“Over here!” Kim called out from behind an oversized spool of carpet.
I walked over until we were both hidden behind the tall tower of varying degrees of beige carpeting. “Hey,” I greeted her. “Why are we here?”
“Because look around. The store is dead and no one our age is buying carpet.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“And because I need to tell you something,” she whispered, sweeping her eyes around the area we were in. “Dakota is trying to pin the fire on you. She’s trying to pin everything on you. I think the season is over.”
“I know.” I swallowed hard. “I met with Coach Ainsley on Friday and she basically said it was over.”
“Did she tell you the police investigation is why the season is over?” Kim’s eyes were wide. “Did she tell you that Dakota told her and the police that everything was your idea?”
My stomach sank. “What?”
I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. I heard Dakota tell the PROs I’d done it. I knew Dakota told Coach Ainsley I’d done it. But the fact that she told the police that fake story floored me. It was one thing to lie to people on campus, but she lied to the police.
“But I didn’t have anything to do with this,” I insisted.
“I know.” She looked around. “That’s why I got Mrs. Yates to give me your number. That’s why I’m here.”
“What’s going on, Kim?” I wondered confused. “This whole covert operative thing is freaking me out.”
“Dakota called Mrs. Yates on behalf of the team, but when she asked for my number, she wouldn’t give it to her. So, she got my number from Olive because she wanted to talk to someone who didn’t live in the house.”
My brows furrowed. As head cheerleader, Dakota had the numbers for every member. “Why wouldn’t she give Mrs. Yates your number?”
Kim leaned forward, pointing her finger at me. “Because Dakota is a bitch and this whole thing is her doing.”
“Yeah, but she had help.” I tried not to show emotion, but I felt the pained look on my face. “Where were you at the party? Didn’t you notice that I wasn’t in the car?”
She shook her head. “Honestly, no. Vivian told me to go outside and start the car. Two girls ran to the car and hopped in. Once Olive got in my car, it was full. Then I saw Sonya go to Dakota’s car. Then all of a sudden everyone was running out and when they yelled drive, I did. It wasn’t until everyone was back at the house that I noticed you weren’t there.” Her chin quivered. “I noticed you and Carter weren’t there.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Was that the plan all along?”
She gave me a sympathetic look and nodded. “From what I understand, Dakota was always planning to set you up and most of the other cheerleaders knew it. There were a few who looked confused, but most of the cheerleaders were saying that this is what happens when you sleep with another cheerleader’s man.”
“What?” I screeched.
“Shh!” She shushed me as she scanned the room again before continuing in a hushed tone. “Dakota was telling everyone that you were sleeping with Trevor and that you were disloyal to girl code—”
I made a face. “No, I didn’t!”
“She said that you and Trevor were fucking behind her back so that you deserved whatever the PROs were going to do to you.”
Flashing back to a week ago, my voice was full of emotion. “I was left there to take whatever punishment the PROs saw fit.”
Kim nodded. “That was the plan apparently. She wanted to get you back for Trevor and get you kicked off the team.”
“Why would she even think it was me?”
“Before they kicked me out that night, Dakota was saying that she knew none of the cheerleaders would betray her like that and that only left you and me. She said I wasn’t attractive enough for Trevor, so it had to be you.”
My jaw dropped. “She had the audacity to say that? And to your face?”
“I think they forgot I was there honestly. But yeah, she said it.”
“She’s a bitch and a liar, so I hope you didn’t feed into that nonsense.”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t even matter.” She waved it off. “My point is that they were all in agreement of what they were going to say when they talked to the PROs.”
“And all the cheerleaders were in on it?” I shifted from one foot to the other. My voice shook as I asked the question that had been plaguing me. “Did Carter know?”
There was a flicker of sadness in her eyes. “Yeah, she knew.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. “She knew?” I gasped, my mouth agape. I shook my head. “She couldn’t have. She wouldn’t have.”
“I don’t know, Brooklyn. Maybe she didn’t,” she offered, even though she didn’t look convinced.
“Who said she knew?”
“I talked to Olive. And Olive told me that Dakota told all of them that it was going to be a hazing for you. She said that she was going to do my hazing another time, but this weekend was focused on you. But Olive swears Dakota didn’t tell her the actual plan. And she assumed that she didn’t tell Carter either because once the fires started and everyone was running to the cars, Carter got into it with Vivian because she felt guilty. And then she went back for you.”
“So, she was in on it, but then felt guilty,” I repeated in a state of disbelief.
Un-fucking-believable!
“And Olive is upset. Even
