"You must be psychic, Ariana," Zoe said. "I was just about to call you."
"Yeah?"
"Don't be mad at me."
"About what?"
"The dumb thing I did in the car yesterday. Thanks for driving us home. I guess I'm more of a lightweight than I thought."
I'd forgotten all about it in light of my conversation with Jenny Carson a few hours earlier. "I'm not mad. Not anymore, anyway."
"I'm lousy at the whole apology thing."
"It's okay, Zoe."
"Ariana?"
"What?"
"It was a stupid thing for me to do. I was pissed—not with you—and I just wanted to feel, I don't know, free, or something. I wanted to fly away from my life for a moment."
I'd thought about Justin and how he kept saying that next time it would be Wanda's turn. But it hadn't been. After Madame came Dave, then Tiffany. Zoe had waited a long time. "I didn't ask Justin to do Tiffany's plan first," I said. "I'm sure he's got something in mind for Wanda."
Justin always had something in mind. My stomach shifted at the prospect. I tried not to think about the next revenge looming over us. Over me.
"Oh, I told him it was okay to do Tiffany next," Zoe said.
"You did?"
"Yeah, I wasn't ready. Still not."
"Not ready? What do you—?"
"Just not ready. Listen, I don't want to talk about Wanda." She paused, then cleared her throat. "I want you to know that I'm off the stuff for good. I don't want to end up like my mom, great role model that she is. And I definitely don't want to wear one of those tags on my big toe."
"I'm glad," I said. I liked her, I realized. I really did. Somewhere along the way, Zoe Carpenter had become a real friend, not just an assigned one.
"So, anyway, you called me," she said. "What's up?"
I was about to tell her about the call to Jenny, but my story was interrupted by a ping against the sliding glass door, followed by a more demanding clank. I drew the curtain back.
"I have to call you back, Zoe." Even in the dark, I saw three white pebbles—the kind Mom used to mark her vegetable seeds—lined up on the porch. Justin.
As I slid the door open, I thought about Jenny. "Just kiss me once," he'd begged. And she had, right before she was thrown to the ground.
"It's ... eight o'clock," I stammered to the dark night.
"On a Saturday," he responded. "You aren't going to make me beg, are you? Oh, okay. Please, Ari, please."
I peered over the railing. Justin fixed his wolflike eyes on me, then dropped to one knee, spreading his arms out in an exaggerated appeal.
Looking down at Justin like this, I couldn't imagine him hurting Jenny. There had to be more to the story. Justin made people feel special. He made me feel special. And yet, Jenny had seemed so honest. If it had all been made up, why would she have talked to me? I wasn't the police. There was no reason to resurrect a lie.
I glanced at my wrist, remembering when Justin had grabbed it to stop me from interfering with Richie and Dave's fight at school. But that hadn't been personal; he wasn't trying to hurt me. He was protecting the League.
Why couldn't I decide who to believe? Jenny seemed to be telling the truth, but whenever Justin was near, I couldn't see him as the monster she'd described.
I was afraid to be alone with him, but I had to know what had happened.
"C'mon, Ari! I'm begging you. Haven't you missed me?" He flashed his biggest smile.
"Okay ...," I said reluctantly, mad at myself for not being able to say no to him, "but only for a little while."
I scrawled a note to Mom. Studying too much. Going for a walk to clear my head. Love, Me.
I was halfway off the porch when Justin pulled me down onto the dewy grass. Tangling his fingers in my hair, he leaned over and kissed me. Startled at first, I quickly warmed to his touch and found myself kissing him back. A few minutes later, we crawled past the living room window and ran, hunched low, to the street. I hopped onto the back of his motorcycle, circling my arms around his waist. He revved the engine, and I pressed my cheek against his shoulder blades. I could feel the heat of his body rising through the leather.
We sputtered to a stop at the rusted gate to Lowell's Cemetery. Justin tipped his bike into a ditch to hide it from passing traffic. We hiked up the hill to an impressive marble gravestone, obscured by the drooping branches of a willow tree. The headstone doubled as a backrest. Justin didn't waste any time and dove into the hollow of my neck. Suddenly, I felt vulnerable, just him and me in the deserted cemetery.
"Can we talk?" I scooted to the side. "I feel like talking."
Justin groaned. He moved closer and nibbled on my ear. I tensed, remembering that time when he bit it.
I gently pushed him away. "Seriously."
"So, what do you want to talk about?" he asked gruffly.
His sudden shift in mood left me wordless. How was I going to bring this up?
Justin rolled onto his side, propping his head on a hand. "So what did Jenny tell you?"
"What?"
"Did you satisfy your curiosity?"
"I didn't—"
"Don't lie to me, Ari." He touched the tip of my nose. "Don't. Ever. Lie."
"How did you know?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"Nora said you were determined to find answers, that you told her you were going to call Jenny and get to the bottom of it."
"That's not true!"
"She said it was all garbage, but you wouldn't listen."
"No. What happened was—"
"Would you like to know what I said to her, Ari?"
"Nora and I never talked about what to do," I said. "I wasn't even going to call Jenny. I mean, I did end up doing it, but her story didn't seem believable, so I—"
"I said to her, 'Maybe that's what Ari needs to do to find peace of mind. Maybe then she can finally trust me.'"
"I do trust you." The words fell flat.
"What lies did Jenny tell you?"
I took a deep breath. "She said you assaulted her."
"I'm not going to tell you who to believe, Ariana. You'll have to figure it out for yourself." He sprang to his feet and started down the hill.
I ran after him. "Come on, Justin. I need to hear your side of it."
He scooped a handful of stones off the top of a grave and hurled them at a pigeon nesting on a battered fence. It squawked, whirring away.
"Jenny Carson had reasons to lie," he began. "She was with a college guy in the woods behind her house. Things got out of hand, and they started to fight. She ended up in the hospital for five days with a sprained ankle and a broken collarbone. But she told everyone I followed her into the woods and beat her up. She said I was obsessed with her or something. It was obvious she was making it up, and the charges were dropped."
He cradled my face in his hands. "She took advantage of my feelings for her and used me to protect her Neanderthal college boyfriend." His eyes grew misty and he lowered his head to hide the tears.
I turned away, giving him a moment to recover. How I wanted to believe him. But there were holes—no, canyons—in his story. I just wanted to go home, as fast as possible.
"I believe you." My mouth moved of its own accord.
"Thanks," he said, but he didn't look convinced.
"I told my mom I was going out for a walk. If I don't go soon, she'll drive around the neighborhood, handing out flyers."
Justin's eyes were flat, unreadable. I shivered, drawing my arms up into my sleeves.
"This isn't about Jenny," I told him. "I have to go. Seriously."
He didn't break his cold stare.
I lifted onto my toes and ran my lips across his stubbly jaw. Without comment, he turned around and started down the path again. At the bottom of the hill, he hopped onto his bike and started the engine, not even glancing back to see if I'd followed him. I leaped on board. We took off, gravel shooting from his tires like gunfire. When we reached my street, Justin parked three houses down and cut the engine.
"You want to get together tomorrow?" I asked, sliding off. He had to think that we were back to normal.
"Maybe," he said. His hand swung out, reaching for my shirt. I whirled around, pretending I hadn't noticed his attempt to reel me in.
"Bye," I called over my shoulder.
I listened for the grumble of a bike engine, but all I heard were crickets. As I walked down the street, I felt his stare pierce the back of my head. I drew my shoulders back, lifted my chin, and didn't turn around.
It wasn't until I was on the other side of my door that I crumpled to the floor like a bird that's flown into a closed window.
A/N:
so was Jenny lying and Justin telling the truth? or is Justin lying? let me know what you think!
thank you for reading loves <3