“No-nothing,” Caroline stuttered.
“Hmm.” The coach turned on her heel. “Sonya, you’re surprisingly quiet.”
Sonya shifted in her seat. “I don’t know what you want me to say, ma’am.”
“Do you have anything to add?”
“No ma’am,” she replied.
“And what about you Holly?”
Holly started to weep but didn’t say anything. She clutched the cross on her necklace with one hand and covered her face with the other.
Coach Ainsley didn’t say anything for a solid three minutes. It was the most intense three minutes I’d ever had on campus and my final exam in Statistics was torture. I didn’t know if I should sit or remain standing. My knees started to feel like they were knocking together.
“What I see before me is a disgrace,” she finally announced. “Nonetheless, the Yates family would like all of you in attendance at Saturday’s funeral since you are the people who last saw Carter alive. You.” She looked around the room. “Their daughter lost her life and the last people she saw, she spoke to, are sitting in this room. So, your attendance is not encouraged, it’s mandatory.”
Caroline raised her hand. “Coach, I hate funerals.”
“And the Yates family hates that their daughter is dead, but here we are,” she snapped in response.
Caroline dropped her hand and nodded profusely. “Yes ma’am.”
“This meeting is over. You’re dismissed,” Coach Ainsley stated with finality.
“When do we find out your decision?” Dakota asked quietly. “Are we expelled?”
“You’ll find out sometime after your attendance at the funeral.” Coach Ainsley pointed to the door. “You’re dismissed.”
Most of the team filed out in a silent single-file line. Holly lingered, still swiping at her eyes. She looked at me and then immediately looked away. She seemed to be waiting for us to leave, but then she started to sob and ran out of the room.
Kim and I had taken our time so we would have a chance to talk to the coach privately. When everyone was gone, we approached her.
“Hi, Coach Ainsley,” Kim started. “We were just wondering if you’d been in contact with Olive. I’ve been calling her all week and I haven’t been able to reach her.”
“And we noticed she wasn’t in the meeting and you didn’t call her name,” I chimed in.
“We just want to make sure she’s okay,” Kim added.
Coach Ainsley looked at us carefully. “Olive is no longer with us.” Before we could say anything, she continued, “You may be excused.”
…
Chapter Sixteen
“What did she mean by that?” Jay asked again when we were eating breakfast Friday morning.
I shook my head. “Kim and I couldn’t figure it out. And when I was telling you about it last night, I couldn’t stop thinking the worst. And it’s been stressing me out.”
“Well we know that she can’t be dead because we searched everywhere online, and nothing came up. And if she were missing, that would’ve come up too.”
“But if her parents don’t know she’s missing, they wouldn’t necessarily file a missing person’s report,” I pointed out. “They might think she’s been busy all week.”
He nodded. “That’s true.”
We sat in quiet contemplation as we finished our cereal.
“Speaking of parents,” he started. “Are you going to tell your mom before she gets here or are you waiting?”
“I’m going to wait until she gets here. I don’t want her to worry.”
He gave me a tight smile and I knew he thought I was making a mistake waiting, but he didn’t say anything. Standing, he took our empty bowls to the sink. “You do what you think is best.”
“What are you wearing to the wake?”
“Jeans and a white collared shirt.” He stopped and frowned. “That’s okay for a wake, right?”
“Yeah. I think so. I’m wearing a dress, but it isn’t dressy.”
“Okay.” He came back to the table and put his hands on my shoulders, massaging them. “I’ll pick you up from class so we can go together.”
I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
The day passed quickly.
I walked into my Creative Writing class to stares and whispers. It seemed even worse than it had on Wednesday—or maybe I was more aware of it since it was the day of Carter’s wake. I took my seat quietly and kept my head forward. I noticed that Aiden didn’t arrive on time once class began. But when class was about to end, I became worried.
First Olive. Now Aiden. If Kim goes missing, I’m going to lose it, I thought as I smoothed down the navy-blue sweater dress.
“I’m surprised you weren’t at the fashion show with your boyfriend,” a woman teased as I was exiting the building.
“My boyfriend isn’t at a fashion show,” I responded as I descended the stairs.
She was on my heels. “Yes, he is. There were pictures online.”
“I’m about to meet my boyfriend now, so if you don’t mind…” I spotted Jay’s car and made a beeline to it.
Jay got out to open my door. “Hey, let me get that,” he said, grabbing my bag out of my hand. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just classmates being annoying,” I muttered. When I was entering the car, I noticed the same classmate staring, eyes wide and mouth open.
Shit.
Her face reminded me of what Kim had said the day before. After Jay slid back into the front seat, I wrestled with the thought.
“Is it about that email?”
I looked over at him. “What email?”
He shook his head as he pulled away from the curb. “It was another one of those Concerned Student emails. It was saying that it was ‘interesting’ that Aiden decided to leave town. He’s in Manhattan with his mom and they are wondering if that’s because he’s guilty.”
My eyes bulged.
I reached in the back for my phone so I could read
