Cameo (14 page)

“Nia, she's gone.”

“What?”

“She left.”

“Downstairs, now.”

We booked out the door. How were we going to get out of the house? Jason froze at the bottom of the stairs. Detective Smart and his mini-me were in the living room.

“Nia, can you look at this?” Detective Smart yelled.

I hurried into the living room. I prayed nothing was missing. That was the last thing I needed. I'd never hear the end of it. Suddenly my cell phone beeped, but the sound of my cell quickly became second priority upon laying my eyes on the huge grape jelly stain on my mother's white area rug. My mother considered our house her interior designer debut. She dreamed of making interior design her second career. This was definitely going to be an issue. As my eyes drifted upward, I saw it.

“What do they have against chess?” Jason asked.

“Look at this note!” Detective Smart said.

As I walked closer to the detective, I understood why he was shouting. Some wacko wrote a note in grape jelly all over the chess board:
YOU
'
RE DONE LIKE BURNT TOAST
!

“Isn't that clever?” the rookie rent-a-cop said.

I rolled my eyes, and Detective Smart followed suit.

“What does that mean to you?” he asked.

“That they've got it in for me. All this forensics … it's not rocket science,” I said. Suddenly I realized I was starting to sound as tart as Cindy.

“Bag this,” Detective Smart instructed rent-a-cop.

I took that moment to step into my own tennis shoes. My cell was beeping.

“Asked Jane about the secret society for the popular, says they control all the votes for every dance, school election, and prom. They even have who gets to be valedictorian on lock,” Cindy texted. I know she did not just say she told Jane. Within the next five minutes, everyone in our class would receive a forward on my secret society stalker.

My cell phone beeped again. “Don't spazz out. I told her she would be blacklisted if she told anyone.”

The way Cindy acted you would've thought she was part of it—threatening Jane and all. How would I know if she had been inducted freshman year or not?

“Girl outside with white hat. Catch her. Tied up here,” I texted.

“When will I be able to lock the house up? Cindy and I have some … homework to do,” I asked the detective. Which reminded me, why did Jason come over in the first place? The detective was obviously ignoring me.

“Do you have an update on the project?” I nodded in Jason's general direction.

“Oh! Snap! I forgot.” He walked over to his backpack and pulled some yellow papers out. “My father got these from the archives at his job. We can use these to compare the recession trademarks,” he said.

“Indicators,” I corrected him.

“Right! Indicators from the past recessions. We can compare to the current economic conditions,” he said.

“Excellent.” I was all excited. Why? It was just some homework.

“Okay, miss, you can close the house up for now. We have some evidence to take back to the station. But we'll need access to the house tomorrow. We're also going to need your mother's contact
information. We need your parents' numbers too, young man. And Cindy … that's the young lady outside, right?”

Oh, so I was “Miss,” but he knew Cindy's name. Why was I surprised? She had that effect on guys.

“Yes.” Jason wrote the info down and passed me the paper. I wrote both my mom's info and Cindy's.

“I'll be on the porch. Let me know when it's ready for lock-up,” I said.

Jason followed me to the door but not without raising an eyebrow.

“What?” I asked.

“Hmm,” he said.

“What's ‘hmm'?” I said.

“I thought you were perfect at English, but you personified the house,” he said. Was he a closet nerd?

“I did not. Okay, maybe I did a little. Is this an English final?” I asked.

“Maybe we could study together for it.” He held the front door open for me. I took my time walking through, enjoying every moment of it. It seemed like it had been forever since I had been the apple of someone's eye.

“I have a plan,” he said.

“What's this?” I asked as my eyes fell upon Cindy congregating with someone who looked like the girl in the white hat behind the neighbor's bushes. I could really only speculate because the bushes covered the girl's face. But I usually trusted my gut feeling. Luckily for her, our neighbor refused to cut the bushes that protruded over onto our property. That didn't change the facts, though. The fact
was Cindy was talking to a girl. And I just couldn't believe who that girl looked like. Without a doubt, she favored Lucy!

Cindy hated Lucy just as much as I did. Didn't she? Cindy quickly turned to look over her shoulder. I didn't want her to know that I had seen her—at least, not yet. So I did the only thing left to do. I lay one big kiss on Jason's lips to create a diversion. To be honest, I was afraid what might happen next if she knew I had seen her. It was creepy to constantly be afraid of what was going to happen next.

Jason stopped kissing me first. That is not how it was supposed to go. My rule was always to stop kissing a guy first, at least if you could help it. He just stared at me. Apparently, he was surprised. Wasn't this what we'd been trying to accomplish all day?

“I need you to give me a ride,” I said.

“Okay … where?” he asked.

I couldn't tell him that I had no clue. “I actually need to make two stops,” I said.

“Just as long as it doesn't get me killed,” he said.

“Don't joke like that,” I said.

Those scary movies were always joking about the most outlandish thing that could happen next. And then what happened? Usually that very thing they'd joked about!

“Nia, can we go now?” Cindy said coyly.

“Well, you should go ahead. We're going to wait here for them to finish so I can lock up. Then we're going to hang out a little.” I winked my eye at Cindy. She looked concerned. I guess her secret plan with Lucy would have to wait an hour or two.

“I have a 10 p.m. curfew. And I need you to cover for me so I can sneak out with Peter.”

This was unbelievable. Did she expect me to believe her convenient plan to leave me alone?

“Well, I guess that's going to have to be too bad,” I said.

Cindy honestly looked terrified.

“Did Jane tell you who the leader of the group was?” I asked.

Cindy was thinking. “You know, I had to cut the conversation short while they bandaged my leg,” Cindy said. How convenient.

“Sure she didn't say Michelle, and you forgot?” I asked.

“Huh? It's simply a rumor,” she said. Was she lost all of a sudden? “I don't think it's safe to just leave you,” she said. How clever. Was this about me now?

“I'll be right back.” I walked away from Cindy and Jason. I wasn't going to let her make me choose between her and Jason after seeing what I had just seen.

“Wait up.” Cindy hopped along behind me.

“Cindy, you don't need me as a decoy. Just tell your mom we're going to dinner and go meet up with Peter,” I said.

“I know what to tell my own mother!” Cindy said defensively.

“After the detective calls your parents and tells them that you were maliciously attacked, I can see how your curfew might change. My suggestion? Go out and enjoy the night. I mean no one's stalking
you
,” I said.

“I was not maliciously saying anything. You are blowing this out of proportion!”

“Yeah, says the girl with the bandaged leg. Text me if anything changes.”

Detective Smart and his sidekick were on the front porch talking to Jason. Before I could even form an opinion on that, my cell began to ring. I could tell by the ringtone that it was my mother.

“I'm driving her home,” Jason told the detective.

“You take her straight home to her grandmother's house. Here's the address,” Detective Smart said. He examined Jason's face carefully, and then he glanced at his watch. “Ordinarily, we would drive her home to ensure a safe arrival. You seem like a good kid. And my wife, she hates it when I'm late for dinner,” he said.

I looked at him and wondered if that was my future: a good-looking, matter-of-fact, slightly witty … well, not witty but definitely not dull-witted husband. I know every young girl wants to grow up and get married. But there was something a little claustrophobic about waking up to the same man for the rest of my life. I was only seventeen, after all. Thoughts like that haunted me from time to time. How life could be so definite. I loved change. I wasn't even definite on what I was going to wear tomorrow.

In all that time I was thinking, I'd let my mother's call go to voicemail. Oh, well, she'd call back in three minutes, by which time I hoped to be on our way to our first stop. I found myself wishing—if only this were all over and who, what, where, and why were answered. Was that too much to ask? Apparently, anything you wanted in this life you had to work for.

“You've got a phone call. Are you going to answer it?” Detective Smart asked.

What was that all about? Was he trying to discredit me and throw the case out?

“It's my mother,” I said. I flashed the screen at the detective so he could see her name pop up. Before I put it away in my back pocket, I cleared the missed call, only to notice a new ringtone downloading.

“What is this?”

“What happened?” the detective asked.

“Oh, it's just a voicemail,” I said.

Maybe Jason loaded our song “Cameo” on my phone. Oh, my goodness! Listen to me, “our song.” It was kind of nauseating, yet sweet.

“I'll check this after I lock up,” I continued.

“We'll wait here,” the detective said.

I turned on the theft alarm, and I had thirty seconds to get out the door. I guess one could see how this would be the perfect time to stand in the middle of the floor and ponder on how I had gotten here.

Two months ago, I had stood in this exact spot, leaving Craig and the crew waiting for me while I stood in the middle of the floor foolishly thinking I had finally reached my golden days. Little did I know, my whole fairy-tale existence was being orchestrated by a bunch of C-average, over-privileged, self-absorbed airheads. I couldn't understand why the dumbest people somehow ran the school. Yet if they did not, I guess President Bush would have been an anomaly. It seemed like dumb people were trying to run everything.

That was it! Tonight I was going to settle the score for every smart, good-looking, no-nonsense high school senior who'd ever been toyed with by the “popular.”

With about one second left before Iset off the lasers, I slid out the door. Jason met me on the porch. Detective Smart was serious about his wife's attitude. He was in the squad car with the engine running. They waved to me on the porch.

“Get home safely. Call down to the station if there are problems. Drive safe, Jason.” Detective Smart pulled off. Cindy was still parked in the driveway.

“What's the deal?” I yelled.

“I didn't want to leave until you guys left,” she said.

“Do you want us to follow you home?” I asked. As if!

“No, I'm going to Peter's house,” she said.

I smiled. I still hadn't locked the doors to the house. While I did that, something crazy hatched in my mind.

“Babe, I want you to go talk to Cindy for a minute,” I said.

“Why?” Jason asked.

“Can you just do it?” I asked.

“No,” he said. Why was he choosing now, of all times, to challenge me?

“I have to go get something. Please, just do me this favor,” I said.

“You can't talk to Cindy now?”

“No, I'm busy,” I said.

“This doesn't make any sense,” he said.

“We have an untraceable pre-paid cell phone hidden under the side deck for emergencies. I need to go get it.”

“What's with your phone?”

I sighed. I hadn't anticipated having to tell him my whole plan! “I want to call myself with the other phone and then plant it in Cindy's bag to see if she's really going to Peter's house or if she's part of this.”

Jason's face flushed. “Didn't she just get thrown down a flight of stairs, or is there something else you need to prove she's not part of this?” he said.

“Are you going to help me out of this or what?” I asked.

He was silent. I ran to get the cell phone. When I came back, he was in his car and Cindy was pulling away. I stared him down, but he wouldn't look at me. I was furious. I couldn't stop pacing back and forth in the front yard. He had just thwarted Plan A. What were we going to do? I was
planning on getting some counter-intelligence with that plan. Now how would we find out what the enemy was up to? I walked to the passenger side car door. I felt like I was going to explode. Who gave him a right to do that? Had he seen what I had seen—Cindy hobnobbing with the enemy! No!

He got out of the car and slammed the door. He leaned over the roof. “Get in the car,” he said.

“No.”

“Are you going to walk wherever it is you plan on going?”

“Why did she drive away?”

“I told her I was taking you straight to your grandmother's house, and she seemed relieved.”

“And you believed that?”

“She is your best friend. Why would you turn on her?” he asked.

I jumped into the car. He didn't get in the car immediately. When he did get in, I could see he was a bit steamed. He started the engine and pulled away without one word.

“Like you know where we're going,” I said.

“Are you going to tell me?” he asked.

I wanted to ignore him. Just to make a statement. But we didn't have time for all that. Especially since he was driving, and I hadn't exactly figured out where we should go yet.