Evan

 

I checked my cell phone again.

Nothing.

Becca had disappeared from school and hadn’t been in touch since. I didn’t like it.

Everything was fine. I’d met her on the way to class, and we’d talked. I’d kissed her. And then she had doubled back to the bathroom and told me to go on ahead. The next thing I knew, she texted to say that she felt sick and was going home.

I’d played the scene over and over in my head. She’d seemed a little upset about Lilly and Jay, about her mom, but that was all. Wasn’t it? Things between us were good. Better than good. After dinner at her house, she came home with me and Eli and stayed the night. Laid wrapped in my arms as we slept. Eaten breakfast with us before sneaking home. I knew her mom had given her shit for staying out all night, but Becca had reassured me it was fine.

Everything was fine.

So why wasn’t she replying?

“Ev? Ev, come on. I wanna pwray.”

I pocketed my cell phone and went into the living room. Eli had set up his game on the table, staring eager eyes at me. “Is Becca okay?”

Crap. I shouldn’t have said anything to him. I didn’t want him to worry. When I’d picked him up from pre-K, I’d just assumed she was sleeping it off, but now my mind was in overtime.

“She’s sick, buddy.”

“Aww, man.”

I ruffled his hair. “Scoot over. Remind me how this one goes.”

He launched into a detailed recital of the rules, but my mind wasn’t in it. Mom would be back in an hour, tops, and I’d already decided I was going over to Becca’s house. Maybe she really was sick in bed. But she seemed fine. Regardless, I had to know.

“Your turn.” Eli nudged me, and I scooped the dice from his little hands. One hour. And then I would get some answers.

When the front door finally opened, and Mom’s voice filled the room, I felt ready to burst. Somewhere during the second game, I’d contemplated taking Eli over there with me. But I didn’t want to alarm her mom any more than necessary. She already thought I wasn’t good enough for her daughter; I didn’t need to add possessive stalker to the list.

“What are my boys doing?”

“We pwrayed my new game.” Eli went to her, hugging her tight.

“That’s great, baby. Evan, a hand, please?”

I relieved her of the grocery bags and started to unpack the items into the cupboard. “I need to go out for a bit. You’ll be okay?”

“We’ll be fine, won’t we?” She glanced over at Eli who was tearing into a bag of chips. He nodded eagerly.

“Are you going to Becca’s. Can I come?”

Mom tensed, and I quickly said, “Not tonight, buddy.”

With the groceries put away, I grabbed my keys, said goodbye, and headed out, ignoring the feeling in my stomach. The one that told me everything was not fine.

~

“Evan?” Mrs. Torrence’s brows furrowed. “This is a surprise.”

I raked a hand through my hair, feeling as awkward as fuck. Despite my gut telling me everything was not okay, it still could be. There might be a perfectly reasonable explanation for Becca’s radio silence. “Hmm, is Becca okay? I haven’t heard from her since she left school this morning. I was worried.”

“Actually, she’s out.”

“Out?”

Something clouded her eyes. Confusion. Worry. I couldn’t quite make it out. But I didn’t like. I didn’t like it one bit. “Yes,” she said. “She spent most of the day in her room, resting, but she came down a couple of hours ago.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“I’m sure if she wanted you to know, you’d know.”

Code for ‘it’s none of your business.’ Perfect. I fought back the growl clawing up my throat. I knew she wanted to protect her daughter, but she had no fucking clue what life was like for Becca since starting Credence. If she did, she wouldn’t be acting so nonchalant about Becca’s weird behavior today.

“When she gets home, I’ll tell her you stopped by.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. But as I turned to leave, her voice stopped me in my tracks. “The flowers were a lovely gesture, Evan. Not many boys your age know how to be a gentleman anymore, but Becca has been through a lot. She doesn’t need this kind of pressure right now.”

Flowers?

Pressure?

I jammed my hands in my pockets and didn’t look back. It didn’t make sense. I hadn’t sent flowers. Once inside the Impala, I pulled out my cell phone and called Becca’s number. It rang out. Next, I tried Malachi. He answered on the first ring. “Yeah?”

“Have you seen Becca?”

“No, man, why? What’s up?”

“Nothing. If you see her, call me, okay?”

“Sure thing.” He paused. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

“Actually, do you have Lilly’s number?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Can you text it to me?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled. “Catch you later.”

While I waited for the text to come through, something pricked at my thoughts.

Lilly and Jay.

Peters.

Now Becca.

Jay hadn’t cheated on Lilly—they were the real deal. Everyone knew that. He’d been set up. It was the only explanation. And there was no way on earth that Peters would drop her shit for someone to find. Now Becca was MIA after fleeing school and receiving a bunch of mystery flowers.

What was I missing?

I closed my eyes, going over everything again. Jay and Lilly. Peters. Becca. Flowers. My eyes flew open. Shit. Why hadn’t I put two and two together before? Probably because I was too busy trying to balance all the spinning plates in my own life. My cell bleeped, and I copied Lilly’s number. Pick up, pick up.

“Hello?”

“Lilly, it’s Evan,” I rushed out.

“Evan?”

“Is Becca with you?”

“Becca? No, I haven’t seen her since this morning. Why? What’s happened?”

“Nothing. I have to go.” I hung up.

I hadn’t really expected for Becca to be with her, but I needed to hear it with my own ears. It all made perfect sense. Someone was going after them and picking them off, one by one.

And I knew the person crazy enough to do it.

~

“Evan?” Elaina smiled failing to hide the surprise on her face. I didn’t stop by for social visits. Ever.

“Hey, is Kendall here?”

“She’s in her room. Is everything okay?”

“I, hmm, I need to talk to her about some schoolwork.” It was as good a lie as any.

“Sure. Come in, sweetie.” Her saccharine sweet voice grated on me. “Go straight up.”

Adrenaline pumped through me, and my hands slicked against my jeans. It all pointed to Kendall. But one thing didn’t quite add up—why go after Lilly and Scarlett? They’d had beef in the past, sure, but this seemed out of character even for her brand of crazy.

I didn’t bother knocking, walking straight into her room.

“Evan?” She sat up straight, tugging the buds out of her ears. “What the hell?”

“What did you do?”

“I … I didn’t … you don’t understand.” Her head bowed, and something pricked again. Kendall didn’t shy away from confrontation; she thrived on it. Lived for it. What the hell wasn’t I seeing here?

“We had a deal,” I ground out, barely in control. “You stay away from Becca, and I keep my mouth shut.”

Her eyes met mine, widening to saucers. “Shh, you can’t say that shit in here. Dad is downstairs.”

“You’d better start talking, or maybe me and Darryl will have a little talk.”

Kendall sighed, but it wasn’t out of frustration or irritation; it was a small sound filled with vulnerability. She sounded defeated, and I didn’t get it. What was going on?

“It was supposed to be a game.”

“A game?”

“Shake her up a little, scare her.” She tugged at the coverlet underneath her. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she seemed nervous. But that was impossible. Kendall O’Hare didn’t get nervous.

“You’re talking about Becca?” My fists clenched when she nodded slowly. “The shit with Lilly and Peters?”

“It was a game.”

“A game? Are you fucking kidding me? You’re sick, Kendall. You know that, right?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Her shoulders shrugged like it wasn’t important. Like it wasn’t people’s lives she was toying with. Their feelings. Their futures. “It’s not like they all didn’t deserve it. It’s been a long time coming.”

Her eyes blazed with indignation as her mask slid back into place. This was the Kendall I knew.

“You set them up, didn’t you? Lilly and Jay? Peters?”

“You should be careful asking questions you might not want the answers to,” she snarled. “Think about it … you know it’s in there somewhere. You just don’t want to believe it.”

Did she mean …? No, it wasn’t possible. Becca wouldn’t. She was their friend.

“She wouldn’t.”

“Oh, but she would. Everyone has a price, Evan, even your precious little Becca.”

What the hell?

“She’s not like us, Evan. She doesn’t belong here. Did you know her family had money, a lot of fucking money? They should have never come here.”

Of course, I knew. Everyone knew. Kendall made sure of that when she plastered photos of Becca’s old life all over the hallways at school. But what did this have to do with right now? She was talking in riddles. “You’re not making sense. Her dad lost his job; he had a friend here. They came for work.”

Kendall’s mouth pressed into a thin line as she shook her head from side to side. “It’s a lie, Evan. They came here because they couldn’t stay in Montecito any longer because it wasn’t safe.”

“Safe. What are you talking about?” This was the vindictive bitch I knew Kendall to be, spinning lies and manipulating the truth to work in her favor.

“Becca did something, Evan.”

“Stop.” I didn’t want to hear this. I didn’t want to hear the words. I’d known Becca was running from something, but it never occurred to me that she was running from herself. “I don’t want to hear it. Not from you. Where is she, Kendall? What did you do?”

Her eyes flickered with indecision, her hard mask slipping again, revealing the Kendall I found when I first entered the room. “It wasn’t me. I played her friends and forced her to play the game, but this wasn’t me. You have to believe me, Evan. He’s out of control; I realize that now. He’s sick, and I … and I don’t know what to do.”

He?

Who the fuck was she talking about? The person who sent the flowers? Was there another guy on the scene? Someone chasing after Becca?

“Kendall,” I growled, feeling the muscles in my neck strain against the skin. “What the fuck is going on?”

For the first time in my life, I witnessed Kendall cry. It was just one tear. The lone teardrop slid down her face, landing on her leg. She swiped a thumb over her eye and met my heavy stare. “I fucked up, Evan. I think I really fucked up.”