Second Nature (9 page)

Is that a backbone? No, it’s a push-up bra.

I paced her bedroom
silently, waiting for Lindsey to wake up. She looked rough, even sleeping, and
had drool under her cheek, making a dark stain on the pale purple pillow.

Voices from the hallway
drew my eyes and ears to the door. Mr. Bueller was shouting, no doubt at the
stepmonster. I crept closer and leaned in, listening to the anger in his voice
as he screamed, “THEN GET OUT!”

“I HATE YOU!” Louisa
shouted back, but she sounded like she was sobbing. A door slammed and Mr.
Bueller bellowed about something else I couldn't hear. Another door slammed and
then a car skipped on the driveway. I hurried to the window to see Louisa
driving away in her convertible like Cruella De Vil.

“Oh shit,” I muttered and
watched as her family split up.

Lindsey moaned and rolled
over, wiping her cheek. “What time is it?” Her voice sounded like she’d been
smoking for years. “My head.” She winced and lifted a hand, shuddering and
closing her eyes again.

“You better get up. Me
and Vincent found something last night, and I need—”

“You and Vincent?” Her
eyes popped open. “Jesus, Lain, was Sage right? You and Vincent snuck off
together last night?”

“What?” I opened my mouth
to defend myself, but the wrong thing came out, “We didn’t sneak off. We were
looking for—”

She lifted her cell phone
to reveal a message from Sage, telling Lindsey that Vincent and I had left the
party together, and he was up to his old tricks again. “Get out!” she croaked
and pointed at the door.

“What?”

“You are such—no,
wait. I’m the asshole. I thought he actually meant it when he said—let me
guess, he gave you the old Disney-princess lines and made you feel special?”

“Are-are y-you still
drunk?” I sputtered. When I got upset I couldn't stop it. My face was flushed.

“I can’t believe Sage was
right! I can’t believe you would let Vince be more important than me. Get some
self-esteem and your own boyfriend, Lainey!”

“You are an ass-asshole.”
I turned and fled the room, hurrying down the stairs, past Lori who was about
to ask me if I wanted a latte as she always did, and Robert who got the front
door for me.

I jumped in my car and
drove to the gate, speeding down the road. I couldn't believe Sage had been
right about Lindsey being pissed. I couldn't believe Lindsey would think it.
Not of me. Vincent, okay, that made sense.
But me?
I
hadn’t ever done anything to make her think that.

My cell phone rang, but I
ignored it.

My head was filled with
hateful things.

When I skidded across the
road into my driveway, my back end swayed back and forth, nearly hitting the
gatepost.

I slid into my parking
place and hopped from the car, slamming the door.

My mom greeted me in the
entrance with a sneer. “Where have you been?”

Wiping the tears flooding
my cheeks, I jumped, pausing and swallowing most of my anger. It turned to fear
and a lack of self-worth in her cold stare. “Lindsey’s.”

“Your father and I stayed
up all night waiting for you to come home.”

Something changed in that
moment.

Maybe it was her lie.

Maybe it was that my best
friend had just betrayed me.

Maybe it was that nothing
was adding up, and my mind was a jumbled mess of information.

Whatever it was, I
snapped. “You and Dad? He’s home is he?” I cocked an eyebrow, asking it in a
way I didn't expect. My tone was horrid. Not much anger had faded away. “He
stayed here last night? Didn't sleep at the
office?”
I did the finger quotations on office.

Her eyes narrowed, but
she seemed a bit shocked by the tone. “He was here. He got home late.”

“Of course he did. He’s
always late. And just so you know, you can’t bitch when I go to the party and
then again when I stay home. It’s one or the other. Either you don't want me to
go or you do.” I folded my arms and leaned in, whispering my next words, “Maybe
worry about your own situation and not mine.”

Her lip trembled with
anger. “I will not be spoken to that way in my own house—”

“Lainey?”

I turned and looked at my
father on the grand staircase.

“What are you doing
talking to your mother like that?”

Pressing my lips together
I refused to look away from his stare. The words I wanted so badly to scream
sat on the tip of my tongue. They wanted out. He flinched before I did, maybe
seeing the truth and knowledge in my eyes.

“You’re obviously tired.
Why don't you go and have a lie down?”

Tears were flooding my
eyes and face, making everything in that moment a funny shape. I walked past
Mom and climbed the stairs, ignoring them both. I flopped down on my bed and
watched a thousand images dance upon the ceiling.

My cell phone rang again,
but I didn't acknowledge it.

Instead, I got up and sat
at my desk, drawing the note and the phone from memory. Sketching took the rage
away.

When I finished all our
little clues, I wrote down what Vincent and I had discovered and carried it all
into my closet, pinning them each in the right spot.

I leaned against a wall
of shelves and stared at the spider web and all the developments it had made.

Sage’s name gave me the
chills. She had told me to forget about her brother. Was that because she
wanted him to say away? In case I asked him about the stuff in her room?

I looked at the drawing
of Ashton holding the fish and knew I had to go there. What if he was
protecting her because he knew she had killed Rach? His staying away kept him
in the spotlight.

I bit my lip and
contemplated the possibility of going alone. I could but if I was being honest,
it scared me. I walked from the closet and grabbed my cell, ignoring the calls
from Vincent and Lindsey and pressing the name of the one person I knew I could
ask anything of.

“Hey, Lain. What’s
shakin’?” Jake answered, sounding more cheery than I expected him to be.

“I need you to come with
me. I think I found something.”

“I was worried when you
left last night. You all right?”

“Yeah. I just need some
help.”

I’ll pick you up in half
an hour.” His tone drifted into a more serious one. He clearly understood what
I meant.

“Kay.” I hung up and
stared at the wall, wondering if Sage somehow had the dress duplicated. And
afterward she could have manipulated Rachel by telling her that the silver
dress looked bad on her and she should give it to Sierra. Then the blonde, a
friend of Sage’s we didn't know, wore the silver duplicate. It made sense, but
why? Why would Sage want to kill Rachel and then Andrew’s dad?

Of course she would’ve
had so much opportunity it was ridiculous.

It wasn't a stretch to
suggest that she had lured Rachel into the woods after they had been fighting,
killed her, maybe with the help of the girl in the silver dress. Then drugged
herself and got the girl with the silver dress to make sure they were
positioned.

It made sense why she had
tried to drug the rest of us. That took care of the people who would most
likely be with Rachel.

Or was she trying to
frame one of us?

Of
course, Lindsey.

I flashed back to the fight
between Sage and Ashton.

“Wait.” My brain did
another loop of the facts we had found.

There was also the
distinct possibility she was framing Ashton.
The favorite
child.
She started the fight with him, provoking him so he was angry
before he even left for the party. Then killed Rachel and forced Ashton to
leave with her threatening letters.

And then of course she
went after Lindsey—she had stolen Vincent from her.

The puzzle was making
sense but things were still missing.

Like why Mr. Henning?

I closed the spider web
and turned, grabbing a hoodie and some jeans so I would at least be
comfortable.

A small part of me wanted
to put on makeup and redo my hair in case we found Ashton. I didn't want to
look plain. Especially since Jake had said that Ashton would be searching for
me if I were the one missing. That made me think he cared.

I glanced at the hoodie
and pressed my lips together, dropping it, and picking a cute blouse. I pulled
the extra tight sports bra off, releasing the girls, and grabbed a cute lacy
bra that didn't hide even the slightest bit of boob. I watched myself in the
mirror as I put it on, struggling with the fact I looked like a Victoria’s
Secret model.

My instincts were to shut
it down, but I forced myself to keep it on and dragged on the blouse. The
flimsy material and lacy bra made me uncomfortable so I hauled on a cardigan to
at least appease the part of me that didn't like feeling sexy. When you
remembered how every pair of eyes had leered at your chest, even when you were
very young, it was hard to want to be sexy.

I had spent an entire
lifetime being the girl who went under the radar. I was never going to be
comfortable with being seen. I was still the only one the rag papers didn't
hunt and follow. They rarely even got my name right if I was in the picture. It
suited me just fine.

I slipped on a pair of
black leggings and some knee-high boots. The dark floral blouse and beige
cardigan just covered my butt, but the leggings were so tight they showed off a
lot of leg.

Not fighting the desire
to look somewhat attractive to him, I dragged my ponytail out and fluffed my
hair. The curls were still there from the night before. I grabbed mascara and
lip gloss
and did the bare minimum to ensure I didn't look
too tired.

Not that I was.

I was on edge about
everything.

Lindsey hated me and had
assumed something that I didn't know if a simple sorry would fix. And if I was
being honest, I sort of hated her. Telling me to get my own boyfriend and some
self-esteem was going to stick with me for a long time.

I felt betrayed. My mind
whispered that I didn't know what Sage had said to Lindsey though. I didn't
know what kind of bull she had spewed in her ear, making her doubt me the way
she had made me doubt Vince.

My desire to take Sage
down grew into something I would have to admit to myself
was
unnatural. It had been bordering on unhealthy but had moved directly into
obsession in the last couple of hours.

“Lainey?” Mazy called to
me. She stopped at the entrance to my room, lifting her eyebrows. “Jake’s here.”
She tilted her head. “Are you going on a date?” The shock on her face suggested
I might look a bit over the top.

“Yeah,” I lied. It was
easier than explaining that I was going to find Ashton.

“Mom’s gone so you don't
have to dress pretty or pretend.” She was smarter than she looked.

“I’m not.”

“But you like Ashton.”
Her little lips grew into a knowing smile.

My cheeks flushed as I
lowered my gaze. “I’ll explain later.” I walked from the room, bringing my cell
phone but keeping the volume off.

When I got to the stairs
my dad and Jake paused their conversation. Jake’s dark eyebrows lifted. “Hey,
Lain.”

“Hey.” What the heck was
he doing home?

My dad got a worried look
on his face. He wasn't like my mom. He enjoyed my dressing down and nerdy ways.
“Where are you kids headed?” His voice cracked a bit.

“I finally got Lainey to
agree to go on a date with me. Thought we might take a walk on the path by the
river, where the trees are really bright.” Jake lied like a pro. His bluffing
skills were Jedi level.

“Well, don't be late.” He
said it weird, maybe not realizing it was Saturday night.

“Okay.” I waved and
ignored the look on his face. He was worried about the way I’d talked to my mom
and stared at him. He saw the changes in me that I saw too. I was wearing girly
clothes and my hair was down, and the smoothest guy in town, besides Vincent
Banks, was by my side.

It was sick and
disturbing, but I liked that my dad was worried.

If only he knew how I
felt about Jake, he wouldn't be worried then.

Jake got the door to the
Maserati he was given for his birthday. It was similar to Lindsey’s little
sporty car but dark blue and not a convertible.

He started it with a roar
and jerked us forward, speeding away from my house. “Your dad looks tense.” He
grinned wickedly.

“So you want to make him
more tense?”

“You’re rocking that
blouse, so I assumed we were trying to mess with him. That's why I went for
date instead of you helping me with my schoolwork.”