The Clique (22 page)

              “Doesn’t sound all that bad to me.” Devon shrugs. “That’s just like a normal gynecological appointment, right? Except he looks for the—you know.”

              Kate shudders. “Just the idea of some creepy guy feeling around in there, looking around—it wasn’t like her normal doctor. She said she had to search for one who was even willing to agree to a test.”

              “Meh, I don’t see it. Hold on, you’re ignoring me because of something we
both
did? That doesn’t seem fair.” Devon’s brow wrinkles. “I was just trying to help you, remember?”

              “Yeah, but the way you did it was—cruel.” Kate starts to take a right, but Devon grabs her arms and guides her straight forward.

              “It wouldn’t have been cruel, if Maddie and I had been right,” he argues. “The only reason you’re thinking differently now is because we weren’t. And besides, it all worked out. Right? You two are friends again, you dumped Sean, and got your revenge on Aude.”

              “She hasn’t even asked about it yet. I mean, she has to know I was the one who took that video. Why wouldn’t she ask?”

              “The simple answer?” Devon shrugs. “She’s afraid of what you’ll say. You told me how hard she worked to fix your friendship. So she won’t do anything to complicate things, for a while.” He points to a white house at the end of a cul-de-sac. “Oh, look, there’s Amanda’s house. Mind if I go over? I heard she was sick today, and I want to make sure she’s okay.”

              Something about the way he asks makes Kate pause. “Uh, you know Amanda?”

              “Yeah.” He smirks. “I have other friends besides you. Come on, let’s go check on her.”

              “I dunno. She hasn’t been—since she stopped being class president, she’s been sorta mean to me.”

              “Hmmm, alright. Well how about I just knock on the door, see if she’s okay, and then we leave? You won’t even have to go inside.”

              Kate frowns. “Fine.” She follows Devon down the cul-de-sac and up to the door.

              Devon knocks a couple of times, but no one answers. “That’s weird.” He cocks his head. “It sounds like there’s someone inside. Wait here.” He hops the wrought-iron railing and walks over to a ground-floor window. From where Kate’s standing it looks like the blinds are closed, but Devon must be able to see something.

              “Oh shit!” he whispers, ducking his head and turning back to Kate. “Don’t look.”

              Kate cranes her head, and immediately wishes she hadn’t. Through the narrowest gap in the blinds—hardly even a crack—she can see a familiar face, making out with a certain former class president. “Gabe?”

              “Kate, let’s go!” Devon hisses. “Before they see us!”

              Instead of leaving, Kate takes a deep breath and moves closer to the window. There’s no doubt about it; that’s definitely Gabe and Amanda
.
Even though she knows she should leave before either one sees her, she feels frozen in place.

              “Kate! Don’t let them see you!”

              She glances at Devon. “Oh my god!”
Kate retreats to the sidewalk. “Oh god, what am I gonna do?”

              Devon whisks a bead of sweat from his eyes. “I don’t know. Do you even have to do anything? All I could see was the top half of his face. It could’ve been anyone.”

              “No, I’m sure it was Gabe. And he was—“

              “Feeling Amanda up.” Devon completes.

              “No, they were just kissing.” As if that’s completely okay. Kate sighs… Of course it isn’t.

              “That isn’t what I saw. Maybe you couldn’t see his hands but—“

              Kate scowls. “With your track record, I’m not going to believe what you say you saw. I’m going to figure out how to deal with this, and you aren’t going to say anything. If I even see you speaking with Aude I’m gonna—gonna—“

              Devon raises his eyebrows. “Are you threatening me?”

              “No, I’m not. Just don’t tell Aude. Please.”

              “I won’t.” He starts walking back to Kate’s house. “Well, I guess now you get to see how I felt. When I had to tell you about what
I
saw.”

              “Yeah.” In fact, the whole thing seems eerily similar to that. Kate wonders if Maddie was “walking” with Devon when she saw Sean and Aude. “Devon, how come you’re always around when stuff like this happens?”

              “It was two times, Kate. That’s it. I guess I’m just unlucky.” He follows Kate up the steps to her door. “Do you know what you’re gonna do?”

              “I dunno. Tell Aude, I guess.” Kate frowns.

              “Yeah, that’s probably the right answer. How’s she gonna take it, though?”

              “Not well. Can you give me some time alone? I have to think.”

              “Okay. If you need me, you have my number.” Devon starts down the steps. “Oh, and it gets easier. Once you decide to share what you saw. It’s freeing, in a weird way.”

              Kate unlocks the door, closes it behind her, and sinks to the floor.
What am I gonna do?
she wonders.
Then out loud, “What am I gonna do?”

              “What’s that, honey?” Her mom asks, peeking out of the kitchen.

              “Nothing. When did you come home?”

              “A few minutes ago. That new nurse we hired showed up early to her shift, so they let me off.”

              “Oh. Cool.” Kate mentally ticks off the days since she last saw her mother. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Three. Three days.

             
“You look stressed.” Her mom walks over and frowns. “What’s the matter?”

              Kate exhales loudly. “I just saw Aude’s boyfriend kissing another girl. And Devon swears they were doing more, but I don’t wanna believe him.”

              Her mom cocks her head. “Who’s Devon?”

              “He’s that creepy kid. The one who put a picture of—“ Kate stops herself from saying
me
“—of Aude on his wall.”

              “Oh. Well, what were you doing with him?”

              “He said he had to talk about something.”

              “Like what?”

              “Just stuff. Actually, mom, can I tell you something weird?”

              “Sure, honey.”

              “I think—I think he planned it. It’s ridiculous, I know. But the way he acted right before we saw, it was like he was playing a part. Like he knew all along.” Kate stands up. “When I thought Aude betrayed me, I made a plan to get her in trouble, and Devon helped me.” She walks over to the couch and moves a throw pillow out of the way before dropping onto it. “It was his idea, actually.”

              “Okay?” Her mom looks confused. “So you’re saying he—what, he knew that you’d find Aude’s boyfriend cheating on her?”

              “Like I said, it’s ridiculous. But I dunno, I just have this feeling…“

              “Well, I’m making steaks for dinner. That should make you feel better.” She leaves and goes back to the kitchen.

              Yeah, thanks for the talk, Mom. Kate lies on the couch, a million thoughts running through her mind.

Aude’s father wakes her up on Saturday morning with a yell. “Audrey, your friend’s here!”

              Aude gets out of bed and descends the stairs slowly, suppressing a yawn as she comes to the door. “Hey Kate, what’s up?”

              Kate looks like she’s just woken up as well: strands of her hair fly off at weird angles, and her eyes are puffy. “Here, let’s go to your room.” She grabs Aude by the hand and reverses the trip Aude just took.

              “What’s going on?” Aude asks, as Kate closes her door.

              Kate sighs and turns to face her. “Last night, I saw something.”

             
Could she be less specific?
Aude frowns at her. “Uh, okay. What did you see?”

              “Gabe, and Amanda. They were—kissing.”

              “Right. Haha, very funny.”

              “No, I’m not joking. I was walking with Devon, and we saw them.” Kate walks over to the closet and inspects one of the white shirts hanging there.

              “Don’t do that,” Aude says. “Look at me. Okay. Now, you seriously saw Gabe kissing Amanda?”

              “Yes. I wouldn’t lie about this.” She lets go of the shirt and walks over to Aude’s bed.

              Aude scoots over to make room for Kate to sit. “You’re sure it was them?”

              “Yeah, I’m sure.”

              “Okay.” Aude stares at the ground. Even though she kissed Sean, it feels like a betrayal.
Sean made me kiss him,
Aude thinks.
Did Amanda make Gabe kiss her?
It seems unlikely. “Well, thanks for telling me.”

              Kate looks confused. “You’re not gonna ask about it? How I saw, or what I saw, or anything?”

              “Nope, I don’t think so. You told me what you saw, and—I guess I’m just thinking the less I know, the better.”

              “But… Aren’t you mad? Or hurt?”

              Aude gathers her thoughts before replying. “When I kissed Sean, Gabe was very understanding. Yeah, I’m hurt. And yes, I’m mad. But—I don’t know if I have a right to be. Does that make sense?”

              “No.” Kate looks even more confused. “That doesn’t make sense at all.”

              “Well—I guess it’s sort of a ‘shoe’s on the other foot’ situation. Gabe was understanding when I made a mistake, and maybe it’s my turn to forgive him.”

              “But aren’t you at least gonna tell him you know? I mean, what’s to stop him from doing it again?”

              Aude smiles. “Trust. I trust him to do the right thing, and—I mean for me, it was a one-time thing. I don’t want to lose Gabe because I didn’t trust him.”

              “And if you lose him because
you
do
trust him?”

              “Kate, I’m seeing Gabe tonight. If he seems weird or anything, I’ll ask him then. But otherwise, I’m gonna choose to trust him.”

              “Aude, don’t be afraid to ask him just because you’re afraid of the answer.”

              “I’m not afraid of the answer!” Aude grimaces. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I’m not afraid of the answer. I’m choosing trust, and that decision comes from confidence, not fear. We’ve been together for two years, and he hasn’t cheated on me once. Why would he start now?”

              The door creaks open and Aude’s mom pops her head in. “I made waffles, if you girls want any.”

              “Thanks, Mom.” Aude turns to Kate. “Have you already eaten?”

              “No, not yet.  Waffles sound great, Mrs. Hughes.” They follow Aude’s mom to the kitchen, where she serves them hot waffles and bacon.

              “Careful with that syrup, Audrey,” Aude’s mom reprimands. “The idea is to coat the waffles, not drown them.”

              “Yeah, yeah.” Aude pours a liberal amount of syrup. “Where’s Dad?”

              “At work. One of his patients had a gout flare-up.”

              “Oh, too bad.” Aude doesn’t spend too much energy pretending to be sad. Her mom knows she and her dad aren’t exactly the best of friends right now. Aude takes a huge bite of waffle; some syrup spills onto the counter. “Sorry.” She grabs a napkin and wipes it off.

              “It’s a pleasant surprise seeing you, Kate,” Aude’s mom says. “Seems like it’s been forever.”

              “I know.” Kate cuts a small square of her meal and chews it thoroughly before continuing. “Aude and I had some, uh, difficulties. But we worked them out.”

              “That’s good.” Aude’s mother pours out two glasses of orange juice and sets them in front of the girls. “You know, fights just help make friendships stronger.”

              Kate smiles. “So I’ve heard. Mmm, this is great Mrs. Hughes. New recipe?”

              Aude fights another yawn as her mom goes into a detailed description of the steps involved in making “her waffles.” Like she doesn’t just use Betty Crocker mix with a little bit of extra sugar and flour.

             
“Well, I’ve gotta scoot. I promised Audrey’s sister that I would pick her up from the airport.” Aude’s mom grabs her purse and a ridiculously large pair of sunglasses before floating out the door.

              Kate immediately resumes the argument. “You should tell him. He has to know that you know.”

              “No.” Aude finishes her waffles and nibbles a bite of bacon. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. He’ll tell me, when he’s ready.”

              “What if he doesn’t? What if he’s been cheating on you forever and you just never knew? Come on, Aude, you need to get to the bottom of this.”