So Over It (24 page)

“Okay, Eli,” I said in a threatening voice. I so didn’t want to get into all that.

He answered with a wry laugh. “What’s with you? It’s like no matter what I do, it’s wrong.” His eyes, as blue as the pool I now stood beside, pierced me. “Tell me the truth. Did you ever actually like me, or did you just date me because of Aaron?”

“Because of Aaron?” Alexis’s gaze flicked between the two of us. “Somebody explain.”

I sighed. “Eli, I did like you. Okay?”

Madison bobbed up along the edge of the pool. She squinted up at Lisa and me. “You guys coming in, or what?”

“Somebody better tell me what’s going on,” Alexis shrieked. “Or I’m going to freak out.”

“
Going
to?” Lisa said.

“You say you liked me, but you never acted like you did. Not for one second.” Eli’s voice rose with each word. “If I hadn’t walked in and rescued you from Aaron, you’d never have given me a shot. Would you?”

Was it possible to hear blood racing through your veins? I kept my gaze locked on Eli, but I could feel the eyes of everyone else.

“What are you guys talking about?” Alexis asked. “What happened with Aaron?”

I thought of Connor, of how nicely he’d listened through the whole thing.

Of Heather.

Of Lane.

They’d all been practice. Practice for this moment, for these people. These were the ones who needed to hear what had happened to me that night. They’d been the closest to me—except Madison—and they’d witnessed my painful year of reinvention. They needed to know the story behind the story.

I’d gone all the way to Hawaii to try to escape this moment, and now I knew why. It was horrible.

I looked away from Eli, to the rest of my old friends, not quite sure where to begin.

“Tell us, Skylar.” Alexis planted her hands on her narrow hips. “What happened?”

“At Jodi’s party last year—”

“You don’t have to do this, Skylar.” Eli’s eyes shone with regret. “You don’t have to tell them.”

Alexis roared at this. “I want a real explanation! I’m tired of being left in the dark!”

Quick like a Band-Aid. One, two, three . . .

“Aaron roofied me at Jodi’s party. Nothing happened, but only because Eli caught him in time.” I looked at Eli, who appeared miserable. “I’m grateful. That hasn’t changed.”

“Aaron wouldn’t do that,” Alexis said. “He’s a nice guy. And the way he tells it—”

“Alexis, shut up,” Lisa said. “Skylar just told us something huge. Can you think about someone other than yourself for five seconds?”

“Wait,” I said. “How does Aaron tell it?”

Alexis blinked her long lashes at me. “He says you clearly had too much to drink and Eli’s a jealous psycho. And that you left without even acknowledging him.”

Eli sneered. “What’d he expect? He drugged her. I know it. His friends had the stuff.”

I blinked at him. “His friends had the stuff? What does that mean?”

“I . . .” Eli glanced at our audience.

“Did you or did you not see Aaron put something in my drink?”

“Okay, so I didn’t
exactly
see him put something in there, but—”

“What’s wrong with you?” I marched back to my chair, snatched my shorts and tank, and wrestled them over my suit. “You said you saw him.”

Eli swallowed hard. “I think what I said is that I
maybe
saw him.”

“I don’t care!” I poked him in the collarbone with my finger. “You told me you saw him, and I believed you.”

He kept his gaze fixed on the ground. “I saw you and him talking, and then he went into the kitchen to get you a drink. Sarah Humphrey came over and handed him the cup that he gave to you.”

I blinked rapidly. “So you didn’t actually see a roofie.”

“Well, not right then, but that thug boyfriend of Sarah’s had them. John and I saw them earlier in the night. Remember?” Eli appealed to John, but he seemed unwilling to say anything. Eli swallowed again and looked at me. “We did. So, I mean, it’s obvious that Aaron and Nate had worked out something, and Sarah was doing the legwork. It’s obvious.”

He turned to the rest of the group, as if waiting for them to agree. No one spoke.

“The only thing that’s obvious”—I jammed my feet into my shoes, ready to march all the way home—“is that you were willing to do whatever it took to get me.”

“How did you plan to get home?”

I turned. Jodi, Lisa, and Madison had followed me out to the parking lot.

“I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.”

“Let’s take my car.” Jodi fished keys from her pool bag. “And we better hurry. Only a matter of time before Eli comes out here after you.”

We giggled as we sprinted toward her car. With my secret out, I felt light. So light that if a gust of wind came through, it might pick me up and carry me away.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we fussed with seat belts.

Jodi grinned and said, “Where do you think?”

“Sixth grade,” Jodi said into her custard.

“
Sixth
grade?” I said. “How did I not know this?”

“Because that’s not the worst of it.” She bit her lip, trying not to smile. “Dylan Hollis.”

“Dylan Hollis!” the three of us shrieked. Other patrons of Sheridan’s turned and stared.

“No way,” Madison said. “I mean, Dylan’s so . . . Dylan. Especially in sixth grade. How did that ever happen?”

Jodi hid her red face in her hands, laughing. “We were on the yearbook team together because my mom thought I needed something brainier than cheerleading and—”

“Stop right there,” Lisa said. “This is way too after-school-special. A beautiful, popular girl working late on yearbook with the class loser . . .”

“Forget Dylan Hollis. I can’t get past the sixth grade part,” I said. “It could’ve been Carter Shaw, and I’d feel just as horrified.”

“Ooh, Carter Shaw,” Jodi said. “Totally forgot about that guy.”

“Yeah, whatever happened to him?” Lisa asked.

“I don’t know who—” Madison stopped herself. “Oh, wait. Is he that guy who played on the guys’ baseball team when we were freshmen? Dark hair, intense eyes?”

“That’s the one.” Jodi smiled at me. “Skylar and I liked him and both vowed we’d stay away.”

“He was into you.” I’d never admitted it before. “He had a thing for blondes.”

“Like it matters anymore,” Jodi said. But her face pinkened as she bit back a smile.

“It seems to be a common problem for you two,” Madison said. “Liking the same guys, who like both of you back.”

Jodi tilted her head at me, her smile cautious. “It’s a miracle our friendship survived.”

“Yeah.” I tried to smile but couldn’t. “Maybe you picked up on this at the pool, but I didn’t mean to start dating Eli. The morning after, when he took me home, he kissed me, and . . . and after everything he’d just done for me . . .”

I thought of the hazy summer morning, of the clicking gas pump, of Eli inching closer and closer.

I looked Jodi in the eyes. “But I should’ve kept my promise to you.”

She shrugged, looking weary. Of Eli? Of our battles? “It sounds like you might not have been thinking your clearest.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Lisa asked in a mouselike voice.

I blinked at her. I’d kinda forgotten Lisa’s and Madison’s presence. “I guess I was embarrassed to have put myself in that position. You know, I always tried to look like I had it all together, but that night . . .” I took a wobbly breath. “That night I so didn’t.”

Eli’s words back at the pool haunted me: “It’s obvious that Aaron and Nate had worked out something, and Sarah was doing the legwork. It’s obvious.”

But nothing about what happened to me seemed obvious anymore. Especially when it came to who could be trusted about the events at that party.

“What do you guys remember?” I asked. “I mean, do you think Eli’s right? That Aaron and his friend had arranged everything?”

At first, none of them spoke.

“I wasn’t there. I don’t know,” Madison said.

“I remember seeing you talk to Aaron, but not much else.” Lisa shrugged, looking helpless. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”

I turned to Jodi, praying she held some nugget of information that would blow this whole thing open. Make it obvious who was to blame and who wasn’t. And hopefully that information said “Aaron” in big, bold letters.

But Jodi shrugged as well. “I’m sorry. I hardly remember a thing about that night. I think I passed out even before you and Aaron went upstairs.”

My hope dissolved, and I took a slow bite of my melting ice cream. “I guess I just need to get over it. And I can do that. I mean, so what if I never know what really happened?”

“Don’t say that,” Madison said. “That sucks.”

I smiled at her. “I agree, but—” Was that . . . ? Yep. Eli marched our direction. “We should’ve gone to a different one.”

They turned to see.

Jodi started to get to her feet. “I’ll get rid of him, Skylar.” “No, it’s okay.” I stood, which made Eli slow his steps. “This is mine to deal with.”

As I walked toward him, a whole spiel ran through my mind—about how I appreciated him following me up to that room regardless of what Aaron might or might not have done, how I never would’ve had the life I did now if he hadn’t acted like he did, that I wouldn’t want things to be any different—but Eli spoke first. “I’m gonna find out what happened.”

I blinked at this, my rehearsed speech evaporating. “What?”

“That night. I’m gonna find out what happened. If Aaron drugged you or”—he swallowed—“not.”

“Eli . . .” Thirty seconds ago I’d said it didn’t matter, but the thought of knowing the truth made my heart beat a little faster. “You don’t have to. I’m happy now, and—”

“I owe you.” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his swim trunks. “And I think you deserve to know.”

That brought tears to my eyes. I looked away, at the passing traffic. “I’m sorry about this spring. I didn’t mean to lead you on when—”

“I always knew you were in love with him. I don’t know
why
, but that doesn’t matter. If he makes you happy, then . . .” He shrugged. “You know. Whatever.”

My phone sang to me from my back pocket. “That’s probably him now,” I said as I fished for it.

Nope—my house.

“Skylar.” Mom sounded breathless. “I need you to come home right away. There’s been—”

“Mom?” I said as she dissolved into tears.

“Just come home, okay?”

And then the line went dead.

26

Barely twenty-four hours later, Mom’s and my plane touched down in Lihue. Mostly tourists occupied our connecting flight from Honolulu. A few residents dotted the crowd, but the air buzzed with vacation chatter. My ears snatched bits of conversation as we exited—hiking Na Pali and surfing lessons at Poipu Beach. A far cry from what I’d be doing
on this trip—burying my grandfather.

“You double-checked that it’s yours?” Mom asked as I pulled my suitcase off the carousel.

I nodded, and we headed into the fresh, sweet-smelling afternoon.

We didn’t talk again until pulling onto Kapule Highway in our squatty rental car. “You doing okay?” I asked Mom, observing the slack of her face. I couldn’t see her left eye anymore, but on the plane it’d twitched.

She exhaled a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”

I had no response for that. Maybe my father would’ve known what to say. I assumed she’d have preferred having him here instead of me, although she’d told him over and over that it was fine.

“There’s no way you can go,” she’d insisted last night as she stabbed at her salad but didn’t eat a bite. “Not only are you breaking ground on the AMC project, you’ve got
two
meetings with prospective clients. No way.”

“You come first, Teri.”

It warmed me to hear him say it, and I wondered if it did her too.

“I know that,” she said very quietly. “And that’s why it’s fine if you stay. Skylar and I will be fine.”

And now I wondered if she’d been right. If only Abbie could’ve come too. It was totally impractical with summer school and Owen, but I sure missed her ability to fill up a silence.

“My father and I never got along well.” It startled me to hear Mom’s voice. “I assume you know that.”