14

By the next afternoon, shit was hitting the fan from every direction.

Nick had taken the bus home so I could stay after for a yearbook interview. When my cell phone rang with a call from him not two seconds after I’d jotted down the last of my notes, I was surprised—but not nearly as surprised as when he told me why he was calling.

“Um, Charlie’s here,” he said. “And she’s pretty upset. I think you should come home.”

He, Charlie, and Mindy were sitting at my dining room table when I got there. If I hadn’t been so concerned, I would’ve laughed at the way my brother had his arm wrapped around Charlie as she sniffled into his shoulder. Holy opportunist.

“What happened?” I rushed to the table and took the seat Mindy vacated for me.

“I wish I knew.” Charlie gulped. “I’m going to be expelled.”

“For what?!” I said in disbelief.

“Because Mrs. Pace is a douchette, just like I said,” Mindy piped up.

I cringed. Nick must’ve noticed, because he said, “Mom’s grocery shopping.” My mother hated “unladylike” language.

“A couple weeks ago, I stayed after class for extra help,” Charlie explained, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “Mrs. Pace had a virus on her laptop, the one where she keeps all her lesson plans and school stuff, and I helped her fix it. Then today I got called down to the principal’s office. They told me the grades on our last class exams were ‘unusually high.’” She stopped to wipe her nose and I jumped in like a lion on a gazelle.

“Mrs. Pace and your principal think you cheated?”

Charlie’s face contorted and she nodded. “Pace thinks I stole answer keys and all this other stuff from her computer when I had access to it. Marisa, she was there the entire time! I didn’t take anything!” She buried her face in her hands, and my brother rubbed her arm as he squeezed her against his side, murmuring words of comfort.

“Supposedly kids with failing averages scored ninety percent or better on their last assignments,” Mindy added. “The school’s doing a whole investigation. They told Char they’d knock her punishment down from expulsion to suspension if she came clean.”

“But there’s nothing to come clean about!” Charlie exploded.

“This is ridiculous.” I shot out of my chair and started to pace the room. “They can’t ruin your entire life over something they can’t prove. You’ve never had less than a 3.8 GPA, ever. How dare they accuse you of cheating?”

“I got into the honors program by the skin of my teeth, Marisa. You know that. A few more points and I would’ve been rejected.”

“That’s bullshit. Even on an off day, you got in fair and square, and no one is kicking you out.” I sat down hard. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. Whatever really happened, we’ll get to the bottom of it. You are not getting expelled. Understand?”

Charlie nodded and looked me in the eye. “Please don’t tell anyone,” she said. “Not a word.”

I knew she was thinking of Kendall. “You know I won’t,” I said. “But news like this travels fast, and Kendall is in the same program. I can’t stop her from hearing it through the grapevine.”

“Fine. But don’t be the grape that spills the beans.”

Normally I’d crack up at one of Charlie’s crazy sayings, but I didn’t feel much like laughing. Mindy gathered Charlie’s hair in her hands while Nick rubbed her shoulder. I leaned back in my chair and blew out a long breath. This was huge. If Charlie got expelled, she could kiss college and her reputation goodbye. Years of hard work and good grades would be down the drain.

Suddenly Jordan and TJ and all the other cheating boyfriends of the world seemed very unimportant. I’d thought I was helping people by doing my private-eye routine, but now it seemed stupid. Because when my best friend needed it most, I couldn’t be any use to her at all.

• • •

“I really like this one.” I pointed to a photo of a purple bracelet with thin strips of turquoise woven through its center.

TJ and I sat in the empty yearbook classroom, looking through his portfolio of leatherwork. He had a binder full of photos in lieu of a website, and he’d brought it in so I could choose Christmas gifts for Charlie and Nick. I knew Charlie would swoon over that purple bracelet, since I’d started drooling at the sight of it.

TJ looked over my shoulder. “That’s one of my favorites. I made it for my mother.”

“Charlie would die for this. Purple is her favorite color.”

“Did you know purple dye was once so expensive that only royals could afford it? It was made from sea snails and it took tens of thousands of them to dye one garment. That’s why purple is called the imperial color.” He stopped and cleared his throat, and I wished he’d stop being embarrassed by his own intelligence. “Plus, you know, purple looks great on girls with dark hair.” His eyes darted to my own purple shirt. Then he coughed and looked away, his face reddening. “Um, Charlie didn’t mind me borrowing you at the bonfire, right?”

“Not at all.” As much as I enjoyed making him blush, I fought the urge to tack on, “Nice recovery.”

“She’s not still mad at you, is she?”

I waved off the comment. “No. She has way bigger things to worry about right now.”

“Oh?”

I turned back to the pictures, not sure if I should open my mouth about Charlie’s situation. I’d thought that the less I said about my ties to Templeton the better, but maybe discussing it openly would give me room to pry into his own connections. If he had nothing to hide, doing so shouldn’t be an issue.

“Charlie might be expelled for something she didn’t do. She’s devastated, and her only option is a bogus plea bargain for suspension that will still be on her permanent record.”

TJ leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin, his eyes dark and pensive. “That’s rough.”

“I know. I feel terrible.”

“It’s not your fault.” He continued to rub at his chin and stare at the far wall of the classroom, like his mind had gone elsewhere.

“It’s not my fault, but the person accusing her is my ex-boyfriend’s mother. I’m embarrassed that I ever associated with them.”

TJ’s eyes snapped into focus and he leaned forward in his chair. “Jordan Pace’s mother?”

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

“How did you know Jordan and I dated?”

“After the way you looked at him when I gave you your belt the other day”—a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth—“I took an educated guess.”

“That obvious, huh?” My lips twisted. “God, I don’t know how I ever went out with him.”

“No offense, but I’m pretty surprised myself. You have such a level head and his head is jammed up his own ass.”

I snorted. “Believe it or not, he wasn’t like that when we dated—he mellowed out. But he seems to have reverted to his old ways with a vengeance.”

TJ fiddled with a loose screw in the chair next to his. “So your friend. Why did she decide to go to Templeton?”

“She got into the Hartley program. Very hoity-toity, or so I hear.”

“You hear correctly,” he said tightly. “I used to be in it.” I straightened in my chair but before I could press him further, he added, “What’s she being accused of?”

He disappeared into his thoughts again as I explained about Jordan’s mother and her laptop.

“Can’t you talk to him about it?” TJ asked when I’d finished.

“Talk to who? Jordan?” I laughed. “I could try, but it won’t get Charlie anywhere.”

“And there’s no way it could’ve been her?”

“No way. If you knew Charlie, it wouldn’t even be a question.” I paused. “Don’t you know her?”

His eyebrows knitted together. “I know of her.”

“Do you have friends on the football team?”

“Why do you ask?”

Hmm…did I detect a trace of defensiveness?

I looked down at his portfolio and casually flipped the page. “I thought I saw you at one of the Templeton football games a couple weeks ago. I was surprised because it seemed like you wanted to burn your bridges there. But it was dark, and there were a lot of people.” I looked at him. “Maybe it was someone else?” I held his gaze, challenging him. Daring him to lie to me.

He slouched against the chair, folded his arms across his chest, and looked out the window. “Yeah,” he muttered. “That must’ve been it.”