So Many Boys (25 page)

“Don’t,” I said quickly. “Don’t you dare talk about him to me.” I exhaled and opened my eyes, seeing Joel staring at me wide-eyed. “I have to go, Mary,” I said. “We’ll discuss this another time.” Although I had no intention of following up on that offer.

I hung up the phone and slid it into my purse, then met Joel’s concerned gaze. The reality of the situation hit me. “You should go,” I said to him.

“What? But I’m here for you, Tessa. I came to see you.” His voice got quiet and I felt him reach out to touch my hand. He smiled, looking nervous.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “You’re…a good friend.” Joel seemed to wince at the word and slowly dropped my hand with a soft laugh.

“Yeah,” he said, looking down at me tenderly. “You too.”

“You should go,” I repeated, wanting to get him out of here before the copy-Kitten was exposed. He didn’t need to be involved in this. He wouldn’t understand. “Go,” I said, pushing him toward the exit.

Joel looked back at me, concerned, but then he nodded and made his way to the door. “I’ll save you a dance, tiny Crimson,” he said with a smile. And then he left.

Normally Joel’s adorable words would have sent excited tingles over my body, but instead the rage of the moment began to fill me. And the minute the door clicked, I spun around to face the empty gymnasium.

After all these years and all this time…I closed my eyes, trying to let the shaking in my fingers subside. But my adrenaline was too keyed up. I opened my eyes and clenched my fists.

“Where are you?” I screamed, looking up to the empty rafters and then toward the back door. There was a scurrying sound above me until finally Leona appeared and came jogging toward me.

“What the hell, Tessa?” she said, a thick strap over her shoulder holding her new equipment. “We haven’t caught the—”

“It’s her,” I said, my face on fire. “It’s a flipping Kitten.”

“Excuse me?” Leona said. “You mean Mary, right?”

I shook my head. “No.” Suddenly there was a bang from the supply closet and I turned to face it. My blood was boiling. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt so angry in my whole life, not even at Chloe or Mary.

I began to cross the room to where the supply closet was shut, my heels clicking on the wood floor. Leona jogged to keep up with me. I looked sideways at her. “Where’s the rest of the squad?”

“Checking the perimeter for accomplices. Kira thought they might have one waiting outside.”

I laughed. She was a clever Kitten after all. Leona and I stopped in front of the supply-closet door and turned to look at each other.

“What is going on, Tess?” she asked, hitching up her eyebrow. “I’m totally freaking.”

I straightened my posture, preparing to face what was behind door number one. Then I leaned forward to open the door that would reveal our imposter.

It was dark at first, and the room was silent, other than the sound of our ragged breathing. Then from the closet, there was a low laugh.

She stepped out, camera in hand. Her dimples set deep with a smile. I shook my head, barely able to believe it. I think part of me had hoped I was wrong.

“Kira?” Leona choked out, standing next to me. “What the hell?” Leona reached over to hook her arm in mine, pulling me backward as Kira glared at me from the shadows of the doorway.

She ran her hands down her curves, smoothing out her suit before stepping out into the gym. The buzzing lights above illuminated her just enough to make her look sinister.

“Don’t look so stunned, Tess,” Kira called, before her black high-heeled boots made clacking noises on the wood floor. She slowly began to cross the empty room toward us, wrapping one sleek boot in front of the other, almost like a zigzag.

The pulled muscle in my back was screaming at me, but I didn’t react to it. I was too shocked. I was too betrayed. “But… why?” I asked her, my throat suddenly dry. “You were my best friend.” The thought nearly made me cry.

Kira scoffed and shook her head. “Exactly.
Were.
” Then, as if seriously irritated, she quickened her pace in my direction. Her blonde curls were pulled tight in a bun, her makeup flawless, her lips ruby red. She was completely done up for homecoming—minus the dress and smile.

Leona tried to pull me away, but not before Kira was in front of me.

Slap!
My face turned with the force of her hand across my cheek. I stepped back, shocked and stinging like all heck. I reached up to touch my face, my eyes wide and watering.

Leona stepped forward and shoved Kira hard enough to make her stumble back. “Have you lost your mind?” she screamed at her, but I was still standing there. Furious.

My best friend had just hit me. She
hit
me! I shook my head, clearing it. “K, th-that was completely uncalled for,” I stammered, still feeling the burn on my cheek. “What have you done?”

“What you couldn’t,” she shot back, walking forward and knocking into Leona’s shoulder with the side of her body on the way.

“Don’t even think—” Leona started, holding up her finger in warning.

“Get the rest of the squad,” I said to her. “We need backup. Tell them it’s a severe case of post-traumatic SOS disorder.” It was the only explanation.

“Oh, shut up, Tessa,” Kira said, stopping to stand boot to heel with me in center court and snaking her neck. “Ever think that my problem is you? Ever think that maybe
you
were the one causing my stress?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Me?” I touched the front of my homecoming dress, completely offended. “You’ve been lying for weeks, Kira. Maybe longer!”

“I’ll be right back,” Leona said quickly, and then turned back to look at Kira. “With a straitjacket, you crazy bitch.”

“Language,” I mumbled, never taking my eyes off of Kira. Her hands were balled up into fists at her sides.

“Whatever I’ve done, K, it shouldn’t have come to this. I just wanted us to move on with our lives—minus SOS.”

“And my boyfriend? Were you planning on moving on with him?” Her blue eyes were wide with rage. I hardly recognized her.

“What? No?” But my voice squeaked, making my denial sound more like an admission of guilt. It was true: I hadn’t planned on stealing Kira’s boyfriend. I mean, yes, I had feelings for him, but I’d never planned that!

“You’re no better than any of the cheaters we’ve ever followed,” she hissed, holding my stare. She exhaled, blinking quickly. “When you ended SOS, I supported you. I trusted you, but then I saw that you were doing it for Aiden, not for us. Not for the girls of the school. And after I met Joel, I thought I could handle it all.” She laughed self-consciously. “But I couldn’t. And then every day I had to listen to people tell me, ‘Why isn’t Tessa leading the squad?’ How do you think that felt? Then I thought, well, maybe if I let her on the squad, everyone will see how much better I am.” She leaned in toward me. “I even tried to set you up with Chris to keep you out of trouble, and instead what do you do? You try to steal my boyfriend. Stabbed in the back by my best friend.”

“Me? Kira, you were sneaking around spying on
me
! You broke into my house, and that was long before me and Joel—”

“He’s mine!” she shouted.

“You can’t own someone, Kira! And besides, you’re not even going out anymore. He told me.”

With an audible growl, she tackled me, her petite body crashing into mine and knocking us back and onto the floor. We landed with a thud onto the hardwood, sending a vibration up my arm as my elbow made contact.

For a second, we both just lay there. Neither of us was really a fighter. It was way too violent. “Ow,” Kira said, rubbing at her forehead, which had smacked the ground next to me. She collapsed on the floor with a sigh, both of us breathing heavy. I turned to look sideways at her.

“I was captain,” she groaned, sounding exhausted. “SOS was mine to fix. I was making it better.”

“No,” I said, wincing as I sat up. I looked at my elbow to see it was skinned, little scratches of blood beginning to show. “You were making it about vengeance. It was supposed to help people, not hurt them. And it’s not your fault you were failing. SOS was a team sport, K. No one Kitten could have pulled it off alone.”

She dropped her arms to her sides, staring up at the beams of the ceiling. “I wanted to stop cheaters. I wanted to make them pay.”

“You were wrong,” I said. “It was never the intent of SOS to exact revenge.” But sitting here now, bruised and bloodied on the gym floor, I realized my part in this mess. I thrust the captainship on her, then abandoned her to figure it out on her own. I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, K. I was wrong.”

I rested my chin on my bare shoulder as I looked back at her. Her eyes snapped to mine, studying me, maybe checking to see if I was sorry. She sat up with a few pained grunts.

“You know, we still have some things to decide,” she murmured. “SOS can’t stop now. And even if you get back on the squad, they’ll never trust you like they used to.”

I nodded. “I have some things to make up for,” I admitted. “And now that people know about SOS, they’ll never stop searching for us. Not unless we can prove we stand for good.”

“Maybe my way is better,” she said, glancing toward me.

“It’s not.” I watched her as she smiled a little, like she was going to challenge everything from here on out.

“I’m still the captain of the Smitten Kittens,” she said.

I couldn’t believe that after everything she’d done, all the lying, she was still adamant about being the captain. I felt anger course through me.

“Oh,” I said. “You’re hereby relieved of captain duty. And possibly off the squad. I’ll let the Smitten Kittens vote on it.”

“Go for it. Some of them will stand with me.”

I considered this. “Not all of them.” But she was right. The squad would be split, and that was no way to cheer. I’d need to figure out a way to bring us back together. Fake friends for the sake of school spirit. At least for a little while.

“Co-captains, then?” I asked, my elbow throbbing.

Kira sneered. “One more thing for us to share.”

“After a mandatory suspension, of course. Let’s say the rest of the football season. We’ll see you during basketball.” It was a harsh sentence, but really, she didn’t have room to complain. She was lucky I wasn’t calling the police.

The gym doors opened with a metal click, and Leona came rushing in followed by Izzie and the rest of the squad. They skidded to a stop when they saw Kira and me sitting on the floor of center court.

“You okay?” Leona called to me. I waved, letting her know I was. At least physically.

Kira smiled, but I knew that smile. It was completely fake—totally inauthentic. It made my heart sink because right then I knew. I knew that things between Kira and me would never be the same.

“Kira’s going to be suspended for the season,” I announced, still sitting down. “She’s admitted fault, and we hope to just move on from here. Repair the squad.”

There was a series of murmurs and quiet patters as the team crossed the gym in their spying outfits.

“But I’ll be back soon,” Kira said, like it wasn’t a big deal. “Co-captain for basketball. You all know I love you and I won’t abandon you.” She looked sideways at me.

Ooh…that really peeved me, but I was trying to keep a brave face. Leona shot Kira a dirty look, then outstretched her hand to mine.

I took it, smiling and blinking back my tears. She was choosing me. She was on my side of the foul line. When I tried to stand up, I was lopsided. I looked down at my foot, noticing that one of my shoes was missing. I glanced around quickly, but it was nowhere in sight. I’d wondered if it had flown under the bleachers when I’d been tackled.

Kira tsked as she slowly climbed up, smoothing back her blonde hair with her hands and avoiding eye contact. “Whatever,” she mumbled.

Izzie stood apart from all of us, looking between Kira and me. She chewed on her lip, switching from foot to foot.

“Izzie—” I started, but she shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Tess,” she whispered, dropping her eyes and crossing the court to stand behind Kira.

My mouth opened, and I was wounded, betrayed. But I didn’t say anything. She’d made her choice.

“She can’t help you get Sam back,” Leona said to her, obviously as bothered by Izzie’s lack of loyalty as I was.

“We’ll see,” Kira answered for her. Looking back over her shoulder to Izzie. “Sam isn’t out of the picture yet.” She smiled at her, then glanced at me. “Unless Tessa wants him, of course.”

“Oh, shove it!” Leona said, and I had to reach out to hold her back. I couldn’t believe that this was what we’d dissolved into. It was tragic. Complete
Death of a Salesman
tragic.

“The fake SOS is over now,” I said to all of them, rolling back my shoulders. “Look, we all make mistakes, but we can’t hold animosity toward each other. School spirit is on the line. We have to stick this landing and get through this.”

“I’m glad you’re back,” Leona replied, her voice crisp. Then she smiled. “Without a leader, we were just Kittens. You brought the Smitten.”

“You had a leader,” Kira snapped, darting a glance her way.

Leona shook her head. “I have one now.” Leona turned her back to Kira and looked at the rest of the girls. “Tessa’s right. We need to let this go. We are not rogue Kittens. None of us should do things against the squad. No matter how jealous we might get.” She smiled. “Now. Let’s get back to that homecoming dance.”

“Yes, let’s,” Kira murmured.

Leona spun around and tilted her head, studying Kira. “I don’t know about you, but I have to go home to change. You’re not going to wear that, are you?” Leona asked with a smirk, motioning to Kira’s black outfit that was now covered in dust.

“No,” Kira hissed. “My dress is in my locker.”

“Classy.”

I watched Kira’s jaw clench, but then she began to brush the dirt from the gymnasium floor off of her clothes. Izzie chewed on her lip, looking between Kira and me, and then she shrugged.