12

By the time Monday morning came, I felt bad for Kendall. Something was going on with TJ, but I still hadn’t figured out what. It wasn’t like I’d found drug paraphernalia or homemade sex tapes in his barn, but he’d ushered me out and escorted me back to Kevin’s party moments after his unwanted visitor left, and he’d steered clear of any attempts I made to bring the conversation to his old school or friends on the walk back.

I hadn’t told Kendall what happened after we hung up, only because I still needed another day or so to mentally prepare myself for her inevitable fretting frenzy that would follow. I didn’t know if she’d spent Sunday hungover or with TJ or whatever, but she hadn’t bothered me and I’d rather enjoyed it. Once she knew about the mystery visitor, it would be a long time until I had a free night or weekend again.

“Hey, Marisa.”

I slammed my locker a little harder than I meant to at the sound of TJ’s voice. Who knew being a stalker would make me so jumpy? I pasted a smile on my face.

“Hey, what’s up?”

TJ flashed a huge grin. “I finished it this weekend.” He moved his hand from behind his back and held out a black leather belt dotted with silver studs. It was totally gorgeous, and one hundred percent badass at the same time.

“I love it!” I cried, instantly forgetting to regard him as Shady McShadeballs. I took the belt and slid it through the loops of my jeans, loving that it complemented my green shirt, matching flats, and silver jewelry. “What do I owe you?”

TJ scoffed. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“No! I can’t take this for nothing. I have to give you something for it, please?”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “You can take my place interviewing Mr. Crossley about the Math League after school today if you want. I’ll even let you write my article.”

I smiled back. “Nice try. How about this—I’ll take the belt, but only if you let me order some more of your stuff for the holidays and pay you for it. Deal?”

The locker behind me slammed and the skin on my neck crawled. I whipped around, knowing exactly who would be standing there, and the daggers were already shooting from my eyes before I’d even completed my rotation. The ice in my glare could’ve turned the hallway into a skating rink. TJ must’ve sensed it, because he said, “Fair enough. Um, I’ll catch up with you later,” and walked away.

Jordan’s stare stayed fixed on his locker. “Don’t give me that look, Marisa.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “What the hell was that about on Saturday? You told me you wanted me at the bonfire, then totally blew me off. How am I supposed to look at you?”

He slung his bag over his shoulder and threw his other hand in the air. “It’s not that I changed my mind about wanting to be friends, okay? It’s like you said—I didn’t know how to react. Things have been shitty for so long that I forgot how to be normal around you. I’m sorry, all right?”

My comeback, “Sorry is a good word for you,” would’ve been awesome—if I’d had a chance to deliver it. But at that exact moment, my cell phone rang. And since a phone rarely rings with good news at 7:30 a.m., my attention was instantly diverted to the screen flashing Charlie’s name.

I stepped into the exit alcove and barely got a hello out before she said, “Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk. You’re advertising now?”

“Advertising what?”

“I’m hanging up to text you something. Call me as soon as you see it.”

The call clicked off before I could say another word. I was still staring confusedly at the screen when it flashed with a text message. Charlie had sent me a link to a website. When I clicked on it, my heart went dead inside my chest.

A website loaded onto the screen. The word BUSTED splashed across the top of the page in bold, fat letters, glinting in red and black stripes, almost identical to the pin I’d made for Charlie. The pin Kendall had specifically mentioned liking. A squat exclamation point punctuated the word, and a jagged split between the S and T made it—along with the heart around it—appear broken in half.

Beneath the heading, in smaller print, it said Don’t hate the player…bust his ass!

This had to be a joke. Only one person could’ve been responsible for this, and I knew exactly who it was.

I called Charlie back, crushing the phone against my ear as I dashed toward the computer lab. My phone was too old and too slow, and the school’s cell service was too spotty to mess around.

“You’re shitting me,” I said when she picked up. I didn’t so much sit as crash-land in one of the lab’s plastic blue chairs, and my book bag skidded across the floor and toppled over.

“So you didn’t know?”

I pulled the website up on the computer and scanned the page as fast as my brain could process it. “‘Suspect your guy has a roaming eye? Our services are discreet, anonymous, and affordable.’” I almost dropped the phone. “She’s advertising me for a fee?!”

“Keep reading. It gets worse.”

“Oh my God!” I moaned. “Fake testimonials? Is she on cra—oh my God. Oh. My. God.”

“Told you.”

I had reached the spot where Kendall provided contact information for my quote-unquote “services.” She’d listed the email address as [email protected]

MAP. Marisa Ann Palmera. Not only had she used my initials, but she’d followed them with my freaking birth date. Who the hell had taught her the definition of anonymous? To think, earlier this morning I’d felt bad for her. Not anymore.

“Do you want me to throw a bag over her head and take her out behind the bleachers? Teach her a little lesson?” I could practically hear Charlie’s knuckles cracking.

“Don’t bother,” I said. “I’m going to kill her myself.”

• • •

“I told you I’d make it up to you!” Kendall chirped when she picked up the phone. “Not to toot my own horn, but I rock at web design.”

“Are you crazy?”

A second of silence followed. “You don’t like it?”

I slapped my forehead in disbelief and paced the courtyard. There were three minutes until the first bell, and I wanted that site down before it rang. “You used my initials! Kendall, I do not spy on people for fun! I helped a few people out. That’s it! Catching cheaters is not something I want to do all the time. At least I don’t think it is.” I heard myself and stopped short. “No, no, it’s not. And I especially don’t want to charge people for it! How would I even get the money?”

“I guess a middleman or something?”

I took a deep breath and resumed walking, a little slower this time. “Listen, I appreciate the trouble you went to designing a site, but you have to take it down. Helping you and Charlie was one thing, but I can’t be ‘Monroe County Schools’ Ace in the Hole for Girls Dating Guys with No Self-Control.’” I rolled my eyes as I quoted her ridiculous slogan.

“Wow,” Kendall said softly. “I’m sorry, Marisa. I guess I should’ve asked before I went ahead and put it up. I thought I was doing something nice for you.”

Ugh. Guilt pierced through me at the dejection in her voice.

“It was a nice gesture, Kendall. It was. I appreciate the time it must’ve taken, and honestly, the design is awesome. I loved the way you made the heart in the background look sparkly and broken.” Might as well butter her up with the truth if I had to do it at all.

She let out a small, forced laugh. “That was my favorite part.”

“Mine too, for sure. Maybe you can print that out for me or send me the image before you take it down? I bet I could design a necklace out of it.” Not that I needed a picture to help me redesign something I’d technically created, but flattery seemed to be softening the blow of my rebuff.

“Um, Marisa, I guess I can take down the site if you really want me to, but it might not be that easy.”

“Why not?”

“Because you already have emails from girls who want you to help them.”

I froze midpace. “I what? How long has that site been up?”

“Since midnight, but I sort of sent the link to everyone at Templeton.”

My knees went weak. “Everyone?”

I could practically hear her biting her lip. “All the girls anyway. I’m on student council and I have a directory of email addresses. I’m really sorry. I sent out a blast this morning, and since you’re calling me, I’m guessing word already traveled outside the school.”

The bell rang, but I couldn’t move. I stood in the middle of the courtyard with my mouth hanging open, frozen wisps of my breath floating off into the air.

“Marisa? Are you still there?”

I croaked out a yes.

“Listen, I’m so sorry. I’m going to text you the password to the email account so you can check it out. If you want, you can ignore all of the messages and I’ll shut down the site. But you never know. One of them might spark your interest. If not, say the word and I’ll take it down as soon as I get home, okay?”

I closed my eyes. “Fine.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“So you’ve mentioned.”

“I have to get to class, but call me later.”

We hung up and I shoved open the glass door to go back inside, pounding out a text message to Charlie as I burst into the warm, fluorescent-lit hallway.

For real. I’m going to kill her.