa: And p.s. I decided I’m going to keep Cush for myself. That boy is fine.
RiAnne: Vanessa says we’re done being friends. Just wanted you to know I seconded the motion.
Cush: Keatyn, are you okay? Someone said you were on the ground throwing up, and then they announced that the after-party was cancelled. Are you sick? Vanessa is telling everyone the surfer got you hooked on drugs and that you almost overdosed, but when we danced and stuff, you seemed fine. I tried to come to your house to check on you. I don’t know if they told you, but the same guard wasn’t at the gate, and they wouldn’t let me in. I’m worried about you. I love you.
I quickly reply to Cush.
Me: Can’t talk right now. Major family drama. You’re right. I’ve never done drugs. Never will. I threw up because I was very upset. Vanessa is pissed I canceled the after-party. Says it’s the last straw, that she’s giving away my place at our table . . . And that she’s going after you :(
Cush: Well that was easier than we thought :) Now we can sit wherever we want. Hope everything’s okay. Call me as soon as you can. No matter how late. I’ll be waiting. I had so much fun tonight. And you told me you love me, so that makes it the best night of my life. Even better than the night at the hotel.
He’s so sweet. I start typing my reply.
Garrett practically rips my phone out of my hands. “What are you doing? You can’t have this.”
“I need to talk to my friends. Explain to them what’s going on.”
He sits down next to me. “This is going to be the hard part. You can’t talk to your friends. You can’t tell them anything.”
“I can’t just leave. I have to explain it to them. Like Cush. He and I . . . like, I can’t just disappear with no reason.”
“You have a very big reason why you need to do just that. Was he the other boy in the photos?”
“Yes, that was him.”
“What does Vincent think your relationship with him is?”
“Um, Cush was my date at one of the parties in the pictures, but I told Vincent he was just my friend . . . wait, do you think he’s in danger? Do you think my friends could be in danger?”
“I think he will use any means necessary to find you.”
“Last Vincent heard, I was dating Brooklyn. I told him about our summer in Europe.” I think about Cush and how happy I felt tonight. I lower my voice so only he can hear. “You don’t understand. I told Cush that I loved him tonight. We’re getting back together. Like, I finally figured out who the right guy for me was. Please don’t make me leave without talking to him. I can’t do that to him. He would be so hurt. He got hurt once because of me already. Please, I’ll lie to him if I have to, but I have to talk to him. I have to.”
Garrett pulls up my last text and shakes his head. “You already told him too much.”
“People are saying I’m a drug addict.”
“The more false rumors about you the better.”
Tears start streaming down my face.
Garrett leans closer to me. “You care a lot about him, right?”
I nod. “He loves me. All of me.”
“Why did you agree to boarding school? Why, when your mom wanted you to go somewhere with them, did you agree to go off on your own?”
“Because I’m afraid for my little sisters. I’d rather leave them and never see them again than have anyone hurt them.”
“You should be afraid for Cush too. If you love him, you won’t talk to him. I know it’s hard. It’s awful, but he can’t know. Sometimes when people enter witness protection we have to make their families believe they’re dead. We hold real funerals, the whole deal. If killers see real emotion from the family, the family is safe from harm.”
“Are you going to say I died?”
“No. If Abby Johnston’s daughter died it would make the news. We have to keep the press in the dark. In a few days we’ll have a plan worked out. I’m personally going to check out this school and make sure the security is good enough.”
I wipe my tears and smile a bit. “Thank you.”
Mom sits down next to me and wraps her arm around my shoulder.
Garrett says, “And when it’s all over, we’ll tell everyone the truth.”
I say softly, “And when will that be? After he succeeds in kidnapping me, or when I’m dead?”
“Keatyn Elizabeth!” Mom screeches. “Don’t you dare say such a thing.”