7 Clues to Winning You (27 page)

I blasted the radio on the way to school. I found a fantastic parking spot and pulled into it. I got out, grabbed my bag, tossed my hair, and strode into school, determined to find Luke and make him explain what was happening with my entry. If I had to flirt and charm my way to it, there’d be no problem. I was all set.

Right away, I knew something was wrong. The dirty looks were back. Narrowed eyes sneered from all sides. I heard nasty names tossed at me in low tones. Why? What happened?
Had something happened with the Senior Scramble? Maybe we’d been found out. I made a beeline for the senior hallway to find Luke and see if he knew anything. When I got there, he wasn’t anywhere in sight. I zoomed through the hallways of the school, surprised at how well I knew them already. He was nowhere.

The bell rang, so I had no choice but to go to homeroom. I sat in the back corner again because it was the safest place. Even so, I heard “hypocrite” and “bitch” whispered here and there around the room. Something had seriously gone down, and I had no idea what.

I found out at lunch. I plopped down with Cy and Jenna and they didn’t say a word to me. “What is going on?” I cried.

Cy raised one eyebrow. “What do you mean, ‘what’s going on’? You know damn well what’s going on.”

“No, I don’t,” I said firmly. “I swear!”

Jenna and Cy shared a look, and then Jenna said, “You really don’t?”

“I swear I have no idea.”

Jenna slid down the bench to speak quietly. “You didn’t send around that picture of Luke?”

“What picture? No!” I insisted.

“There’s a picture of Luke that’s gone around to everyone. He’s in a Dumpster picking through the garbage. But that’s not the worst of it. Check out the caption.” She pulled out her phone and showed me the picture.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

The picture. My picture. The one of Luke in the Dumpster. I almost couldn’t bear to read the caption. But I had to.

Watch this SENIOR SCRAMBLE to impress the ladies!

But a Meriton girl would never go slumming with him,

not even to win a SCAVENGER HUNT!

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?

Not only did it humiliate Luke, it completely blew the lid off the Senior Scramble! Who could have done this? Who would hate me that much? How did they get this picture? No one even knew about it!

Then it hit me.

“Oh my God,” I said to Cy and Jenna. “Tara.”

“Who’s Tara?” Cy asked.

“My best friend,” I said, reading the caption again in horror.

“Correction,” Cy said. “Ex-best friend.”

Tara was the only other living person who had seen that picture of Luke. She must have sent it to herself or uploaded it to her Facebook page or something while I was in the dressing room. She was that mad about Friday night? Mad enough to do this? To purposely sabotage my entire life at Ash Grove? To humiliate someone she’d never even met? Someone I cared about? I never knew Tara could be that cruel.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said, barely whispering.

Cy glanced over my shoulder and hitched up his chin. “You’d better figure it out fast, because Luke’s here.”

I spun around to see Luke striding toward me like a
soldier. His face was rigid. My heart crumpled. I stood up and ran to him. “Luke, it wasn’t me, I swear! Please, let me explain …”

He held up his hand to stop me in my tracks. “I’ve spent half the morning in the office with your father and the vice principal. I’m not interested in another lecture. Especially if you’re going to lie to me.”

“I’d never lie to you,” I said.

He acted like he didn’t even hear me. “Because I just don’t think I can take it, Blythe. On the one hand, here’s this gorgeous, brilliant, amazing girl who makes it impossible for me to focus on anything else. On the other hand, here’s this girl I know nothing about. A girl who believes I deliberately humiliated her by—of all things—posting an unflattering picture of her. That’s really the kicker. A picture? How could that be a coincidence? I mean, it begs the question: Was this your plan all along, to get revenge on me and the entire school for embarrassing you?”

“NO.” I tried to grab his arms, but he stepped back from me. “I don’t—”

“And if that is the case—”

“It’s not!”

“If that is the case, I have to say, I’m impressed with the lengths you went to. Even to the point of spending the afternoon
in that Dumpster with me!
” He stabbed the air with his pointer finger as if the Dumpster were right next to us. “I mean, that’s a hell of a revenge plan! You’d have set everything up so nicely. You could take down the Senior Scramble along with me and most of the junior and senior classes. If
you were lucky, you could even get me suspended and keep me from graduating.”

“None of that’s true!” I cried. Why wouldn’t he stop and let me explain?

“I honestly hope it’s not,” he said. “Because I want to believe that you had nothing to do with this. I truly do. But the fact is, you took that picture. And why else would you?”

“I was mad then, but …”

“Sure, I admit, it’s embarrassing. I get it. Especially when you get grilled by the administration about the hidden meaning in a caption you didn’t even write. I mean, that caption speaks for itself, Blythe.” The hurt and disappointment in his eyes cut through me.

“It was Tara!” Tears streamed down my cheeks. “I didn’t write it!”

“The other fact is, I really don’t know anything about you, Blythe. I thought I did. I thought you’d shown me who you really are. But for all I know, you’re an exceptional liar.”

“I’m a terrible liar!” I cried. “Ask Cy and Jenna! They know! Luke, I never would have sent that picture around! I even told you I took it, back in the Dumpster! Why would I do that if I was planning to use it to get back at you? I’m not trying to get revenge on anyone for that stupid picture of me. God, I don’t even care about it anymore!” I spun around to face everyone in the cafeteria. All eyes were on Luke and me. “Look, everyone!” I shouted. I shoved both index fingers up my nose. “I’m picking my nose! I’m a nose picker! Blythe McKenna is a nose picker! Everyone grab your phones and take a picture! Get a good shot!”

Nobody moved.

I dropped my hands and faced Luke. “I would rather have ten thousand humiliating pictures of me plastered all over the East Coast than have you not trust me.”

His face was a stone. His arms, iron bars soldered across his chest. Still, he seemed to consider what I’d said. “What did you mean by, ‘It was Tara’?” he asked.

I rushed to answer him. “She’s the only person I’ve ever shown it to, and she’s extremely mad at me right now. I didn’t think
this
much, though. The only explanation I can come up with is that she sent herself the picture off my phone, added the caption, and sent it out to go viral all over Ash Grove so I’d be blamed for it. Then you’d hate me, the Senior Scramble would be discovered, and everyone else would hate me too. The person she’s trying to hurt is me, Luke, not you. I’m so sorry she used you to do it.” Suddenly, thick sobs rose up from deep in my body and heaved out of me. I couldn’t control them. I couldn’t breathe. “She’s my best friend! Why would she do that?” I ground my palms into my eyes to plug the tears. I ached to have Luke wrap his arms around me. To bury my face in the hollow of his neck. To feel his breath on me.

He didn’t move.

I wiped my eyes on my sleeves and searched Luke’s face for a glimmer of understanding. He stared at the floor in silence. His jaw flexed and the muscles in his neck bound up and released like thick rubber bands. Finally, Luke locked eyes with me. He held them for a moment, then took two steps backward, pivoted, and stalked out of the cafeteria without another word.

I stood there completely numb until I felt a hand clamp on my shoulder. Cy was in my ear. “Dude, Luke Pavel never skips class. If he ditched to come find you, he must really be hot for your ass.”

Jenna appeared on the other side of me, carrying both of our bags. “Come on, Blythe,” she said. “Let’s leave these drama-addict freaks here to feed.”

The three of us walked out of the cafeteria. Just outside the doors we saw Vice Principal Hinkler striding toward us, looking like a sour-faced rat. “Mr. Mason and Ms. DeLuca, return to lunch. Ms. McKenna, come with me. The principal and I would like to have a few words.”

Cy and Jenna stood rooted at my sides until I told them it was okay. Jenna gave my hand a squeeze, and they peeled away from me. Cy glowered at the vice principal. I could’ve kissed both of those wasteoid, emo, punk “bad” kids. I never knew two more genuinely good people in my life.

I trailed behind Vice Principal Hinkler not out of choice, but because she wouldn’t let me walk beside her, just like Darlene. She sped up every time I tried. This woman had some serious control issues.

We got to the main office and the VP walked right past all the secretaries without acknowledging any of them. I nodded politely and they gave me sheepish smiles. Even Gladys gave me a sympathetic look from behind her kitten-festooned desk. Once inside Dad’s office, Hinkler clapped the door shut and stood beside my father like a sentry.

Dad was in his chair and motioned for me to sit. “Have a seat, Blythe.”

I did. And guess what? I tossed that damn lady look right out the window. I let the anger and disappointment and fear on my face ring out loud and clear.

“I never thought I’d see you, of all people, in this office under these conditions.” He blew a heavy puff of air out of his cheeks. “Can you please explain this?” He slid a piece of paper toward me. I didn’t have to look at it directly; I knew it was my photo of Luke.

“It’s a picture I took,” I said, and nothing more. Seventh rule of lying: Avoid it if at all possible.

“So you don’t deny taking it?” the vice principal asked, rising up on her toes, positively titillated by my confession.

“I just told you that,” I answered.

“With what? Your camera? Your phone? What?” Her voice was shrill and impatient.

“My phone.”

“Did you upload it or e-mail it to anyone?” Dad asked, knotting his fingers together on his desk.

“No.”

“Did someone else have access to your phone?” the VP asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“Like whom?” she demanded.

“Like
who
?” I corrected her. She scowled at me. I smiled sweetly. “Well, let’s see. Lots of people. My friends, my brother … my
parents
, of course.” That made Dad straighten up in his chair and smooth his tie. He stole a glance at the vice principal, who no doubt liked to blame parents for illbehaved children.

Dad cleared his throat. “Do you know how it managed to begin circulating among the student body?”

“No, I don’t.” Also true. I didn’t know for sure; I had a prime suspect, but no facts.

“You have no idea who sent this harassing picture,” Hinkler bleated, pointing to the paper.

I shrugged. Technically, she didn’t ask a question, so I didn’t feel the need to reply. I wasn’t sure why I was bothering to protect Tara, especially since she didn’t even go to Ash Grove. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe I didn’t want to snitch. Or maybe I couldn’t fully accept that she would hurt me like this. I needed to know for sure first.

My father dropped his head and waved one hand above it as if to brush away everyone’s argument. He said, “Well, the point is, it got e-mailed to everyone and it’s online. Since you took the picture, you’re the only responsible party anyone can point to.”

“As the administrator in charge of discipline,” Vice Principal Hinkler said, “I’d like to remind you of our zero-tolerance policy on bullying.” Her eyes flashed with delight. “It carries a mandatory penalty of expulsion.” My dad held up a hand to silence the VP. She crimped her mouth shut with contemptible obedience.

“Obviously, we don’t want this,” he said. Judging from the bitter look on the VP’s face, she disagreed. Dad went on. “So, Vice Principal Hinkler and I have come to a possible resolution.” He glanced up at her smug face. Then back to me. “It’s obvious from this caption that the Senior Scramble has been taking place, despite being officially banned by me.”

When he said this, everything below my neck was a buzzing ball of frenzied anxiety. Above my neck, every muscle was completely relaxed and complacent. Eighth rule of lying: Keep your poker face. Never have a “tell” or a physical gesture that will give yourself away and let your opponent know you’re bluffing.

“Judging from this picture, it’s likely you’re even involved,” Dad said, “which I sincerely hope is not the case. At any rate, if you can point to any students involved or responsible for the illicit Senior Scramble, then Vice Principal Hinkler and I have agreed to reduce your punishment from expulsion to a two-week suspension.”

The VP sneered, “Personally, I think it sets a dangerous precedent, but of course, I defer to Principal McKenna’s judgment.” She pursed her lips together sourly.

The irony of it was amusing. A month ago, when I didn’t want to get anywhere near Ash Grove, I was forced to be here. Now that I wanted to stay, they were threatening to kick me out. Did they really think they could manipulate me so easily? As if they could dangle my “permanent record” in front of me like a bone for a dog and I’d dance for them?

As if I’d betray Luke and Jenna and Cy? As if I’d turn on anyone involved in the Senior Scramble?

As if I were that traitorous. As if I were that cruel. As if I were that weak.

As if.

“
I can name everyone involved
,” I lied plainly. I paused to let that tantalizing bit of misinformation soak into VP Hinkler’s tiny brain and make her salivate. “But I won’t. I’m
not a snitch. Besides, I made the mistake of ruining the Senior Scramble once. I won’t do it again.”

The VP’s face hardened again into sharp angles and dark chasms. “So you’re taking part in it?”

Dad looked to me for the answer, and a shade of desperation fell across his face. I realized that he wasn’t worried about how this would look to the school board or how this would affect his authority. Dad was worried for me. He was concerned about my security and my future. Not his own. As much as it might have crushed him, if he had asked me that question, I would have been entirely truthful. I would have confessed my role and accepted the consequences.