The International Kissing Club (50 page)

Jackson squealed like a pig and, for the first time in six months, the sound wasn’t directed at her. As blood gushed from his nose, Piper tried to work up some concern, but she couldn’t. Once again, she was numb. Besides, suspension or not, she was tired of putting up with his crap. What was one more rule broken? At this point, she couldn’t help wondering if the principal had any two-for-one punishments going on.

Mr. Johnson shot out of his chair and stormed down the aisle toward her. “Piper, you—” At that moment, Principal Callahan’s voice came over the PA. “I’d like to see the following students in my office: Cassidy
Barlow, Mei Jones, Izzy O’Reilly, and Piper Douglas.” His intonation was particularly grim when he said her name.

Mr. Johnson froze a few steps away from her desk, scribbling frantically on a referral form. “Take this with you when you go, Ms. Douglas,” he said, and his voice was so dark, his look so dire, that Piper figured she would have been afraid if she’d been able to feel anything at all.

She gathered up her things—minus her chemistry book—and then took the referral from his hand. As she walked out the door with Mei, Cass, and Izzy at her heels, all of whom looked like the world had just ended, she couldn’t resist asking, “So, Iz, what do you think of your new BFF now?”

An hour later, the numbness still hadn’t worn off. Which was probably a good thing as she was stuck in the backseat with Savannah as her parents drove home in stony silence. How perverse was it that she was almost disappointed they weren’t shouting at her? She would so rather get it over with now, before the feelings she was holding at bay suddenly came crashing down on her.

“Can we stop by the pharmacy, Tom?” her mother asked. “I need a refill on my pills.”

“Let me get you home, Cathy. Then I’ll go back out.” The look he shot Piper over the seat was completely inscrutable.

“I’ll take care of her, Daddy,” Savannah said with a glare of her own directed at Piper. “I won’t let Piper upset her anymore.”

“I can’t believe—” Her mom’s voice broke. “I just can’t believe you did this to me. Again.”

Piper knew she should keep her mouth shut, knew that things would go so much more smoothly if she did. But throwing that book at Jackson had unleashed something inside of her and she couldn’t keep silent. Not now. Not this time.

“I didn’t do it
to
you, Mom. I did it
for
me. We all did—”

“And what exactly is it that you did?” her father demanded. “Because what it looks like to me is that I just spent six thousand dollars for you to go on a European sex fest.” He choked on the last words.

“It wasn’t like that. I swear!”

“Well, what exactly was it like, Piper?” demanded her mother at close to a screech. “Because I think you’ve totally and completely lost your mind! Did you even think about disease or pregnancy or—oh my God.” Her mother banged her head against the headrest. “Are you pregnant? Are you going to have some Frenchman’s
baby
?”

“No! Of course not, Mom!” The numbness wore off in a hurry and she felt tears pressing behind her eyes. She blinked them back. Germaine wasn’t going to make her cry. Not now and not ever again. “I didn’t sleep with anyone. I swear. I just kissed a few guys. It was no big deal.”

“No big deal?” her father demanded. “No big deal? They’re scheduling a school board meeting to deal with this. And at the rate things are going, by nightfall you’ll be plastered all over the Internet as a cautionary tale for American parents! That is a huge deal!”

“I have to cancel bridge this week. And my hair appointment. Lunch at the country club. There’s no way I can face anyone after this. What will I say?”

Piper stared at the back of her mother’s head in abject shock. Why she was surprised, she didn’t know, but she was. Even now, in the worst moment of Piper’s life, her mother was somehow making it all about her.

Even Piper’s father seemed confused as he looked at his wife like she was from another planet. Silence filled the car until he finally pulled into the driveway and said, “Come on, Cathy. Let’s get you into bed. Everything will look better after you take a nap.” He got out of the car, then walked around and opened his wife’s door and helped her out.

“How will it look better? She’s a menace. I swear, she does this just to humiliate me. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t live like this.” Piper’s mom let her dad lead her upstairs. “I need a drink.”

After he got her mother settled in bed, her dad returned to the living room, where Piper had collapsed on the sofa. He looked confused and angry and helpless, exactly like she was feeling. “She’s upset, Piper. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

“She knows exactly what she’s saying.” Piper used the back of her hand to dash away the tears she hadn’t been able to stop. “She’s always been disappointed in me. But then the feeling is completely mutual.”

He started to say something else, then stopped. Rubbed a hand down the back of his neck. “It’ll be okay, Piper.” He crossed the room, pulled her into his arms for a hug. “We’ll fix this.”

“How?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him and clinging tightly. Even as she did it, she figured her dad was horrified—he was not big on displays of affection—but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. It felt like the whole world was collapsing around her.

“I don’t know yet.” He brushed a quick kiss on the top of her head. “But the important thing is that you tell us the truth. If you did do what Germaine said you did, we’ll deal with it. It’s done, over. But you need to be tested for STDs and pregnancy and—”

“I didn’t sleep with anyone, Dad. I swear!” Piper wanted to die. Wanted to burrow under the couch and just will her heart to stop beating.

“Okay, then.” He pulled away, still looking as miserable as she felt. “Then the rest of this, it’s just a tempest in a teapot. It’ll blow over eventually.”

“What am I supposed to do until then?”

“Tom!” Her mother screamed from down the hall. “I need you! I need—”

“Coming, Cathy,” he called, then looked at Piper helplessly.

“Go,” she said. “It’s not like I won’t be here when you’re done. I’m never leaving the house again.”

“That might be a good idea—for a few days, anyway.” He reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop. “You should probably keep this off for a while, too.”

Piper nodded, but the second he headed down the hall, she pulled out her iPhone and went straight to the IKC Facebook page. If her humiliation had gone global once again, this time she was prepared to meet it head-on.

But to her surprise, all the posts on the page were positive. LaTonya had called Germaine a series of ugly names. Even Jayson had gotten in on the act, telling Piper how proud he was of her for standing her ground and not letting the Kiss the Pig debacle get her down.

As she read the comments, Piper started to feel a little better—at least until she remembered that Germaine had managed to split her and her best friends up forever. It was really nice to get all this support from the Facebook friends she’d made over the past few months. She only wished her real friends felt the same.

Chapter 30
Cassidy

All four of the girls had been commanded to appear in the school’s conference room first thing Wednesday morning.

Thank God she’d already told her mother the whole thing about Lucas. Yeah, she was still pissed that she hadn’t known about the International Kissing Club, but it could have gone worse for Cass if her mom had found out about everything because of Germaine. A lot worse.

Piper hadn’t shown up, though. In fact, Cassidy didn’t know if Piper would ever come back to school after this. Not that Cass knew what Piper was doing, since they still weren’t speaking. She’d called and called but Piper wouldn’t answer. She hated feeling so helpless when she knew Piper needed her more than she had at any other time in their friendship.

Mei, Izzy, and Cass waited in silence for Ms. Vogel to show up. Mei hadn’t said a word to either of them, still obviously pissed because she thought Cassidy had taken Izzy’s side against Piper.

This was so far beyond bad—actually, bad would be a major improvement. This was catastrophic. If Germaine were ever again within arm’s reach, Cassidy might very well end her. A little holy water and a wooden stake was all she’d need.

The principal and Ms. Vogel finally stepped into the room.

“Girls, I’m sure you’re aware of why you were called here this morning,” Mr. Callahan said. “Besides the poor judgment you have
shown in coming up with this
ridiculous
club, that Ms. Vogel was made an unwitting bystander as the arranger of your international exchange trips is a personal disappointment to me. Your parents are waiting to speak with me and the school board to discuss how we are going to handle this. Is there anything you want to add before that happens?”

“I do,” Cassidy said, unable to keep her mouth shut for one second longer. “Why isn’t Germaine in here with us? She hijacked the school announcement program and tattled like a two-year-old, but that’s cool. We did something I don’t even think is against the rules, on our own time, and nowhere near this school, and we’re going to have to face the board?”

“I’ll be dealing with disciplining Germaine and Marc. And you shouldn’t be telling me how to do my job—right now, you need to worry about yourself.”

Cassidy bit her tongue to keep from telling him off. Before this mess, nobody at school had stepped in to stop what was happening to Piper other than a cursory slap on the hand for Jackson Grosbeck. This wasn’t about anybody else but Germaine and her personal vendetta against them. Why no one could see that and do something to stop her was beyond Cassidy’s comprehension.

When no one else said anything, Mr. Callahan left and Ms. Vogel spoke to them. “Girls, this room is a safe place, so what you say in here will remain just between us. But first I want to say that you really let me down. You took advantage of my desire to see you girls expand your horizons, and it will take some time for me to get over that.” Leave it to someone like Vogel to make this all about her.

Izzy spoke first. “What’s going to happen to us?” she said, sounding on the verge of tears.

“Well, since none of this actually took place on school grounds,” Ms. Vogel said, “the recommendation will be for all of you and your parents to attend family counseling.”

Great. That’s just what Cassidy wanted to do—talk about her feelings with a perfect stranger.

Mei jumped in. “Ms. Vogel, it was never our intention to deceive you. I’m sorry for that, but can we have a few minutes of privacy to talk to each other, please?”

Vogel didn’t look like she wanted to leave them alone, like they were juvenile delinquents who might even now be plotting a bigger scheme to embarrass her. But grudgingly, she walked to the door. “Only for a few minutes.”

As soon as the door closed behind her, Mei pounced on both of them. “What are we going to do?”

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, I swear. None of it.” Izzy’s eyes were wide and completely earnest, her voice panicked.

“Why should we believe you, Izzy?” Mei demanded. “You got cozy with the girl who has spent the past four years plotting to destroy Piper’s life.”

Izzy was speechless, so Cassidy stepped in. “Okay, Mei, let’s calm down. This is so past who did what to whom at this point. And besides, we all agreed not only to create the Facebook page, but to make it public, so we’re all partly to blame for this.” She took a deep breath. “How
is
Piper doing? She won’t take my calls.”

“How do you
think
she is? Devastation doesn’t begin to cover it. Her mother’s pretty much catatonic at this point too, and that’s just making everything worse.”

“What can I do?” Izzy asked them both, misery making her voice deep and husky. “Germaine’s pissed at me for the whole thing with Tanner and she took it out on Piper.”

“You have to find some way to make this right, Isabel,” Mei said.

“Don’t you get it, Mei? I don’t think I can. I screwed up. Big-time. I wouldn’t forgive me, so why should Piper?”

“Because we love each other, Izzy. All of us,” Cassidy said. “Look, we don’t get to pick our families, but we do get to choose our friends. And the four of us, we chose each other. We did this together, and now we’ve all got to see it through to the horrible end. You, me, Mei,
and Piper. ’Cause that’s what you do when you love someone—you stick it out even when it’s hard. You don’t run away when you get scared. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that. And friends forgive each other. Piper will. Maybe not at first, but she will.”