Snitch (6 page)

“Like with the sub the other day? That was pretty stupid.” I studied the handout again, mostly because I was too ashamed to look at Liz’s eyes.

“Yeah.
And the hallway any other day or the cafeteria or...why do you hang around with them?”

“Because they’re my friends.”

By now I was more than a little uncomfortable; this girl had a way of making me crazy. Besides her eyes and hair, there was her amazing body and the closeness of all that to me, but I wasn’t going to let her put my
friends down, so I said the first thing I could think of. “Why do you hang around with
Kate?”

“Because Kate is one of the most loyal, kindest people I know. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She’s smart and pretty funny once you get to know her.”

“Kate?
Funny?
She doesn’t talk.”

“She doesn’t talk to
you
.” The way she said
“
you
”
made me sound even more disgusting. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

“
What?
”
Liz
a
s
ked
.

“What? What about you? Every time
y
o
u
even look at me, you act like I’m some monster that did something terrible to you. You don’t even know me.”

Liz studied my address for a second and looked back at me, her green eyes soft and beautiful.

“I’m sorry,” she said. I could tell she was thinking hard about something. “I can be a be-itch sometimes.”

“Yep,” I said. “But, it’s okay. We’re partners.”

Liz smiled at me. “Partners,” she said, right as the dismissal bell rang.

Dang, that girl can smile.

“Oh,
my gosh
!”
Chrissy
gushed, grabbing my shoulder before I got out Ms. Mason’s door. “Liz is your partner? Wait until Seth hears.”

“Why does Seth care?” I rolled my eyes.
Chrissy
might be beautiful, but she is about as annoying as my little sister.

“Duh.
Because Liz is Kate’s best friend.
How can you not know that?” Now, it was
Chrissy’s
turn to roll her eyes. “We have an inside spy.” She smiled deviously and ran down the hall to spread what she thought was news.

“That girl is seriously stupid,” I told Johnny while loading my backpack to go home. “I am doing a project with Liz and watching a special on the
Rainforest
. That’s all. I am not spying on anyone, because I’m not a spy. I don’t want to be a part of any plan to get back at anyone. I’m done with all that. It’s over.”

Johnny followed me out the door and hit me on the shoulder.

“Andy, I understand what you say about
Chrissy
. She’s in this for the drama and any attention she can get from Charlie.” He grabbed my arm, his voice low and serious. “I can see why you don’t want to get involved with Seth’s business, but let me give you a little advice:
it’s
not
gonna
go away. You know Seth. He’s got his mind set on this.”

“Well, then
,
let him settle it. I’m out.”

I meant it. We screwed up in math class. We had consequences. It was done. I didn’t want to get in any deeper.

“You’re
gonna
have to tell him that,” Johnny said
,
shaking his head. For the first time in a long time, Johnny-boy wasn’t laughing.

The air filled with diesel exhaust as the bus drivers gunned their motors
,
eager to leave. I was relieved to escape to my bus and go straight home. I wanted to run away from all the stupid drama and get an early start on the garage so Mom and Dad would be more understanding when I explained Liz was coming over to do homework.

They’d have to let me have someone over
to do
homework, wouldn’t they?

I think Dad has
hoarded
every screw, nail, and tool ever made and stored it in our garage. Then Mom did her part by boxing up anything that she didn’t want in our house anymore and stacking it against the back wall. By the time Liz arrived Sunday night, I had spent two days moving everything Dad had collected and Mom had boxed, swept and hosed the garage, and moved it back in. My ankle was throbbing again, and my back had a little crick in it, but I wasn’t telling anyone. I didn’t want Mom to overreact and take me to some doctor who would make me miss next week’s practice and game. I had a wrap and knew how to use it. As far as I was concerned, my ankle was fine.

Because I had worked so hard on the garage, and because it was homework, Sunday night at six-fifteen Liz arrived wearing that burgundy top I like so much and smelling fantastic. I know I was supposed to be concentrating on the denizens of the
Rainforest
,
which
is
a
pretty amazing place, but it’s hard to do that when the girl sitting next to you has eyes greener than the trees you’re supposed to be studying and long copper hair
,
which makes her way more amazing than any of the animals that live
there. We watched the hour
-
long special and took notes. After the show, we waited for her parents to pick her up over sodas in the kitchen.

“You’re not who I thought you were,” Liz said, her eyes and her amazing lips smiling.

“Is that good or bad?” I joked.

“Definitely
good.”

“You’re not who I thought you were either,” I teased.

“Who am I then?” Liz countered.

“You’re smart and funny
and pretty nice.”

Liz tilted her head and smiled again. I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t stop thinking about kissing those lips.

Suddenly my little sister stuck her annoying head through the door. “Andy’s got a girlfriend! Andy’s got a girlfriend!”

“Real original, Sarah!”

I decided right then and there I would actually have to kill her. My face burned like Miss Applebee’s had the other day, but Liz put her hand on my arm and giggled. I swear the electricity that flowed directly up my arm stopped me from breathing.

“He might have one.
If he plays his cards right!”
She called this out to Sarah, but her eyes never left mine. Then she winked, stood up and
grabbed her notebook. “My parents just texted me;
they’re in the driveway. See you
tomorrow.” She pivoted, swinging her copper hair that changed to bronze in the light, and she was gone.

This crazy girl had me seriously thinking about her.

I was going to ask Liz out. I had rehearsed it about a half
-
million times in my mind, in front of the bathroom mirror, even in my dreams. I was going to meet her at her locker, tell her I had a great time watching the
Rainforest
movie with her, and ask her if she would like to go see a real movie with me. How smooth was that?

What I hadn’t planned was Johnny tagging along. I remembered how mad she was the other day when Johnny teased her, but they had worked together in plays before. Maybe it could work.

“We’ve got about twenty minutes before the bell. Let’s hit the gym,” Johnny insisted.

“Nah, you go without me. I’ve got some stuff I have to do here.” I stood in front of my locker and stalled, digging through my backpack like I was looking for something.

“What kind of stuff?” Johnny insisted. “Nothing’s more important than checking in with Coach. Is your ankle still hurting?” Johnny tried to wave to
Tammera
, but she was busy texting someone.

“My ankle’s fine.” I kept digging.

“Then what’s the hold up? What are you looking for?”

“My math,” I lied. “Hey,
Tammera’s
looking mighty hot today. You might want to go say hi to her.”

“She is,” Johnny agreed, taking in the scenery, not even noticing Liz and Kate as they zipped around the corner. Liz missed me too, because she was leaned into Kate, talking.

“I might...
,
” he stopped ogling
Tammera
. “
Hey, there’s
Kate
DuPrey
. I wouldn’t want to be her today.”

I took in a breath. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Didn’t Seth call you?”

“No.” He hadn’t called and to tell the truth I had spent so much time rehearsing how I was going to ask Liz out, I had totally forgotten he was supposed to.

“Then watch,” Johnny smiled, “and learn. Kate’s gonna have a bad day.”

He waved at
Tammera
again, and this time she waved back. “I, on the other hand, am going to have a good day!” Johnny smiled and took off in
Tammera’s
direction.

I waited until
Tammera
and Johnny disappeared around a corner before approaching Liz.

“Hey
,
” I said grinning,
even though my stomach was rolling and my mind racing. I had no idea what Seth was up to.

“Hey, back.” Liz graced me with smiling green eyes.
“
Kate,” she said, “Do you know Andy?”

Kate cast her eyes down. Unlike Liz’s
,
they were quiet and grey. She looked back uncertainly at Liz and softly said, “We’ve been in lots of classes together.”

I stood there
uncomfortably shaking my head.
“Yep.
Lots of years.
Lots of classes.”

Dang, I hated it when I said stupid stuff in front of girls, and that’s all that was coming out of my mouth right then. I smiled at Liz, realizing at that moment I had absolutely nothing to say to her. The harder I tried to think of something to say, the less my mouth worked.
So much for all my rehearsing.

“We watched the
Rainforest
special together yesterday,” she told Kate. Then she smiled at me. “It was fun.”

I nodded since my mouth wasn’t working yet.

“Well….bye,” Kate said, focusing on the floor before walking away. She hadn’t looked at me one time; I guess she felt more awkward than I did.

“Andy, I’ll talk to you in science.” Liz grabbed her book and slammed her locker. “I better go. Something weird happened on the bus, and I need to talk to Kate about it.”

I grabbed her arm. “What? What happened?”

“Probably nothing.
You know Kate; she’s so shy.” Liz sighed. “She thinks people were talking about her. She said a couple of people were pointing and laughing.” Liz shook her head. “I told her people pointed and laughed all the time, but Kate swears they were pointing directly at her.”

“Who did it?” I asked.

“Some random kids on the bus.
I’m not even sure who they were. It’s probably all her imagination. Like I said, Kate’s really shy.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

But watching Liz hurry away, I didn’t think she was right at all. This thing between Seth and Kate wasn’t going away. It was just getting started.

I had a few more minutes before the bell and decided maybe I needed to find time to talk to Seth after all.

I have no patience
with
Chrissy
Allen. She may be beautiful, but that girl is dangerous. Most of the time I don’t understand girls and how they think or act, but
Chrissy
is someone I completely get. She’s one of those people who will do or say whatever they need to in order to get what they want.
Chrissy
wanted two things: popularity and Charlie. She was going to get these things by bringing down Kate
DuPrey
.

I figured out pretty easily
it was
Chrissy
who
had spread the news through the girl-grapevine of our school
by
saying
Kate was the person who told on Seth. And that is how Kate became the newest victim of hallway gossip at Jameson High School.

Kate was right.
People
were
talking
and whispering and pointing at her. Kate was the topic of conversation in the lunchroom, the person to be whispered about in the library, and the person to be terrorized in the hallway. By last period Kate’s red nose and frightened eyes made her seem even more vulnerable than usual.

Liz was furious.

“Call off your goons!” she demanded, slamming her books down by mine.

“Whoa!” I leaned back in my chair. “I’m not part of this.”