Unexpected Rendezvous

Chapter 26

Leigh's POV

I wish that invisibility shield had been real. And soundproof. You wouldn't think I'd need it anymore, since Jade and Perrie have been silent since their fight. But it's the kind of silence that fills your ears with a dull roar that's somehow worse than screaming. By the time I pull into the car park at school, my head is throbbing from the pressure.

The car park is nearly empty except for Perrie's car and a few other stragglers. Before I can even pull the handbrake, Jade brusquely says, "Can you open the boot?" When I do, she gets out of the car, grabs her backpack, closes the boot, and leans into the still-open rear seat door. I'm half afraid she's going to go off on Perrie again, but all she says is "See ya, Leigh." Then she slams the door and takes off across the car park towards the back fence.

"Well, shit," I say, gazing after her. "I didn't think she was going to leave."

Perrie slumps in her seat. "She can't stand the sight of me."

Fair point, but the day can't end like this. There's too much still hanging in the balance. "Stay here," I say, sliding out from behind the wheel. "Let me talk to her."

I have to practically run to catch her before she hops over the fence. "Jade, wait. Stop," I say breathlessly, grabbing hold of her arm. "Aren't you gonna come in?"

She spins to face me. "For what?" she asks, pulling her arm away. "What are we here for again? A fucking painting? Who cares. It's just another one of Perrie's stupid ideas, and you know what? I've had more than enough of those."

I'm not going to try and defend Perrie to her. I still can't fully wrap my head around what she did, so I can only imagine how Jade feels. "Look, I get it," I say. "I don't blame you for being pissed. But what are you going to do now?"

She shrugs. "Go home. Then go to work."

"But you can't go home!" I nearly yell. "You sent your cousin out of town because it's not safe. What if someone's waiting for you?"

"Don't worry about me, Leigh," Jade says. "I'm not your problem anymore. The Shittiest Day Ever is officially over."

She turns, and I catch her arm again. She pulls away, and this time her expression is verging on thunderous, so I talk fast. "But we don't even have our stories straight. What are you going to say if the police ask about Zoe? Or-"

"Nothing. Not a single thing." Jade crosses her arms. "They can't prove she did anything wrong. Nelson's dead. Aaron's not talking. I'm washing my hands and walking away. I was home sick today, and that's it. I'm done." The steeliness in her voice recedes just a little as she adds, "Take care of yourself, okay Leigh?"

This time I don't try to stop her. She vaults easily over the fence, and with a sense of hopeless foreboding, I watch her back retreat into the woods. We're way past the point of pretending that none of this happened. If Jade was thinking straight, she'd remember that it's not only up to her, or Aaron, whether the police find out about Zoe. And maybe she would've thought twice about ripping into Perrie.

"Leigh?" Perrie's voice snaps me back to reality. I turn to see her walking slowly towards me, her gaze locked on the woods where Jade disappeared. She's taken her backpack from my boot, and it dangles loosely from one hand. "What did she say?"

"She said she's done. With everything."

"Oh," Perrie says quietly. It's a testament to how much the argument in the car devastated her that she doesn't point out the multiple flaws in that plan. Instead, she says, "My parents' plane is supposed to land at 5:30. They probably have a million messages waiting for them from the school, and their friends, and quite possibly the police, so..." She takes a deep breath, then exhales slowly. "We need to fix all of this before then."