Nope, Ava said. You?
Mac said she hadn’t, either. Ava had to admit she was surprised—she’d expected another visit by now for sure. Especially if they found out about Ava’s history with Granger—she’d met him at his house not so long ago for help on her paper, and he’d come on to her. She’d sat nervously all through school today, waiting for an officer to appear in the classroom doorway, but no one ever had.
She sighed, her thoughts returning to Alex again. If only he’d text her back. If only he’d explain—and she could explain, too. She turned her phone over in her hands. She needed to talk to him, but calling him wouldn’t yield any results. He hadn’t answered a single one of her calls or texts—why would he start now?
So, she decided, she would go to his house.
As she stood up, Ava caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and nearly burst out laughing. Her hair jutted out in all directions, her normally glowing, caramel-colored skin looked sallow and worn, and bags had taken up residence under her eyes. She must have lost some weight, because her skinny jeans sagged on her hips, and her boobs didn’t quite fill out her shirt. But she didn’t have the energy to transform herself into her normal, perfect self—the girl who was smart and beautiful. Alex would have to see her like this. Perhaps it would show him exactly how much she was suffering because of what he’d done.
Taking the car out would probably get her into more trouble, so Ava pulled her old ten-speed from the garage and threw her leg over the bar. As she pedaled, she rehearsed what she was going to say to Alex when she saw him—if she saw him. I know what it looked like, but it wasn’t true, she’d start off with. But what if Alex saw her doing that striptease for Granger through the window? What would she say—I was trying to save my friends’ lives because we’d broken into his house and thought he was a murderer?
God, she felt nervous. And that was new, too—she hadn’t felt nervous in front of Alex, ever.
Alex’s house was only a few neighborhoods away, but she was winded by the time she got there, and damp from a drizzle that had begun to fall. She sucked in her breath as she turned onto Alex’s block—which was Granger’s block, too. Granger’s house was still surrounded in yellow police tape. Technicians in matching jackets that said CRIME SCENE streamed in and out of Granger’s front door, and a news van idled at the curb, its giant antenna jutting from the top. Ava twitched nervously, wondering what they were finding inside. Did Granger actually know something about Nolan’s murder that cost him his life? Or were the forensic people just digging up more evidence against her?
She hit the brakes a few houses away. It was probably a terrible idea to return to the scene of the crime. The cops might see her and assume she was here to laugh at them or something.
She squinted at Alex’s house. Strangely, it was surrounded by cops, too. Two police cars with doors flung open blocked the driveway. And there on the stoop stood four officers, their bodies tense. It looked like they were shouting at someone.
Ava edged up behind a neighbor’s oak, not sure what she was looking at. But when an officer moved slightly to the side, she realized that the person on the porch they were shouting at was Alex. He was waving his hands wildly. Then, before Ava’s eyes, two policemen grabbed Alex by the arms and spun him around. He kicked and struggled and tried to pull away, but the cops pressed his face against the front of the house.
Ava gasped. “No!” It pained her to see the boy she loved being treated so brutally. Why on earth were they doing this?
Then one of the officers began to cuff Alex. Ava let her bike fall to the ground and walked across the grass, no longer afraid of showing her face. She weaved through the throng of investigators, reporters, and rubbernecks from the neighborhood. “No!” she cried again. “Stop!”
Alex was struggling to get free. “Get off me!” he screamed. “I told you I didn’t do anything!”
“You have the right to remain silent,” one of the cops was telling him in a loud voice. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
Ava’s mouth fell open. They were reading him his rights?
She had reached the front walkway. She pushed around a few random people until she had a clear view of the porch. “Alex!” she called out before she could properly think the situation through. “Alex, it’s me!”
Alex turned his head sharply and met her gaze. His mouth fell open. Suddenly, an officer touched Ava’s shoulder. “We need you to stay back. This guy could be dangerous.”