Burn for Burn (16 page)

“Jeez,” I say. “Maybe Alex is a good songwriter? I mean, it’s in everyone’s head.”

Kat rocks back with laughter that fills the entire building, bounces off every wall, every tile. “That shit is catchy, I give him that much.” And then she gets a cigarette out from her pocket and lights it up.

I’m worried that Kat shouldn’t be smoking in here. But I’m not about to tell her to put it out. So instead I ask, “Do you think anyone suspects we’re behind it?”

Kat rolls her eyes. “No one suspects us. And no one even knows who you are.”

I guess I look hurt, which I am, but then Lillia says, “Yup. That’s why you’re our secret weapon!”

I joke, “Yeah, I’m silent but deadly.”

“Like a fart!” Kat cracks up.

I laugh too, and then I give her the middle finger. I think it might be the first time I’ve ever done that.

Kat grins. “Aww, look. Sweet little Mary’s turning into a hell-raiser.”

“Am not!” I squeal, louder than I mean to, and I cup my hand over my mouth.

“I’m only kidding,” Kat says. “But seriously. We’re scary good at this.”

“Better than good,” Lillia corrects, and pulls her lollipop out. The inside of her mouth is a deep cherry red. “We’re amazing.” She looks down at her cell phone and starts tapping the screen. Without looking up she says, “I mean, we could even quit now, if we wanted.”

Both Kat and I look at her.

“What?”

Lillia slips her phone into her purse. “I’m just saying . . . we could quit while we’re ahead, and just get started on Rennie or Reeve.” Her voice is a bit quieter than before.

“No way, dude!” Kat says. “Tomorrow’s going to be so epic. First football game of the season. Everyone watching our plan go down. This is going to be our best work yet. I bet I won’t sleep a wink tonight. It’s like freaking Christmas Eve.”

Kat isn’t taking Lillia seriously, I can tell. She’s just grinning, thinking about tomorrow. But I see the look in Lillia’s eyes. Something’s different.

“What’s changed?” I ask her.

She bites her lip. “I don’t know. Nothing.”

“The football game is tomorrow,” I say. “We’ve already done so much work.”

Impatiently Kat says, “Lil, quit with the guilty act.”

“I thought this was my revenge,” she says, sliding her hands into her pockets. “Shouldn’t that mean I get to say when it’s over?”

“Why would you want to chicken out now?” Kat demands. “Did you tell someone? Did you say something to Rennie?”

“No! God, it’s not like that. Look, I’m pretty sure that whatever went down between my sister and Alex is over. So, Kat, feel free to start up with Alex again. Whatever keeps him from sniffing around my sister is fine by me.”

“Don’t you bring me into this!” Kat’s pacing. “This is your thing, not mine.”

“Oh, please. Don’t act like you aren’t benefiting from it. You like Alex, he hooked up with my sister, and now he’s back on the market. Congrats.”

Kat glares at Lillia. “Get it straight, Lil. Your baby sister had
my
sloppy seconds.”

I step in between them. “Um, what are you two talking about?” Alex and Kat? They were a thing? “Why didn’t either of you tell me!” I start shaking my head. “This is seriously screwed up. We can’t keep secrets from each other!”

“You’re right, Mary.” Lillia spins toward Kat so hard, her hair whips from one shoulder to the other. “Kat, what were you and Alex, exactly? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Texting ‘I love you’ every night? Or just a one-night mistake.”

Kat’s eyes flash with fire. But before she can say anything back, the door to the pool building closes with a sickening thud.

A deep voice calls out, “Hello? Who’s in here?”

I gasp. So does Lillia.

Kat sinks down and grinds her cigarette out on the floor. She lifts her chin and nudges it toward a door. The three of us run over, and she opens it, revealing a small electrical closet. We squeeze inside together, and then Kat closes the door except for a crack, so we can see out.

“Who is that?” Lillia hisses, but Kat holds up a finger. I think we all stop breathing.

Through the wedge of light we watch one of the construction workers look around. He’s a big guy, with dirty jeans, work boots, a yellow hard hat, and a ring of tinkling keys. He calls out “Yo! Who’s in here?” again. And then he starts sniffing the air.

The cigarette smoke.

Next to me Kat closes her eyes.

We stay absolutely motionless, watching the construction worker walk over to the pool, looking around suspiciously. He walks over to where we’re hiding, and then pushes the door closed, trapping us in the dark.

It takes a second for my eyes to adjust. Slowly I start to make out Lillia standing next to me. I think she’s about to faint. Her eyes are closed, and she’s shaking out her hands really fast. Kat sees her too, and she grabs one of Lillia’s hands and holds it, trying to calm her down. Lillia doesn’t open her eyes.

It’s quiet for a few more minutes, and then we hear the pool door open and then close again. We wait for a few more seconds before we leave our hiding spot.

“Shit,” Kat breathes. “That was close.”

Lillia doesn’t look relieved. She’s still pretty shaken up. “You shouldn’t have been smoking in here, Kat.”

Kat brushes it off. “Whatever. It’s not like we got caught. Besides, I’m not the one who was screaming.”

Bristling, Lillia says, “See, this is what I’m talking about.”

I can tell they’re about two seconds from going at it again. The thought of me not getting revenge, of this whole thing falling apart before I get to Reeve—it’s unthinkable. But if it’s this hard for Lillia, I know it’ll be even harder for me. I’ll just have to keep reminding myself that Reeve deserves this. He deserves everything that’s coming to him, and then some.

In a strong, clear voice, I say, “Guys. Stop it.”

They both look at me in surprise.

I continue. “I believe in this, in what we’re trying to do. Just knowing that Reeve is going to get what’s coming to him, I feel more peace than I have in years.” I take a fast breath, in case they try to interrupt me, but they don’t. They’re actually listening. “I know you two have a complicated history, and there’s a lot of stuff in your past. But none of that matters anymore. We’re all here because somebody hurt us.” I turn to Lillia. “If I had a sister and someone took advantage of her, I’d want to get them back tenfold. There’s nothing wrong with that. I think that’s being a good big sister. What you’re doing right now, it’s protecting your sister. I—I wish someone had done that for me.”

Lillia’s chin trembles. “That’s all I want. To protect Nadia.”

Kat clicks her tongue at her. “What are you talking about? You’re a good big sis, Lil. You always have been.”

Lillia pulls her ChapStick out of her purse and dabs it on her lips. “Let’s just go over the plans for tomorrow’s football game. There’s a lot we need to cover.”

That fast, we’re back down to business.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

KAT

I
T’S
F
RIDAY, JUST AFTER SEVEN
. T
HE ORIGINAL PLAN
was to pick up a part for Ricky’s bike from the auto shop, but it was already closed and now we’re just driving around. Me, Ricky, and Joe in Joe’s hatchback. Ricky and Joe are guys I know through my brother, Pat. They were both a year ahead of me in school. Joe hasn’t graduated yet because he never goes to class, and Ricky’s at community college now. Lillia would probably consider them losers, but they’re good guys.

I’m sitting shotgun, and Ricky’s asleep in the backseat. To Joe I say, “Where are we going?”

“Where are we
ever
going?” Joe says, his eyes barely open. “Nowhere.”

Ricky sleep-mumbles, “That’s why she stopped hanging out with us this summer.”

“Shut up. I did not.” But I did. I was with Alex, most of the time. I turn around and punch Ricky in the shoulder. “Wake up! Come on. It’s Friday night. Let’s do something.”

“You have a real restless spirit, Kat,” Joe says. “You should chill out.”

I am restless, because the football game will be starting soon. I lean forward in my seat and drum my hands on the dashboard. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we stop by school? There’s a game tonight. Let’s go laugh at people.”

Joe gives me a look like I’m crazy.

Ricky sits up and says, “A football game? No way.”

“Come on, guys,” I wheedle. “I mean, what else are we going to do? Drive around all night?” I open up my bag and dangle a bag of weed I stole off my brother. “You guys smoke. I’ll drive.”

It’s an offer they can’t refuse.

*    *    *

Half an hour later we’re standing underneath the bleachers by the end zone. The game is just about to start. Lillia’s warming up on the sideline, doing kicks and jumps. I catch her eye, and she gives a nod before she bends into a stretch. So that means she got it done. Good. I was kind of worried after that conversation in the pool yesterday. I need to chill out on pressing her buttons. Because the truth is, if Lillia decided to walk away, there’s nothing I could do to stop her. Even if I went around telling everybody at school what she did to Alex, nobody would care, not after they found out her reasons. It kills me to say it, but I need her more than she needs me. If it wasn’t for Mary, we would have imploded yesterday, and where would that leave me?

I take a drag off Joe’s cigarette, and that’s when I spot Mary in the bleachers. She waves at me excitedly. I look away—but not before I see the flash of hurt cross her face.

I feel bad. She’s sitting alone up there. But it’s not like I can ask her to join me and Joe and Ricky. They’d ask questions; they’d want to know who she was. And Mary would probably faint at the sight of a j. It’s better this way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

MARY

Y
IKES
.

I avert my eyes and sink low into the bleachers. I’m such an idiot for waving at Kat with all these people around. So much for flying under the radar. Also, waving at someone and them not waving back at you is
sooo
embarrassing. Hopefully no one noticed.

I do think Kat and I could be friends, when this is over. Lillia I’m not so sure about. I mean, I hope we’ll talk once in a while. But she’s so popular. She doesn’t need another friend. I guess the best I can hope for there is that we’ll be able to stop pretending not to know each other when we’re in public.

Down near the front of the bleachers, the Jar Island band kicks into a fight song. I can’t see the band from where I’m sitting, up in the very top row. Just the rims of their shiny brass instruments moving side to side in unison and the white feathers sticking up from the tops of their hats.

Everyone around me sings along. They flap their arms like seagull wings and stomp their feet on the bleachers to make thunder.

I don’t know the song.

Lillia and Rennie are down on the football field in their cheering uniforms. Rennie has a megaphone with a big
C
painted on the side, I guess because she’s the captain. The other cheerleaders on the squad stand in a perfectly straight row, the toes of their Keds just touching the white chalk sideline. Lillia, Rennie, and Ashlin walk the line and inspect each of the other cheerleaders closely—adjusting the curls of white satin ribbon that tie up everyone’s ponytails, straightening their sweaters, dotting lip gloss on the girls who need it. When they reach the end of the line, Rennie and Lillia confer. Then Lillia runs off and grabs Rennie’s stubby white pom-poms for her, and together they shake them, along with the rest of the squad, and try to get the people in the bleachers pumped up.

I watch Lillia and Rennie do a quick choreographed dance with each other, smiling and laughing in each other’s faces. More and more I realize how hard this must be for her—to act like she’s friends with Rennie while she’s about to help Kat stab her in the back. I mean, really, everyone we’re taking revenge on is one of Lillia’s friends.

The opposing football team arrives and shuffles into the stadium on the opposite side of the field. They have their cheerleaders and their band, but they don’t have even half the number of fans that our side has. Probably because they had to come in on the ferry to get here. It’s a hassle, which is lucky for us. I guess that’s why they call it home field advantage.

Our band kicks into another song, and our cheerleaders change formation, making two long lines near the gates. Then Lillia and Rennie unroll a tube of craft paper across the end zone. They’ve painted Fight, Gulls, Fight! across it in bright bubble letters.

A few seconds later the doors to the boys’ locker room fling open, and a pack of football players comes exploding out, helmets clutched in their hands. Reeve leads the charge, bounding in long strides, with the rest of the senior players falling into step behind him, and he’s the first one to burst through the paper with a pop.

Reeve’s got black stripes painted under his eyes, and his hair is wet and slicked back. Everyone in our bleachers gets on their feet and cheers. He grins and points a finger at the stands, as if he’s singling out a person he knows in the crowd. Like his mom or dad, dedicating the game to them. Only he does it the whole length of the bleachers, pointing at everyone. And they cheer like Reeve is doing it just for them.

Reeve Tabatsky, adored by all.

*    *    *

It was raining hard that day.
The ride back to Jar Island was rocky, and the ferry shook from side to side. When we docked, Reeve’s dad wasn’t there to pick him up. He never came to pick Reeve up, but I just figured he would because of the rain.

I saw my mom’s car right away, in the same place where she always parked. Shyly I asked Reeve if he wanted a ride, but he said no. He was just going to wait until it let up. As I ran over to my mom’s car, I kept looking over my shoulder. Reeve was trying to stand under the awning by the Jar Island tour booth, but his book bag was getting wet. His shoulders, too. Then there was a crack of thunder so loud, it echoed in my chest. When I got to the car, I asked my mom if we could give Reeve a ride home. She said yes.