“I’m a gourmet chef, you know.” Pulling out her phone, she tapped out a message on the screen. “We’ve only got five hours to prepare for tonight.”
“Five hours?” I choked on my cereal. “How long does it take you to get ready for a date?”
She shrugged, sliding the phone in her pocket. “I thought we could get our nails done and get blow outs. I’m sure you want to look good for Will after texting him all night.”
“What are you talking about?” I gulped down the last of my cereal and padded over to the sink to rinse the bowl.
“Please.” Shanda gave me an eyeroll that I was beginning to think of as her signature move. “I saw your phone lighting up over and over last night. Kept me up till 2 a.m.”
Suddenly my lungs froze as the air stilled around me. “There’s a message on my phone? I didn’t give Will or Kevin my number. Did I?”
Making a mad dash across the room, I lunged for my nightstand. Tremors seized my hands, but somehow I gripped my cell. Sure enough, 6 texts appeared from Jake. The first one read, Miss you, babe. Let’s meet up before you leave. Hope it’s not too late. Call me.
“I’m gonna kill her. How could she do this?” I slammed the phone on my bed, but it bounced once, landing as softly as a happy leprechaun. How pathetic, just like my gullible little sister who must’ve ratted me out.
“Hey, I didn’t look. I swear.” She swiveled her four-inch heel into the wood floor.
I punched the delete button until my index finger turned white. Paige couldn’t be that stupid, could she? “Not you, my sister. She obviously gave Jake my new number. That’s the last thing I wanted. I just wanted to be free of that jerk.”
I cratered my face into the pillow.
“That was your ex texting you at all hours of the night? What a creep.” She eased down beside me on the bed. “Okay, I’ve waited long enough. Time to spill it. What happened between the two of you?”
“If you must know…” I let my words trail off. I couldn’t look at her, so I rolled over and examined the ceiling. Plastic stars stuck to the drywall in some sort of constellation probably leftover from the last girl.
Shanda huffed next to me. Better just rip off the band-aid and be done with it.
“Fine, not like it’s something original, anyway. Same old sad story. I’d been with Jake since freshman year. Right after my brother disappeared, he was really there for me. Until I caught him making out with my best friend.” I glued my eyes to the plastic stars above, not daring even to take a peek at Shanda. She didn’t say a word. “Becca mouthed off to me and we got into a fight. I hit my head on the fireplace and ended up in the hospital with eleven stitches in my head.”
“Seriously?” Her screech filled the room. Probably echoed down the hall, too, then around the world. A mixture of pity and sadness filled her eyes, her jaw dangling open like a horror-movie poster child. “Sorry, but dang, girl, that sounds really bad. Can I see?”
“You mean the freak show. Why not?” The numbness crept in as I parted my hair and bent down. “I was out for a few hours. Had eleven stitches.”
Her fingers grazed the bumpy scar. “Ouch, that looks painful. How long ago was this?”
“Six months.” My eyes welled up. I wiped the mist away and fingered the jagged path in my hairline before flipping my hair back into place. “Needless to say, I’m kinda nervous about this double date tonight.”
She leveled her gaze at me. “How long are you gonna let some loser keep you from dating?”
The full weight of her question hit me. My neck throbbed and I rubbed the kink away. “Jake can’t keep me from anything. I’m just not ready.”
“Seriously?” She arched back, eyes wide as I’d ever seen. Why was that the most shocking part of my story? “Personally, I believe in the rebound guy. It’s worked for me on several occasions. Who wants to be tied down by a guy in high school, anyway? This is the time to be free and have fun.”
“That’s my plan, just without a guy.” I retreated to my spot on the windowsill.
She inhaled a sharp whistle. “Does that mean you chose to come to boarding school?”
Her question caught me off guard. “Kinda. But not because of that.”
“Wow, I thought I had it bad, being shipped here because Daddy’s too busy working.” Her hand smacked her lips, as if she hadn’t meant to say that. “But I’m glad you’re not gonna let a cheater we texts you in the middle of the night stop you from living your life. Sounds like he’s a real psycho.”
“Tell me about it.” The clouds still colored the world as gray and moody as I felt. I pressed my forehead against the cool glass.
Tiptoeing toward me, she hovered near my window perch. “But I don’t get it. If you’re not ready to date, why are we going on a double date tonight? Just say the word and we cancel this whole thing.”
“You can’t tell anyone this.” I whispered, saying a silent prayer that I was reading this girl right. “I’m not in it for the double date. I’m trying to get information on my brother.”
“You’re kidding?” Shanda gasped and reared back, almost hitting her head on the cinder block wall. “I had no idea you had it in you, Lucy. My roommate, the little spy.”
“Sshhh!” I hissed, smacking her arm. “Keep it to yourself, okay?”
“Of course. You have my word, I won’t tell a soul.” She clapped her hand over her heart. “I promise.”
“Thank you.” Something akin to hope flared up inside me, now that someone at Montrose knew the whole truth. Maybe I’d finally found someone I
