Caught Up in the Drama (16 page)

“Of course, when there are all kinds of willing skanks with no self-respect, you'd think Sisco wouldn't
need
to try and attack anyone,” I said as casually as I could.

“Self-respect?” She laughed. “Letting him feel you all up, kiss all over you in front of your so-called boyfriend, call you outta your name? Oh yeah, that's
real
respectful. If anything, he thought you were a skank because you dang sure acted like one.”

Usually, I would've come right back at her. But although I would never admit it, she was right. Miss Rachel was right. My mom was right. I'd put myself out there to be disrespected, and that's exactly what Sisco had done.

“Look, I'm telling you for the last time, leave me alone,” I finally said.

“I just don't believe it,” she went on, like I hadn't said anything. “First, you mess things up with Xavier, the hottest dude at school. But don't worry, I got that on lock now.” She smiled when she said that. “Then you mess up the chance of a lifetime with Sisco.”

I couldn't believe I was letting her go off on me, but I felt so dejected that I didn't have the energy to fight back.

“Dee, leave me alone,” I repeated, slamming my locker shut.

She followed me. “No, I won't. I don't care what kind of star you
think
you are. You—”

“You heard her, she said leave her alone.”

I never thought I'd be so happy to hear Jasmine's voice. She was standing behind Dee—or should I say, towering behind Dee. True, Jasmine had put her fighting ways behind her, for the most part anyway, but she still could strike fear in the best of them.

Dee looked Jasmine up and down like she was debating whether or not to say something. I guess she decided she didn't want to get her pretty face damaged, because she threw up her hands.

“Whatever. I'm done talking to this freak anyway. I gotta go. My boo Xavier wants to meet me for lunch,” she said, waltzing off.

It took everything in my power not to cry. “Th—thanks, Jasmine,” I managed to say after Dee left. “It means a lot that you would do that for me.”

Jasmine turned away and punched in the code to her locker, which was right next to mine. “It ain't about you, because, after all, we're not your friends.” She threw her backpack in her locker, slammed it closed, then looked at me. “You made it clear who your real friends were. So, next time, get them to have your back. Because I'm done.”

The firmness in her voice told me that this time, Jasmine meant it.

Camille

After Jasmine left, my head started pounding. I'd wanted to stay home from school today, but I had a midterm exam that I couldn't miss.

“Miss Harris, I know you're a superstar and all, but take the sunglasses off in my hallway,” said our principal, Mrs. Lexington.

I removed my glasses and stuffed them down into my book bag. The funny thing was, I wasn't trying to be a diva. I just had the glasses on because I had a headache and the light was hurting my eyes.

My heart skipped when I saw Jasmine had stopped at the end of the hall to talk to Angel. As our eyes met, I wondered if I should go over and say something, apologize, anything to
get us back on the right track. But before I could make up my mind, Jasmine rolled her eyes and walked off again.

While Angel didn't roll her eyes, she did turn and follow Jasmine.

“Whatever,” I mumbled as I walked to my class.

I'd just taken a seat at the front of the classroom when Xavier walked in with Dee. He had his arm draped around her shoulder.

I fought back tears as I noticed she was wearing his letterman jacket.

I tried to tell myself it was all for show because he knew I would be in this class. I tried my best not to notice them. At least he tried to drop his arm. Dee, on the other hand, was straight putting on a show, talking about “baby, this” and “baby that.” I buried my head in my book and didn't look up.

Class had gotten under way when Mrs. Lexington came into the room. She whispered something to Mrs. Williams, our teacher, who then shook her head. Then they both lined me up in their sights.
Oh, God, what was I getting in trouble for now?

“Camille, Mrs. Lexington would like to speak with you in her office,” Mrs. Williams announced.

Chatter immediately filled the classroom.

“They're probably arresting her for making false accusations against Sisco,” this girl in the back of the class said.

I ignored her as I eased out of my seat.

“Oh, and please take your stuff,” Mrs. Williams added.

The “ooohs” grew louder, because if I was taking my stuff, that meant I wasn't coming back and was probably in big trouble.

“What now?” I groaned. I followed Mrs. Lexington out of
the class and down the hall, trying my best to keep up. Her heels clicked smartly down the hallway as she speed-walked back to her office.

“What's going on?” I asked.

She didn't reply. Instead, she simply opened her office door and motioned for me to go first.

As soon as I walked in, I spotted Alexis's mother. She was sitting in a chair in front of Mrs. Lexington's desk, softly sobbing. Alexis's father stood over her, his hand on her shoulder. His eyes were puffy, like he'd been crying, too.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Lansing,” I said apprehensively.

Mrs. Lansing immediately jumped up and raced over to me. “Please tell me you've seen her! You know where she is?” She clutched my jacket like she was hanging on for dear life. It was actually kinda scary.

“Huh?” I stammered. “What are you talking about? Seen who?”

“Camille, we asked you to come because we need to know if you have seen or talked to Alexis,” Mrs. Lexington said.

“Ummm, no,” I said. I started to tell them that we were no longer friends, but I decided against it. “I mean, I have second period with her, but she wasn't there today.” All of a sudden my heart started racing. Now that I thought about it, her being absent was weird. Alexis hadn't missed a single day of school since she'd transferred to Madison. “Did something happen to Alexis?”

As soon as I said that, Alexis's mother started sobbing even louder.

“Come on, Veronique. You have to hold it together,” Mr. Lansing said, helping her back down into her seat.

“Is something going on with Alexis?” I repeated.

“Camille, we need you to be honest,” Mrs. Lexington continued. “If you know where Alexis is, we need you to please tell us.”

“No, I don't.”

“We've asked Jasmine and Angel to come in as well,” she said, warning me. “I know you all are very close, and you may think you're looking out for Alexis, but lying for her is not in her best interests.”

No sooner had she mentioned their names than Angel and Jasmine appeared in the doorway, looking just as confused as me.

“Girls, please come on in,” Mrs. Lexington said.

“Please tell me one of you knows where Alexis is,” Mrs. Lansing said before they could even enter.

Both of them exchanged looks that said they didn't know anything.

“She's not in school today?” Angel asked.

Alexis's mom buried her head in her hands again.

“No, she's missing,” Alexis's father said. “We think someone may have abducted her.”

“What?” all three of us said at the same time.

Her father sighed heavily. “They found her car at the Galleria Mall. It was parked in the garage. A security guard ran the plate because it sat there overnight. They also found her cell phone on the ground next to the car, and I know my daughter never goes anywhere without her cell phone. So we think something may have happened.”

“Arthur is calling in favors because the police are saying she has to be missing forty-eight hours,” her mother added. “But in the meantime, we were hoping you girls could help us.”

Alexis's father was about to say something else when the phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and looked at the caller ID. “Excuse me, this is the police.”

“Mrs. Lansing, do you all think something happened to Alexis?” I asked after her husband had stepped outside.

“We don't know,” she cried. “God, please don't let anything happen to my baby.”

When Alexis's father returned, he looked visibly irritated. “This is ridiculous,” he snapped. “The police want to know if it's possible that she would run away.”

“What?” her mother sniffed. “Did you tell them, of course not?”

“Of course I did.” He ran his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth. “Alexis has no reason to run away.” He sounded like he was choking back a lump in his throat. “But at this point I don't care why she's gone. I just want her back.”

It was heartbreaking to see Alexis's parents so upset—especially because they had been two of the most together people I knew.

Watching them, I became determined. I didn't know how, but I was going to do whatever it took to find out what had happened to Alexis. I just hoped that nothing bad had happened. If I ever got a chance to see my friend again, I vowed, I would never again mess our friendship up.

Camille

“Guys, what are we gonna do?” I was standing outside the front office with Angel and Jasmine. The bell had just rung and students had started scattering everywhere.

The two of them looked at me, then turned back to each other, basically ignoring me.

“I say we catch up with Tyeesha and get her to come help us look for Alexis,” Jasmine said to Angel. It was obvious she wasn't trying to include me in anything. They hadn't even spoken to me since they'd set foot in the office.

“Look, I know you guys are mad at me right now,” I began.

“That's the understatement of the year,” Jasmine cracked.

Now wasn't the time to be fighting with Jasmine, so I just said, “Well, you can be mad all you want—
after
we find
Alexis.” They both had this look on their faces like they knew I was right, but neither wanted to admit it.

I took advantage of their silence. “Do you think someone abducted her?”

“I have a feeling she ran away,” Jasmine said.

“Are you serious?” I asked. “Why would she run away?”

Jasmine didn't answer, but Angel said, “Probably because of everything that's going on with her mom and dad.”

“What's going on with her parents?” I asked. Suddenly, I felt horrible. Here I was, so concerned with this stupid video, that I hadn't realized my best friend was in trouble.

“You know, it's really sad that you don't even know,” Jasmine said with disgust.

“Would you just tell me what's going on?” I asked.

“Alexis's parents are getting a divorce, and she's totally messed up over it,” Angel said.

“What?” I exclaimed.

“Yeah. If you weren't so wrapped up in your fame, you would have known that.” Jasmine glared at me.

I tried to think. “Yeah, she mentioned it. But I thought she was just exaggerating.”

“No, Camille, she's dead serious,” Jasmine snapped. “And no, I don't understand it, because where I'm from, people get divorced every single day and it doesn't faze the kids. But that's not Alexis's world. Her parents' staying together meant the world to her, and the bottom line is, we were there for her and you weren't.”

Of course, that brought tears to my eyes.

“Come on, Jasmine, calm down,” Angel said. “Yes, we were there for her, but in the end, it didn't really matter, did it? She's still gone.”

Jasmine folded her arms in defiance.

“Hey, you guys,” Tyeesha said, walking up to us. “I've been looking for y'all. I just got this strange message that Alexis left on my phone yesterday. It said for us not to worry and just trust her.”

“I knew it!” Jasmine exclaimed. “She did run away.”

“What? What's going on?” Tyeesha asked. Jasmine and Angel immediately started filling her in. I couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. It's like Tyeesha had really taken my place, and I had no one to blame but myself.

“ . . . and now Camille wants to come in here, acting all concerned.”

“Okay, Jasmine, don't go off on me,” Tyeesha said. “Now's not the time for that. Let's focus all our energy on trying to figure out where Alexis is.”

I was so glad Tyeesha was being the voice of reason. Like it or not, they needed me to help.

“Okay, so tell me, does she talk to any of her old friends?” Tyeesha asked.

“No, we're all she really hangs out with,” Jasmine said.

I snapped my fingers as I remembered someone. “Hey, what about those girls she got into trouble with at the nightclub that time? I think they were twins. They went to school with her at St. Pius.”

“Oh, yeah,” Angel said, nodding. “They were like stupid rich kids. Alexis did used to hang with them a lot before she met us. But how are we supposed to find them?”

“It shouldn't be that hard to get information on some rich twins that go to St. Pius. So let's go,” I said.

Jasmine wasn't taking orders from me. “How are we going anywhere? Alexis is the one with the car.”

“Dang, I can try to track down my sister and see if we can use her car,” Angel replied.

Jasmine's brow creased with worry. “There's no telling how long that will take.”

“Hey, I have my car,” I said. “I just got it fixed.”

Jasmine let out a long sigh, like she wished there had been some other option.

“Well, then, cool, let's go,” Tyeesha said before Jasmine could protest.

I could tell Jasmine wasn't feeling the idea. Angel must've seen it in her face as well, because she said, “Jas, we have to find Alexis.”

“Fine, whatever.” She shrugged as she started walking toward the student parking lot. “But I'm sitting in the back.”