“Why didn’t Paige want anyone to know?”
Lindsey sighed. “I’m not sure. I told her we should take that bitch down, but Paige said no. They had it out, and then after that, Lucy kissed her ass. Paige was a bitch to her, but Lucy just took it.” She shrugged. “I figured maybe the whole thing would just blow over.”
“Did Paige ever talk about Lucy’s past?”
Lindsey’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Like what?”
Shit. So much for hoping Lindsey would be able to fill in all the gaps.
“I mean, there was something,” Lindsey said. “She told me once after their fight that she wasn’t worried about Lucy anymore because she knew something about her that Lucy would do anything to keep quiet.”
“But she didn’t tell you what it was? A hint—?anything?” I strained forward.
Lindsey threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “I don’t know. You’re the one who’s supposed to know everything. But if you want to find out, you should ask your friend Drew.”
I bumped back into the table behind me. “Drew?”
“Yeah. Paige said she was the one who told her.”
My scissors cut through the thick crepe paper. Drew had talked me into helping her and the art crowd make decorations for graduation. They were creating a large painted mural with words like success, dreams, future, and celebration woven into the edges and curves of an elaborate mandala design that would hang along the far wall of the gym for the ceremony. Not to be trusted with the level of detail required for the mural, I’d been assigned cutting out thousands of squares of brightly colored paper that would be strung together and used to decorate the stage. I didn’t mind; the repetitive task gave me time to try and think.
All day my mind had been picking up the things that I knew and moving them around, trying to make sense of all of it. Like turning puzzle pieces to make them fit. Something had happened at Lucy’s old school, something violent. Ryan and Lucy hooked up. What didn’t make sense was why Paige would have forgiven her and made up. Why not tell everyone what Lucy had done? Paige was the victim. Lucy would have been the villain. Sleeping with your friend’s boyfriend was total skank territory. Paige had only told people she could trust to keep it secret.
And that didn’t make sense.
I took a peek over at Drew, who was sitting on the ground, focused on her task as she filled in a portion of the mural. How would she have known about Lucy’s past? Drew had always had a bit of a girl crush on the popular crowd. And while she never had pursued her, I knew she liked Paige. I could see her enjoying having a chance to share something to finally connect her to Paige, but what I couldn’t understand is why she hadn’t told me. Not even after Paige went missing. She never mentioned it once. And that wasn’t like her at all.
I made a stack of red squares and then started in on the yellow.
Drew plopped down next to me at the table. “You don’t have to sit here by yourself, you know.”
“It’s fine.” I searched her face, trying to figure out what else I didn’t know.
Drew picked up another pair of scissors and began cutting alongside me. “Anyone else give you a hard time today?”
“No.” It depended what you considered a hard time. Lucy clearly wasn’t the only person who had decided that being psychic wasn’t a cool party trick anymore. No one said anything—?it was the way they looked at me as I moved through the halls and sat in class. Like I was a walking bad luck charm.
“You sure you’re okay?” Drew asked.
“You’ve asked me that at least a hundred times.” I focused on the paper I was cutting as if it held the secret of what I should do next.
Drew put down her scissors and turned so we were face-to-face. “I keep asking because I know you’re not fine, no matter what you say. I’m worried.”
“You don’t have to worry about me.” My eyes started to fill with tears.
“I know I don’t have to do anything. I want to. I’m your best friend. You can try and tell me you’re fine, but I can see you’re not. You keep avoiding me.” Her voice was a mix of irritation and worry. “You don’t listen to what I’m saying half the time. It’s like most of you isn’t even here.”
My hands started to shake, and I dropped the scissors on the table before she noticed. “Things are complicated.” That was the understatement of the century. I swallowed over and over.
“Tell me what’s going on.” She rested her cool hand lightly on my arm.
I wanted to tell her. I’d told Drew almost everything in my life. We had years of slumber parties and whispered secrets between us. Even though we had grown apart over the past year, she was still the closest thing I had to a sister. She would understand how things had gotten out of control—?that I never wanted this to happen. I just wanted to go with her to New York. I wanted to not let her down. We’d figure this out together.
“Hey.” Drew’s voice was soft, and I realized I was crying.
“I don’t know where to s-s-start,” I stuttered. I could feel all of it bubbling up inside me, ready to boil over. I looked around, trying to tell if anyone was paying attention. “Drew, I—”
“Drew! We need you.” A junior held a paintbrush and a ruler. “Don’t freak out, but I think we got the measurements wrong.”
She looked at them, annoyed. “Just a sec.” She nudged me. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
I shook my head to clear it. There was no way we could have this discussion here. I needed to get my shit together first. There was part of me that wondered what else she was keeping from me.
“Later,” I said. “I’ve got to work tonight, but I’ll text you tomorrow.”
Drew sighed. “I’m holding you to that.”
Thirty-Five
That night I double-checked the stock in the cooler at the Burger Barn. My mind wasn’t on closing, but if I forgot to call in a reorder and we ran out of ketchup or cheese the next day, my ass would be on the line. Saturday was our busiest day. Gerry didn’t care about real-life emergencies—?he cared about ready access to condiments. I checked the clock that hung over the pass-through. It was taking longer than I’d planned.
Tyrone wiped down the grill and then snapped his wet towel in satisfaction. “Damn, that is a pretty thing.” He put his hands on his practically nonexistent skinny hips to admire his handiwork.
Carla leaned her head in. “Till’s balanced, and I filled all the shakers. I’m outta here.”
“See you tomorrow,” Tyrone called after her. He filled a bucket with steaming hot water and a squirt from the giant container of pink industrial cleanser to mop the floors.
“I can do that,” I said. I needed him to go.
He retied the scarf he used to hold back his dreads. “So, you gonna tell me what exactly you got going on?”