“She came to me right after it happened,” he went on, “and she begged me not to tell anyone. Her parents were crazy, and they would have flipped out if they found out she wasn’t . . . anyway. I didn’t tell anyone. But I couldn’t just let it go, either. I wasn’t going to tell anyone her secret, but that asshole deserved to pay for what he’d done. I mean, I saw the bruises on her.” He shook his head and closed his eyes at the memory.
Ava exhaled slowly. She wanted so badly to believe him, and she could definitely identify with how he wanted to take matters into his own hands with the guy who’d hurt his ex—she and the others had done that with Nolan, after all. But she realized she was still really angry, too. “Okay. But why did you tell the cops you saw me that night?”
“Because I did see you.” Alex looked away. “And you weren’t exactly . . . clothed. I was pissed.”
Ava glared at him. “So you assumed the worst, without asking me?”
He held up his palms. “No, I didn’t call them until later. I’ll explain. But Ava . . . what were you doing there?”
Ava exhaled and steeled herself. “It wasn’t how it looked,” she began, her voice quavering.
“So explain to me what it was.”
Her heart was pounding hard. She needed to come clean, she realized. It was the only way they could ever rebuild the trust they’d once had. But could she do that? She looked at him. “Alright,” she said quietly. “I’m going to tell you. But you’re not going to like it.”
Alex nodded, but a nervous look washed across his face. “Okay.”
“You remember what Nolan did to me sophomore year? The rumors he started about me sleeping with teachers to get higher grades?” she said, and Alex nodded again. “Well, I wasn’t the only victim of his bullying, not by a long shot. Some of the other girls and I got to talking in film studies, that day we watched And Then There Were None.”
Ava gained confidence as she spoke, emboldened by the sense of sheer relief she felt just saying the words out loud. She told Alex about the prank they’d played on Nolan, and how someone had used that opportunity to kill him. About how they suddenly looked guilty—really, really guilty—in Nolan’s death. She told Alex how Granger had hit on her when she went to his house for help with her paper. Alex grimaced and shut his eyes for that part.
Then she told him about the pictures and texts she’d found on Granger’s phone—and how Nolan had been blackmailing him. “Wow,” Alex said, a little shocked. “Those two deserved each other.”
“Totally,” Ava said. She explained how they’d gone to Granger’s house to dig around for evidence they could use against him, but he’d come home before they could get out. Finally, her cheeks burning, Ava described how, in an effort to save her friends, she sacrificed her last shred of dignity and fooled Granger into thinking she wanted to sleep with him. When she sent him to take a shower, they had all slipped out—though Ava had raced into the backyard and dug up the flash drive with proof of Nolan’s blackmailing, which Granger had buried. Then she had run to join the others in the car. Which was exactly when Alex saw her sprinting across the lawn, her dress still half-unbuttoned.
“I feel sick just telling you all this,” Ava said, her voice catching. “I hate myself for putting this whole thing in motion in the first place.”
Alex shook his head. “I wish you’d told me about the prank, but I get why you did it. Nolan was really shitty to you. And Ava.” He looked her in the eye. “None of the rest of this is your fault.”
Ava’s lips parted. “Thanks,” she whispered. It was amazing how calmly Alex was taking all this. She’d expected much worse.
“So, all of you were in there,” Alex said. “And all of you left?”
“Yes,” Ava nodded. “Why?”
“Well,” Alex said slowly. “I saw you leave. But then I saw someone run back across the lawn to Granger’s afterward.” He looked apologetic. “I thought it was you again.”
Ava frowned. “I went right home. And took a long, hot shower.”
Alex ran a hand through his curly hair and shot her a sheepish look. “That’s why my prints were on Granger’s door. I ran over there when I thought you went back in.” He shifted on the metal bench. Ava noticed for the first time how his orange prison shirt hung loosely off him. “I wanted to catch you, but the door was locked. Then I heard a scream—I thought it was you screaming, and I was so scared. I thought maybe he’d”—Alex choked up, then regained control of his voice—“I was afraid he’d done something. To you. That’s when I called the police. I told them I’d seen you go inside and that there were screams. But when the cops showed up, Granger was dead, and whoever was really in there was gone.”
Ava stared at him, her heart pounding hard. “And you didn’t see who it was?”
“Nope.” Alex looked frustrated. “She slipped out without me seeing.”
“You’re sure it was a girl, though?”
“Definitely. She had on a hood, or maybe a hat. But she was built like a girl, I’m sure of it. I—I thought maybe you had gotten a sweatshirt and gone back in.”