Friends Forever (20 page)

Billy stood there calmly, watching him, and realizing what had happened.

“Everybody does it,” he said quietly. “You just have to know when, after they test you.”

“You’re going to blow it,” Sean said with an agonized expression. “Please, please, please don’t.” He was begging him. Billy put an arm around his shoulders and led him out of the bathroom, still shaking. The girls were waiting for them, and Izzie could see that something had happened, but Gabby didn’t seem to notice. She only had eyes for Billy, and they were going back to her apartment before he went back to the dorm.

They dropped Izzie at her dorm first and then Sean at his hotel, and the two boys who had grown up together hugged each other hard. All the love Sean felt for him, and the fear he had for him, was in their embrace, and then Sean got out of the car. He had said everything he had to say to him in the men’s room when he threw the Ecstasy away. Billy knew how much he cared about him, and he loved Sean too, but he lived in another world now, a world of
fast lanes, fast people, and big money that was going to come his way. He could hardly wait to get out of school and play for the NFL. The championship game had only whetted his appetite for more.

The sports pages were full of Billy the next day. There were some fabulous photographs of him scoring the winning touchdown, and the
L.A. Times
named him the hottest rookie on the planet. Marilyn was making a scrapbook of all the press on him.

Sean called Izzie that morning before he left. He was flying back to Washington, D.C., from L.A. He had a paper to write before classes started again, and he needed time to do the research.

Izzie had an odd sense that some kind of tension had occurred between Sean and Billy the night before, and she was curious about it. She had seen that Sean was upset.

“What happened with you and Billy last night?” Izzie asked.

“Nothing,” he said offhandedly. “Just guy talk.” He didn’t want to tell her that he had delivered a message from his dead brother, but he hoped he had. Kevin had been gone for seven months, and it had changed his life forever. There was no room for leeway now, for halfway measures, or compromises or exceptions. What Billy had wanted to do the night before in the men’s room killed people. People died for it, and because of it and from it. And as far as Sean was concerned, the people who sold it were killers and had to be stopped. He was worried about Billy. There were so many temptations in his world now, of all kinds. But he didn’t say that to Izzie. He just told her again to take care of herself. She was a sensible girl with her feet on the ground, and he knew she would. Billy lived on the edge. Ever since the flask had appeared when his parents
separated, Sean knew he was at risk, just as he had known it about Kevin.

“Are you coming home for spring break?” Izzie asked him.

“Maybe. Some of the people in my study group are going to Peru on a mission to study the government. I was thinking I might go with them. I don’t know yet. I know my mom wants me to come home.”

“Yeah. Me too,” she said softly. She always missed him. She missed them all. At least she saw Gabby all the time. But Andy and Sean had gone so far away. It felt like another planet sometimes, with them in Boston and Washington, D.C.

“I’ll let you know what I’m doing,” Sean promised. They hung up then, and Izzie already missed him. She was smiling to herself as she thought about him, and about Billy winning the game the day before. It was a beautiful January day, and all was well, when she went to meet the others for lunch. They were still on a high from Billy’s big victory. This was only the beginning for him, and for all of them. And when she saw Billy walk into the restaurant, she was so happy for him, she had tears in her eyes. He looked like the happiest guy in the world.

A
week after USC won the Rose Bowl game, Gabby got confirmation that she had been chosen for the national ad campaign for the cosmetics company. Her agency was sending her out on more go-sees, one of them for a Victoria’s Secret ad. She was learning the business.

Billy had stayed with her the night before, and had left for the dorm early that morning, to work out at the gym. They were planning to have dinner together that evening.

She slipped into a short, skinny black dress and a pair of strappy high heels. Her skin looked terrific, and her long straight blond hair was perfectly blow-dried. She had just had it colored, and she was wearing it a little lighter, which looked right in L.A. She had very little makeup on—her agency liked her fresh, with a girl-next-door wholesome look, and so did Billy. After he won the championship game, he had given her a promise ring to replace the one he’d given her in high school, which he’d had engraved with “I love you.” This one was a narrow band of diamonds with a small
diamond heart on it, and she was wearing it on her left hand. It wasn’t an engagement ring yet, but she knew it would be one day. He had said as much to her. He had just turned nineteen and she was eighteen, and they had time. He said he wanted to marry her by the time he went to the NFL. They both wondered if he’d stay in school for all four years. After the championship game, she doubted it. The lure of the NFL would be too tempting if they flashed big money at him when he turned twenty-one. Gabby knew that would be hard to resist, but she didn’t care. As long as she was with Billy, he could do whatever he wanted. She was behind him all the way.

Her three go-sees that day went well, and she was pretty sure she’d get all three jobs. She had a drink at the Ivy with one of the models after the last one. She liked her and they had worked together a few times, most recently on a shoot for
Vogue
. They talked about how tough the business was, and how lucky they had been. The other girl had come out from Salt Lake City six months ago, and like Gabby, she was doing well. A lot of the girls weren’t, but Gabby and her new friend had the look everybody wanted right now. The girl from Utah had just been asked to shoot a commercial in Japan, and she said she was going to do it.

Gabby called Izzie from her BlackBerry as she left the Ivy, but it went to voicemail, so she figured Izzie was still in class. She just said that she called to say hi and tell her she loved her, and then Billy called to say he loved her and ask how her day was. She told him about the go-sees, and he promised to be at the apartment an hour later—he had the keys.

Gabby still had her phone in her hand as she stepped out on
North Robertson to hail a cab. She saw one and put her arm up, a beautiful girl in a short black dress, with her long blond hair flying in the breeze. Just then a car came around the corner so fast, she couldn’t even see it or step back. Gabby never knew what hit her. She flew into the air when the car struck her, and then smashed onto the windshield. The car was going so fast that she fell off again, headfirst onto the street, and lay there like a rag doll as cars were honking and people screamed. The driver of the car that hit her drove up onto the sidewalk and nearly ran down someone else. He jumped out of the car and started running, and someone grabbed him and pinned him to the ground. Police were on the scene immediately, and two ambulances seconds later. The fire department came. The driver who had hit her was taken into custody. One of the policemen found her phone and put it in a bag as evidence. Her modeling portfolio was spilled all over North Robertson. Traffic was stopped, and they put Gabby on a gurney and covered her. The ambulance drove away in silence as people stared after it. They didn’t put the siren on. People shuddered at the grim scene. Gabby Thomas was dead at eighteen.

T
he police came to the Thomas home in San Francisco to tell Gabby’s parents. As soon as Judy opened the door to them that night, she knew that something terrible had happened.

Billy had been calling Izzie for the past several hours, wondering if she knew where Gabby was. Izzie said that Gabby had left her a message while she was still in class. She said she had sounded fine, had said she loved her, and would call back later. It was a standard message, and Izzie said she was sure nothing was wrong.

“I talked to her at five-thirty. She said she was on her way home,” Billy said, sounding worried. It wasn’t like her not to call him if she was delayed. They talked to each other constantly, or texted, throughout the day, even if just to say “I love you,” or where they were.

“Maybe her agency sent her on another go-see, and she didn’t have time to call you. Or she doesn’t have service where she is.”
There were always funny pockets where cell phones didn’t work. It was eight o’clock by then.

“I think something’s wrong,” Billy said in a choked voice, and Izzie smiled. The two of them were attached at the hip.

“That you’d know. She’d call you if something happened. Trust me. Or she’d call me. She didn’t. Just give it a while, and relax. Maybe she lost her BlackBerry, or it fell out of her purse, or the battery is dead.” There were a million reasons why she might not have called, all of them benign. But in this case, it wasn’t.

At that exact moment, the police were walking into the Thomases’ living room, and Judy’s heart was in her throat. She sat down, and they told her as gently as they could. They said that Gabby had been hit by a drunk driver and killed. He was a freshman at USC, the alcohol level in his blood on arrest was 1.9, and he was in custody. Their daughter had been killed on impact. Judy sobbed hysterically when they told her, and Adam held her, crying too.

Michelle came out of her room as soon as she heard her mother scream, and she knew the minute she saw her. “Gabby!” Michelle shouted in anguish. Judy nodded, and Michelle put her arms around them as though trying to protect them from the news. She felt a knife-stab of guilt slice through her for every time she had been jealous of her sister, and there had been many, many times. She had admitted it to Brian, her mother, her group, and even Gabby herself. She had confessed, but maybe her bad thoughts had killed her sister. Michelle was sixteen years old, and like Sean a few months earlier, she was suddenly an only child.

The police told them who to contact at the police department in
L.A. He said it would be simplest if they would go there, to make arrangements for the body to be brought back to San Francisco. There were a number of forms to fill out, and they told Judy and Adam how sorry they were and looked as though they meant it. One of the officers said he had a daughter the same age, and he could imagine how they felt. But he couldn’t, Judy knew immediately. He couldn’t possibly—his daughter was still alive. And her beautiful, wonderful, beloved Gabby was dead.

At first they didn’t know what to do. Judy called Connie and told her, knowing she’d understand, and then they both thought of Billy. Someone had to tell him. Connie couldn’t even imagine it, but she said she’d call Izzie, who could tell him in person. She called her while Judy and Adam booked seats on a flight to L.A. the next day. It was too late to catch the last flight, and they were in no condition to travel. Michelle said she wanted to go with them.

Connie had no idea what to say to Izzie and wished Sean were there. Izzie answered her cell phone before she looked—she thought it might be Billy again. She was surprised to hear Connie at the other end.

“Hi, Connie,” Izzie said, sounding happy. She had just gotten back to her dorm room, after picking up a salad for dinner. She didn’t want to gain the freshman fifteen and was careful about it. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got bad news,” Connie said simply. Very, very bad news. She had told Mike, and he was sitting near her, with a devastated expression. And after Izzie, they were going to call Sean. It seemed hideous beyond imagining that two of these young people had
died within seven months of each other, Kevin and now Gabby. And she had done nothing dangerous or risky—all she did was hail a cab. But the boy who hit her had been drinking. And now his life would be ruined too. He had killed a beautiful young woman. Connie could imagine how his parents would feel when they heard. Two lives had been destroyed that night, not just Gabby’s, and the lives of all those who loved them, and in Gabby’s case, there were many.

“What’s wrong?” Izzie asked her. The tone of Connie’s voice sounded familiar to her, but she couldn’t remember why. She had heard that tone before, something dead in her, as though the end of the world had happened. And for them, it had.

“I hate to tell you this over the phone, but I have to. Izzie … I’m sorry.… It’s Gabby.”

“What about Gabby?” Izzie could feel her heart pound, and then she remembered that tone in Connie’s voice.
After Kevin
. “What do you mean?” Izzie felt like she was screaming, but it was only a whisper.

“She was hit by a drunk driver. He … she’s … he killed her,” Connie said on a sob.

“Oh my God … oh my God …” Izzie felt frantic, and all she could think about was Billy. “Billy … does he know?”

“Not yet.”

“It’ll kill him.… Who’s going to tell him? He called me a while ago, and he was worried. She hadn’t called him since five-thirty, and she was late.”

“I think that’s when it happened. He came around the corner and hit her. I’m not sure where she was. He’s a freshman at USC.
Judy said he was drunk and tried to run, and a witness grabbed him.”

“What do we do about Billy?” Izzie asked, panicking.

“Someone has to tell him, and not on the phone. Do you think you can do it?” She was the only one there who could, and they both knew it. It was going to be the hardest thing she ever did.

“Does Sean know?” She could use support from him. Or Andy. But it would be devastating for them too.

“Not yet. I called you first.”

“He’s at her apartment,” she said, as though to herself. “I’ll go.”

“I’m so sorry.… I don’t think he should hear it on the phone. Neither should you.” But they both knew that was different. Izzie felt like a bomb had hit her when she hung up. She had lost her best friend, who was like a sister to her. But Billy had lost his first love and the girl he wanted to marry and was sure he would. Gabby had shown her the beautiful promise ring the day she got it. Billy loved Gabby as much as any wife—she was his childhood sweetheart.