CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KIRA TOOK ME TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM AFTER Aiden called her to come pick me up. It was sweet of him to make sure I got home okay, even though he wasn’t willing to do it himself. At one point while I was walking, I thought I’d heard someone following me, but when I turned, no one was there. I chalked it up to head wound delusions.
Kira had picked me up about a block away from Aiden’s house and driven directly to Good Samaritan Hospital. When we got there, the blue plaster walls were filled to the brim with patients. But the nurses quickly evaluated me. Probably because I was still in uniform.
I needed a stitch, but luckily, I didn’t have a concussion. And although I asked, there was no medication for a broken heart.
As Kira and I waited in the lobby for me to be called back, the nurse gave me a gauze pad that I held to my forehead. My life was shattered, and my brain was throbbing. Things would never be okay.
“I’m not trying to be nosy,” Kira said from the hard plastic chair next to me. “But what exactly happened when you and Christian were in his car?”
I didn’t want to tell her. I’d glossed over the details the first time for a reason. No, all I wanted right now was to listen to coughing patients and the hum of the monitors.
“I’m a horrible person, K,” I mumbled, staring at the receptionist behind the desk. She had on those chic, beehive-frame glasses with a dainty silver chain dangling from them, looped around her neck. I’d have to tell Leona about them. They were fabulous.
Kira gasped. “No, you’re not, Tess. You’re the greatest person I know.”
I scoffed. “I kissed Christian,” I said, turning to stare at her. “I was upset and I cheated on Aiden. What kind of person does that make me?”
My best friend smiled and reached out to take the gauze from my head, checking my wound. “It makes you a regular person, Tessa Crimson. You can’t be spot-on all the time. You made a mistake. Aiden will get over it.”
She refolded the bandage and applied pressure. She was too good to me, but she was wrong. Aiden would never forgive me. I saw it in his eyes tonight.
“I don’t deserve you,” I said, feeling it was true. “I don’t deserve to be a Smitten Kitten.”
Kira squeaked and touched her chest. “Are you kidding?” She stood up in front of me and tilted her head. “Last year when I was dating all those football players, who told me that I was more than a piece of tail?”
I looked at her. “I did.”
Kira glanced around the room, not seeming to care that people were watching her. “And who saved Leona from that Kitten fight at the pool with Lucy McGill after Leona called her fat?”
“Me.”
“Who told Izzie that being adopted was better than having regular parents because it meant they’d handpicked her?”
I nodded. I saw what Kira was doing, but it wouldn’t help. I had guilt so deep in my skin that I didn’t know if I could ever perk up.
Kira leaned down, putting her hands on either side of my chair. She got close to my face. “And who”—her eyes began to water—“was there for me when my dad left?”
I sniffled. “Me.”
“And that’s because you’re a great person. You’re the queen bee for a reason.”
I nearly burst into tears as I reached out and hugged her. The smell of her strawberry shampoo filled my nose and set me at ease. I could always count on Kira.
“Tessa Crimson,” a nurse called from the triage room. I turned to her and then nodded at Kira.
“Thanks, K,” I said, pulling back. I was glad that I still had someone.
“No prob, Tess. Just remember, a Smitten Kitten always lands on her feet.” She took my arm and helped me up, then followed me to the cubicle.
Despite being a game day, Friday was easily the second-worst day of my life. I had a Band-Aid on the side of my forehead, which was not at all cute. It wasn’t even pink. And I had a bruise on my jaw from where Chloe had punched me. Plus Christian the Creep had come to school, and Aiden was completely avoiding me. Like completely.
The one bright spot was that when I saw Chloe, she had a black eye and a small scratch on her cheek. It made me feel a little better.
The Smitten Kittens were all on edge, watching the crowds, keeping our ears to the ground. Christian would surely tell the school. If not, his sister wouldn’t miss the chance. But none of the guys did more than their usual gawking. No one even seemed to have heard about Aiden and me.
“I feel like we’re in the nose of the storm,” Kira leaned over to whisper to me during history class. “It’s eerie.”
“I think you mean the eye of the storm.” I took out my pen and drew hearts on my notebook, not looking at her. I was a mess. There was a purple, stitched welt on my forehead, my cheer skirt was wrinkled, and the paint on my toenails was chipped off. I hadn’t even bothered to tie my hair up. I was a poor excuse for a captain.
Kira sighed. “Tessa,” she said. “It’ll be okay. Aiden is still whipped cream; I know it.”
I shook my head. “He hates me.”
“Cut up the charge card because I’m not buying it,” she said, tickling my nose with the purple pom-pom on her pen.
Mr. Powell cleared his throat, and I glanced up at him in front of the class. I wondered if he knew—if my teacher somehow knew that my boyfriend had kicked me out of his room. But I was being paranoid.
I dropped my eyes and continued to draw on my notebook. Since I’d left Aiden’s last night, I’d become numb. Well, except for my forehead, which still throbbed.
Kira looked over her shoulder toward the back of the room and then leaned into me. “Do you think Christian is going to tell everyone about SOS?”
Her voice was shaky. I didn’t blame her for being nervous. Kira still cared about her social life, and she still wanted to date. If we were outed, both of those things would be crushed. But I didn’t give a rusty nail. At least about dating.
“I don’t know if he’ll tell,” I said, my voice low. “But Chloe probably will.”
Kira gasped. “She knows?”
“Ladies,” Mr. Powell interrupted. “Do you mind?”
Kira and I both looked up at him. “Sorry,” Kira said and smiled. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was completely and utterly without spirit. I just wanted class to be over. There was a slim chance Aiden would be at my locker, and there was an even slimmer chance that he might talk to me. After all, my mother had forgiven my father. Couldn’t Aiden forgive me?
After history, I had left Kira to walk the opposite way down the hall when someone touched my elbow. I swung around, startled.
“What the flip?” I said. It was Christian, looking haggard, exhausted. Jingle bells! This kid was hard to shake. “Please don’t talk to me,” I mumbled, turning away from him. I started walking again and he fell in step next to me.
“I want to apologize,” he said. My eyes felt heavy. So did my heart.
“Not accepted.”
“Tessa, please,” Christian said, grabbing my arm and swinging me around. I gasped. He was still not allowed to touch me.
“Get your hands off of me,” I hissed, trying to pull my arm away.
His face twisted, but instead of backing up, he yanked me closer. “But … you kissed me back, Tessa. You kissed me last night.”
He was desperate. The look on his face was absolutely desperate. I was nauseated by the reminder and the smell of spearmint that washed over my face. His hands had touched me yesterday. Ick. I pulled my arm out of his grip.
“Was it you?” I asked. Did I want the truth?
“Was what me?” Christian licked his lips, looking at mine. Gross! Dream on. His mouth would never touch me again.
“Did you send the text about Aiden and Chloe? Did you and your sister plan this whole thing?”
It only took a second for his cheeks to turn red. Carpal tunnel syndrome! That sneaky son of a biscuit. He’d sent a fake message. I’d been so stupid.
“Yes, but hear me out,” he said, reaching to touch my hand.
“Ew, no!” I pushed him backward, and a few people turned to look at us. We were quickly drawing a crowd. “It was you! All along it was you, orchestrating everything!” I was yelling. I was yelling at school and I wasn’t in the gymnasium. “I can’t believe how manipulative you’ve been. Oh, my word!”
Christian’s mouth hung open; he was probably shocked that I was screaming at him, embarrassed that everyone was watching us. But I wasn’t ready to stop there.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, self-consciously. “I just really liked you. I thought if you—”
“That’s not an excuse!” I pushed him backward again. He stumbled. “I’m so sick of you right now.” And I was. I looked him up and down, my purr transformed into a hiss. “I can’t believe your tongue was ever in my mouth!”
The crowd collectively gasped. Well, if they didn’t know about me and Aiden before, they certainly did now. It didn’t matter. I was done with secrets.
“Stay away from me,” I said in no uncertain terms. Christian looked crushed, and for a second, I felt bad about it. Like I’d broken his heart. But then I remembered how his hand had slid under my skirt as I cried. Jerk. Big stupid jerk.
I twirled around, turning my back on him, on the crowd, and I marched. I stomped down the hall and headed for Aiden’s class. He’d talk to me. I wouldn’t let him ignore me.
A few people whispered as I walked by. My reputation was ruined, and maybe by the end of the day, they’d know about SOS too. I turned down the English hallway and I saw him.
I saw the tousled blond hair and the long, lean body. Suddenly my urge to cry was back.
“Aiden!” I called. He stopped walking but didn’t turn around. My heart sped up.
I trotted ahead, and when I reached him, I took his forearm, turning him to me. His skin was so warm. Sweet kitty princess! I missed him.
Aiden gently removed himself from my hands. “Hello, Tessa,” he said looking down at me. I couldn’t read his expression, but he hadn’t shaved. He was sort of disheveled, and I loved him like that.
“You didn’t take my calls,” I said, my voice sad.
Aiden’s face twitched a little, but he straightened it. “I’m sorry about that,” he answered. His green eyes flicked to my Band-Aid. “I heard you needed to get stitches.”
He heard? Was he asking about me? That was sweet.
“I got one,” I said, trying to sound cute, the way he used to like me.
Aiden chewed on his lip, watching me, calm and collected. “Tessa,” he said, dropping his eyes. “I think I need a break.”
The bell rang, sending students running past us in the hallway. But Aiden and I stood there, staring at each other. It got very quiet, and I could barely breathe. “A break?”
Aiden looked down at my lips but then clenched his jaw and looked past me. I wondered if he was imagining Christian’s mouth there. “I can’t be with you anymore,” he said. “Not after … everything. All the lies.” He shook his head.
“But—”
“It’s over. I’m sorry.” He wouldn’t look at me.
I didn’t want to cry in the middle of the hallway, but I felt like I needed to defend myself. I wanted Aiden to understand. “We started SOS with good intentions, Aiden. They were cheating. All those guys were cheating, don’t you see that?”
He snapped his green eyes to mine, pulling back his mouth in a sneer. “And you were spying, sneaking around. Why was it your business? It wasn’t. You had no right.”
Ouch. There was a pain growing in my chest, getting deep and heavy. “I still love you, though.”
Aiden blinked and sniffled once before looking away. “Yeah, well. It’s not just about you anymore.”
“Don’t,” I said, but when I reached for him, he stepped back. Away from me.
I blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears from spilling. I needed to go home now. My life had just been thoroughly thrashed. Aiden didn’t want me. The boy didn’t want me anymore.
“I’ll see you around, ba … Tessa,” he murmured.
I felt absolutely defeated. Aiden turned and slowly began to walk down the empty hall, dragging his sneakers on the linoleum. I stared after him, no longer needing to hold back my tears. Just as I closed my eyes, they leaked down my cheeks. I wasn’t sure how to do this. How to properly grieve for him. Cookies and ice cream couldn’t solve this problem. I wasn’t sure anything could.
Christian started calling my cell, but I didn’t answer. He didn’t deserve that satisfaction. I deleted his messages before listening to them. I was sure that the Smitten Kittens were trying to keep SOS alive without me, especially Leona, but I’d given up all control. I’d barely been showing up for practice. I’d even missed last week’s game.
Aiden didn’t sit at our lunch table anymore. He sat with Darren and the team. I stared at him sometimes, but he didn’t look back. He just kept his head down and chewed his food. He looked as sad as I felt.
He really was taking a break. He wouldn’t take my calls. His mother had begun chatting with me on the phone, though, mostly about school stuff. She didn’t ask if Aiden and I were officially over; she probably didn’t need to. Obviously he didn’t want to talk to me.
Christian and Chloe kept quiet about SOS. I wasn’t even sure Chloe knew the whole story. But if she did, she was keeping her pouty mouth shut. Maybe she was embarrassed. Embarrassed that Aiden didn’t want her. Even without me in his life, he still didn’t want her scowling face.
One afternoon, I sat in the lunchroom, half dead from exhaustion. I’d been having all sorts of nightmares lately—ones where I was running around desperately, trying to finish impossible missions. The squad was with me, but my table was without pep. It was lonely.
I looked across the buzzing cafeteria at Aiden. At the same moment, he picked up his adorably blond head. His mouth opened as our eyes met, but then he dropped his gaze, staring down at his tray. Did he still love me? Did he miss me?
Right. He couldn’t even look at me. I felt seriously dejected. Alone.
Kira cleared her throat from across the table. “Tess?” she asked cautiously. “We’ve been getting texts. Ones for SOS. But … things haven’t been going well.”
Leona snorted. I glanced at her and she widened her eyes, letting me know that Kira’s words were an understatement.
“How not well?” I asked, pushing my tray away.
“Um …”
“Like Izzie almost got arrested not well,” Leona spoke up. “And I broke my glasses.” She pointed to her newly unobscured brown eyes. I was ashamed that I hadn’t even noticed that she wasn’t wearing her glasses. My observation skills had completely deteriorated.
Leona leaned her elbows on the table. “Without you, Tess, we’re a detecting disaster. In fact”—she pointed down the table—“Kira ended up making out with the suspect! Again!”
I looked sharply at my friend, but she shrugged. My word. The Smitten Kittens were running wild. “Look, girls. It’s time. SOS saved a lot of heartache, but at what expense?” I sounded braver than I felt. But they needed a leader. They needed me.
“He still loves you,” Kira said to me, as if she knew what my real trauma was about. She smiled, her dimples deepening. “Aiden will be back.”
She was a doll for saying it, but I wasn’t so sure. A guy like Aiden didn’t just walk around life single. Someone would get their claws into him. And they probably wouldn’t make out with another boy in a car in front of his house. They’d trust him. I wished I had.
“Tess.” Leona tossed a wilted fry at me. “Heads-up, Christian is on his way.”
My eyes snapped up. Pork chops and applesauce! She was right. He was walking right for us—his long-sleeve T-shirt wrinkled and the bottom of his khakis shredded.
I turned quickly to look toward Aiden’s table, but he was nowhere in sight. His tray was gone too. He’d left, and I was glad for that. I wouldn’t want him to see Christian and me in the same room, let alone within three feet of each other.
Kira coughed as Christian reached our table. He stared down at me, his hands in the pockets of his tan pants. I couldn’t even stomach looking at him. Neither could half the junior class. The rumors in the halls were that Christian had been plotting to steal me from the start. Some even claimed that Christian was a plant by the Ducks to thwart the playoffs by messing with the Wildcats’ star player. I knew that wasn’t the case, but I didn’t bother correcting anyone. I was glad he was a social leper.
“Tessa?” he asked with his quiet voice. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“No. You can’t,” Kira answered for me. I loved when she got a little attitude. It was adorable. I smiled to myself and stared down at the table, feeling slightly better.
“Fine,” Christian said, sounding low. “It’s for all of you anyway. I just wanted you girls to know that I’m not going to say anything about SOS. I realize that what I did was wrong. I …” He paused, and I wondered if he’d admit to everything he’d done. I leaned toward him.
“Look, Tessa,” he said, leveling his apologetic gaze at me. “I sent that text from Cassie about Aiden, and I’m sorry.”
My face became hot with anger. Leona growled from the end of the table.
Christian glanced in her direction and then back at me. “And Chloe was the one that called Aiden’s mother about him drinking. She also asked the teacher to set her up as Aiden’s lab partner.”
“I knew it,” I whispered, clenching my fists in my lap. Total scam job.
“But we didn’t do it for any stupid playoffs,” Christian said, his mouth pulled back in annoyance. “And Chloe didn’t just do it for Aiden. She did it for me. Things have been tough for us lately and she was trying to help.”
“Help herself to Tessa’s boyfriend,” Leona called out.
“She’s not speaking to me either,” he shot at Leona. “I have nothing, okay? I screwed up and I’m sorry. I just … I just wanted you to know that.”
I didn’t know whether to believe him. When he looked back at me, I could tell by his weakened eyes that he was sorry. He definitely was. There was a small tug in my chest because it was hard to watch someone standing so awkwardly. I turned away from him.
“Okay, thanks. Bye,” Leona said. She wasn’t one to feel sorry for people, but that was okay. My girls had my back. I should have told them about what I was planning to do with Aiden. They would have set me straight.
Christian stood for a minute, but I didn’t look up until I heard his sandals shuffle away. He didn’t stay in the lunchroom; instead, he just walked out. I felt bad for him, really. But I wouldn’t talk to him again, not after everything he’d done.
“He’s still cute,” Kira said, twisting her gum around her finger. I looked over at her in disbelief. “What?” she asked, widening her eyes. “He is.”
Christian didn’t give up easily. He practically stalked me—again. Calling, waiting for me after class. It was all I could do to not speak to him. That was how I decided to handle it. I would never speak to him again. Mature? Not entirely. But effective? Most definitely.
Unfortunately, Aiden was using the same tactic on me. No phone calls, no texts, not even a note written on the back of a homework assignment. I couldn’t even figure out his schedule. He was never in the halls, and I never saw him at lunch. He was like a ghost. He didn’t so much as glance at me at the games. My cheer kicks were decidedly less high.
I was happy that I didn’t have to do any more spying for SOS—knowing that I’d never have to videotape another sexual act or hide under another restaurant table. Kira and Leona had said they’d handle the society, but after the mishandling of the last few missions, they’d agreed it was time to let SOS go.
Leona drafted up a final letter and let me review it before sending it out. Then we hid all of our old equipment and files in a garage at Izzie’s grandparents’ ranch. Even though SOS was gone, we didn’t have the heart to get rid of the stuff. At least not yet.
But my perk did not return. In fact, my depression seemed to deepen. I missed several practices and my new cheers were less than inspiring.
At the games, my parents’ signs became more and more colorful; probably they were trying to up my spirit, but it didn’t work. I needed more than glitter and puff paint. Instead, I just watched Aiden race up and down the court, successfully ignoring me whenever I was near. My parents only asked me about him once, and I told them the entire truth. No more lies. That was my new motto. Well, that and, “Can I have whipped cream on that?” This depression had earned me about five pounds of guilt.
Chloe joined a new crowd. She and Christian seemed to patch things up when he started sitting with her again at lunch. Her group consisted of other sophomores who weren’t nearly as moody as her. I hoped they could give her some guidance in the attitude department. She definitely needed it.
But the Wildcats played well. Our team had made the playoffs for the first time in three years, and as Smitten Kittens captain, that should have made me ecstatic. But it didn’t. It had been four weeks, and my ex-boyfriend had yet to speak to me. There was nothing inspiring in that.
I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to lead the cheers for the big game. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
SOS TERMINATION OF SERVICES
Dear Clients,
It is with a heavy heart that SOS announces the termination of our cheater identification services. Due to recent events and dramas, it was determined that SOS was no longer able to effectively conduct investigations.
Enclosed you will find a self-discovery questionnaire to help you decide for yourself whether or not unfaithfulness is occurring. But SOS urges you to always base your decisions on concrete evidence. Not hunches. And certainly not the hunches of boys that may have ulterior motives.
SOS is thankful for your years of referrals and donations. We hope that we have made high school a safer place for your hearts.
Best of luck to you all in your future romantic endeavors.