Oh, good question. I leaned in to hear the answer.
“Quinn wouldn’t leave him alone,” Jenni said. “At first I thought there was something going on there, like Connor was totally cheating on me or something, but then Connor told me what had happened. I mean, she was texting him, like, all the time. Like, she seriously thought he might be into her.”
“And you’re sure he wasn’t?” I asked.
“Puh-lease. Quinn Leslie is not even close to homecoming queen material. Once Connor told me what happened, I was so not worried about her.”
But had Sydney been worried about her? Or, more important, had Quinn been worried about Sydney? It was hard to imagine someone killing over a narcissist like Connor, but I guess stranger things had happened.
As I contemplated this new bit of information, the bell rang, echoing off the pea-green hallway walls.
Jenni stuck her other earbud back in, effectively ending the interview, and ducked into Spanish. Sam took off for her AP statistics class, promising to meet me at lunch in the cafeteria, and I hoofed it to lit, still mulling over what Jenni had said.
If it was true that Quinn had made out with Sydney’s boyfriend, that put a whole new spin on their friendship. And if Sydney had retaliated by getting Quinn busted for cheating, maybe Quinn had upped the ante in her revenge and killed Sydney. One thing was certain: I had to talk to Quinn again.
I spent first period in a haze, barely paying attention to Shakespeare’s sonnets as I watched the clock tick down with agonizing slowness. Ditto PE and American Government, where I could have sworn the clock’s hands stood still the entire time Mr. Bleaker explained the Articles of the Confederation in excruciating detail. By the time I finally got out of fourth-period Spanish, I fairly raced for the cafeteria. Unfortunately, my sprint carried me right past the teachers’ lounge, and as the door opened, Mr. Tipkins emerged, a cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in the other.
“Hartley,” he said, hailing me. “I was actually hoping I’d run into you.”
“You were?” I asked, wracking my brain to make sure I hadn’t said anything bad about him in the article that had run in that morning’s
“I saw the article in this morning’s paper.”
“Uh… you did?” I hedged.
He nodded. “It looks like you’re doing a very thorough job of investigating where Sydney got those test answers.”
I did a mental sigh of relief. “Thanks. I’m certainly trying.”
“Have you turned up any new information about how they got out?”
I bit my lip. “Not really.” Which was mostly true. While I knew Nicky was involved, I still didn’t know who had given Nicky the answers, so technically I didn’t know how his cheats had gotten out. Just where they went once they did.
And, as Nicky had pointed out, I had no proof.
“Well, I’d like to be kept in the loop on this,” Mr. Tipkins said.
I nodded. “Sure,” I said. “No prob.”
“I take the security of my tests very seriously,” he added.
“I understand,” I said, backing away. “Trust me-when I find out how those answers got out, you’ll be the first to know!” I quickly turned and continued my sprint all the way to the cafeteria.
By the time I got there, Quinn, fresh off her suspension, was already at a table near the back with half the lacrosse team, a tray of Monday Meat(ish)loaf in front of her.
I quickly approached, ignoring the way my own stomach growled at the scent of food. (Even if it was only food- ish.)
Quinn looked up, conversation around her hushing as someone clearly not of the Sporty Girl ranks came near.
“What?” Quinn asked. A less-than-friendly greeting, but then again, I had a less-than-friendly question to ask her.
“I have some new info about Sydney,” I told her.
At the mention of Sydney’s name, all eyes hit the floor, a mix of sadness and awkward emotions filling the air. I saw that several of the girls were wearing black mourning bands on their arms, Quinn included.
“I’d like to talk to you about her,” I pressed Quinn.
“So talk,” she challenged me.
I glanced at the row of girls in matching ponytails and sweats seated next to her, all eyes trying desperately to avoid mine.
“I think maybe we should talk in private.”
A couple of the other girls exchanged glances, but something in my tone must have convinced Quinn, as she just shrugged and pushed away from the table and led the way to an empty table in the corner. She leaned against the end and crossed her arms over her chest, defensive before I could even begin. “Okay, what’s so private?”
Since she seemed to be a fan of the direct, I dove right in.
“You made out with Connor while he and Sydney were still going out.”
Fire instantly lit up Quinn’s eyes as she narrowed them at me. “Who told you that?”
I gulped. “Um… a source. Is it true?”
She pursed her lips, and I could tell a lie was just on the tip of her tongue.
But not knowing who my source was, she didn’t know what kind of proof (or lack thereof) I had. So she bit the inside of her cheeks and finally decided on, “So what?” She stuck her chin out defiantly.
“Did Sydney know?”
Quinn paused, seemingly genuine emotion suddenly welling in her eyes. “Yeah. She found out.”
“How?”
“She saw a text I’d sent Connor on his phone and called me out on it. So I told her the truth. Connor was into me.”
Huh. That wasn’t exactly how Jenni had described it, but I wasn’t going to be the one to burst Quinn’s bubble.
“I can’t imagine Sydney was very happy about that,” I prodded.
Quinn shook her head. “No. She was pissed. Not that I can blame her. She’d just found out her boyfriend was leaving her for me.”
“He told you that?” I asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
“Well, no,” she admitted. “But I could see it coming.”
I wasn’t sure who I felt more sorry for, Dead Sydney or Clueless Quinn.
“So, let me guess,” I said. “To get back at you, Sydney told the principal that you were involved in the cheating.”
Quinn nodded. “Which was totally not cool. But, like I said, I don’t blame her for being angry.”
“But then Connor started dating Jenni, not you.”
Quinn squared her jaw. “It’s just because Jenni is up for homecoming court.”
“So after the homecoming dance…” I trailed off.
“He’s dumping her and getting together with me.”
Oh boy. Was Quinn ever in for a rude awakening.
“Okay, let’s play ‘let’s pretend’ for a moment, shall we?” I said.
Quinn stuck her chin out again but didn’t stop me, so I plowed on.
“Let’s pretend that Sydney hadn’t been killed. And Connor was, as you said, only with Jenni for the homecoming vote. What if, after it was over, he was going to go back to Sydney and not you?”
Quinn blinked at me. “No. He was going to get together with me.”
Either she really believed that or someone had been taking after-school drama classes. “I hate to break it to you,” I said, “but that’s not what Connor told me. He said he was going back to Sydney.”
Quinn shook her head. “That’s not possible. He’s into me. He made out with me on his own bed. Guys don’t do that unless they’re into you.”
I bit my lip. I hated to tell her but some guys just made out with you to make out with you. Being into you wasn’t a given.
Quinn was still shaking her head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. Sydney’s gone, so clearly Connor has one
