Autumn Falls (21 page)

It’s way too easy to get lost in the horror. I take one second to text Amalita PAYDIRT!, then pull the tiny rubber Wonder Woman from my pocket. I tear her in half to reveal her plug, then insert it into the USB port.

The computer recognizes the drive. I see it in the Finder. “Wonder Wench.” Jack is nothing if not poetic. I highlight the “Richard III” file and I’m about to drag it over when I hear the door creak open.

I freeze.

“Autumn?”

I slowly spin around in the chair.

It’s Sean.

I can’t move or talk. I am frozen in Reenzie’s chair, my hand soldered to her mouse.

“Hi,” I finally croak out.

He stares at me. “What are you doing?”

There’s nothing playful in his voice. Nothing friendly.

“I … What are you doing up here?” I ask, not answering his question. I can’t. Telling him the truth would be like stabbing myself with my protractor.

He looks at me with his mouth open, as though he can’t believe I asked the question. “You were gone a long time, so I went to check on you. The bathroom was open and you weren’t there, so I thought you went looking for another one. Then I heard typing.”

I can’t fathom why the bathroom would be open. I closed it when I left. Mrs. Tresca must have gone in while I was up here. And how could he think I was gone so long? It’s only …

I turn and look at Reenzie’s computer screen—5:35. Totally lost track of time.

“Autumn.” Sean says my name like it disgusts him. “What are you doing?”

In a split second I run through every possible excuse, but they’re all insultingly bad.

“I was looking for proof that Reenzie was the one behind
the
Winter of My Discontent
website,” I blurt out in a desperate rush of words. “I know it was her, and no one believes me, not even you, so I had to find evidence.”

Sean looks at me as if he’s doing complicated math in his head. He doesn’t say anything for a while. When he does speak, his words come slowly, as though he doesn’t want to believe they’re true.

“Did you … Is this the only reason you invited Reenzie to Kyler Leeds? So you could get in here and look through her stuff? Are you even actually taking her?”

I could lie. I could easily lie.

And it would blow up in my face in less than twenty-four hours.

“No,” I admit, feeling like a small, pitiful creep. “I’m taking Amalita.”

He’s speechless. He just stares at me.

“But, Sean, I was right,” I quickly say, finding some courage. “I found the proof. Look!”

“I don’t want to look. I don’t look at other people’s things. I don’t do that.”

“I’m not the evil one here,” I protest, scrambling to find the right thing to say.

He lets out a short, bitter laugh. “Are you serious?”

Now I’m blinking back tears. “Yes. This looks pretty bad, but this is different, Sean. It’s justice.”

He just looks at me and shakes his head. “With all the crap thrown in your face, you were this amazing person who stayed true to herself and had friends who cared
about her and did her thing no matter what anyone else thought.”

I’m at a loss. The way he’s shaking his head makes me feel terrible, like what I did really disappointed him. “That’s how you see me?”

“That’s how I
saw
you. I was wrong.”

“Sean? Autumn?” Reenzie’s voice floats up from downstairs. “You guys alive? No making out in the house.”

“Down in a second,” Sean shouts down, but he keeps his eyes focused on mine.

“Are you going to tell her?” I ask, biting my lip.

“I should,” he says. “But no. Not about the computer. But you’re going to tell her right now that you aren’t taking her to Kyler Leeds. And then you’re getting out of this house. And if any of her files show up anywhere else, I’m telling Reenzie, her mom … even Mrs. Dorio how you lied and broke into this computer.”

My stomach drops and my throat closes up. I could refuse, but then I’d never have a chance with Sean, and part of me is hoping that once he gets over his anger, he’ll understand why I did what I did. So I nod, then eject Wonder Woman, put her back together, and slip her in my pocket. I keep hoping Sean will look over my shoulder at the evidence file before I close it, but he never does. When everything’s back together I follow him downstairs and back to the screening room. He stands with his arms crossed and waits while I hang my head like a naughty child.

“Reenzie,” I say slowly, “I have something to tell you.”

The one good thing about having something truly unbearable happen in your life is that things that would otherwise be horrific aren’t so bad.

That said, telling Reenzie is awful. She screams, she insults me, she even stomps her foot—and the whole time Sean just stands stone-still. He doesn’t say a word or change his expression once, not even when Mrs. Tresca comes in to see what’s going on and Reenzie screams at her to leave. When it’s all over, Sean walks me to the door and opens it, waits for me to step outside, then slams it in my face. Never mind that I have no ride home. He doesn’t care.

I want to sit down and cry, but more than that, I want to get far away from Reenzie and Sean. I walk a few blocks to the opening of their development, then call my mom to come get me. I don’t do anything while I wait. I don’t even think. Mom can tell I’m upset when I get into the car, but there’s no way I can explain, so I stay silent. At home I don’t want to be anything but unconscious. I go right up to bed, tunnel under the covers, and shut out the world.

I sleep in. Even when I wake up I refuse to open my eyes. I roll over and breathe deeply into my pillow.

I know it’s not working anymore when I can’t get Sean’s voice out of my head. I keep thinking about what he said. How he saw me for who I am—someone who’s had a lot of crap thrown at her but who has stayed true to herself. And because of that, I had friends who cared about me—Sean included—despite anything Reenzie did.

When I think of how he described it, it’s kind of like I
was
bringing peace and harmony to my little corner of the world.

I get out of bed, dig my journal out of my bag, and look at my last wish.

Was that wish sending me off the track of my mission? Is that why it imploded so horribly?

I pick up a pen and write.

Dear Dad,

It hurts to tell him about what I did. Planning the attack on Reenzie’s computer felt daring and kind of Hit-Girl and capital-R Right, but when I imagine Dad reading about it, I know he’d be upset with me.

I put the journal away and check my phone.

It goes on from there.

I call her.

“
Autumn!
It’s noon and we’re seeing Kyler Leeds in exactly six hours! There is no good reason for you not to call until now!”

I give her my good reason.

“Y que?”
she asks calmly.

“So what?” I repeat incredulously.

“You’re looking at the bad side,” Amalita says, and I can picture her waving her hand in the air. “Yes, you got caught, we didn’t get the evidence, and we can’t out Reenzie to the whole school. But you saw it, so
you
know. Sean didn’t turn you in, and Reenzie will still have to tell everyone she did not in fact get to meet Kyler Leeds. And by the way
—we do!
This is all
muy buena
.”

“Except Sean hates me,” I say miserably.

“Which means you’re not a threat to Reenzie anymore and she’ll leave you alone! See?
La vida es buena
. Tonight is going to be unbelievable.”

I can’t convince her that everything didn’t turn out perfectly. And then we hang up because we’re meeting in a half hour. We have appointments to get our hair done.

Amalita’s not wrong, I think as my mom gives me a ride to the salon. Being led on about Kyler, then dumped, is the least Reenzie deserved, especially now that I’ve seen proof she wrote the website. And tonight I get to spend an evening with the one celebrity I’d give anything in the universe to even stand near for two seconds. Better still, I get to bring along Amalita, my closest friend in Aventura.

I should be happy. Instead I feel empty.

“Why was it so important to us to get revenge?” I ask Amalita as we sit in side-by-side chairs getting our hair trimmed and blown out.

“Revenge feels good,” she says, checking out her reflection in the salon mirror. “Someone hurts you, you hurt them back. It’s biblical. Don’t mess with the Bible.”

“Does it make you feel good?” I ask. Because it isn’t working that way for me.

“Are you kidding? Did you see Taylor moping around when Reenzie only wanted to hang on you?
Delicioso
.”

“Right. I get that,” I say, sighing. “But did it make you feel better about you guys not being friends anymore?”

Amalita meets my gaze in the mirror. “No. That will always and forever … suck.”

I think about when Taylor followed me into the library, the way she said I didn’t know the whole story, and how she seemed almost jealous of my friendship with Amalita. “You ever think maybe it sucks for her too?”

“Eso es ridículo,”
she says. “If she feels bad, she knows where to find me. I didn’t change.”

I see my mom’s car when we come out of the salon. The plan is for her to swing by Amalita’s place so Ames can get her clothes for tonight; then we’ll go to my house to get ready.

“You know, would it be okay if we don’t get ready together?” I ask Amalita as we get into the car. “My stomach is really bothering me.”

I clearly need to sit down and make a list of better excuses. The stomach thing is getting old.

“No,” Amalita says, blanching. “It’s not okay.”

“Please, I’m so sorry,” I say, wincing. “I just want to lie down for a while. Do you think you could get a ride to my place and be there around six?”

“You’re not serious.”

“I think she is, Amalita,” my mother says, turning to look at me. “She looks a little pale.”

I
always
look a little pale, but I’ll take whatever help I can get. Amalita isn’t happy about the change, but she agrees only after I pinkie swear to do my makeup exactly as she’s instructed. When I get home, Mom tells me to get some rest and promises to wake me in time to get ready for the Night of Dreams, but I have other plans.

There’s someone I have to call, and an email I have to send.

At 5:45, the doorbell rings. Amalita’s outside in a shimmery black dress with shoes, earrings, and bracelets to match. By now I’ve told Mom and Erick the plan, so they say nothing as Amalita continues to ring the bell, then bang on the door. Then she calls my cell.

“Autumn!” she cries impatiently. “Open up! Don’t tell me you’re Reenzie-ing me! I will never forgive you if that’s what you’re doing, Autumn Falls!”

Through the peephole, I see another car pull up to the curb. Taylor steps out of the passenger side. She’s dressed in a long silver sheath dress that makes her look even taller and leaner than she already is. The driver beeps a hello/good-bye, then pulls away.

Taylor looks confused as she starts up my walkway. “Amalita?”

“Taylor?” Now Amalita’s the one who looks bewildered. “Um … what are you doing here?”

“I’m going with Autumn to the Night of Dreams with Kyler Leeds,” she says slowly. “At least, I thought I was.”

“Well, that’s just great,” Amalita says, glaring over at the door. “Because that’s why I’m here.”