I stepped up next to Natasha to open my locker and she widened her eyes at me and shrugged. Call me crazy, but I don't believe half the stuff I hear at Easton, I heard her say in my mind. Words to live by.
113
PODUNK COPS
Somehow, we were back on campus early that afternoon. I felt like I had been gone for days. Years. That was how different I felt from the angry, tense, scared (I did have a blindfold over my eyes) person who had left that morning.
Now I was energized. My skin practically sizzled and my hair felt freakishly soft against my face. Since I hadn't been allowed to shower that morning, Noelle had treated me to a shampoo, deep condition, and blowout before we left--a ridiculously expensive blowout. But worth every penny, especially since I hadn't paid for it.
I pulled some of my wavy brown locks in front of my eyes, just to see how shiny they were. Unbelievable. This could not be my hair.
"Look at her. You'd think no one had ever shampooed the girl before," Noelle said as we made our way around Bradwell.
"What are you gonna do next? Throw your arms out and twirl?" Kiran asked.
114
I paused, embarrassed. "Actually, I was about to say thank you, but you guys make it so hard. ..."
"Sorry." Noelle stopped in her tracks and the other girls lined up beside her. "Proceed."
"With what?" I asked.
"The thank you," Noelle replied.
They all looked at me expectantly--even Taylor, with her bloodshot eyes.
"Fine," I said, rolling my eyes slightly just so that they wouldn't think they had me entirely under their thumbs. "Thanks, you guys. Really. I actually feel almost normal. Like, I don't know, like life might actually go on. And I just--"
Suddenly, I realized that Noelle's gaze had wandered past me and over my shoulder. Gradually, all the other girls looked as well. Their expressions changed so abruptly I felt the stone path tilt beneath my feet.
What now?
When I turned around, I saw Dash and Gage stalking toward us with military stiffness. Dash's nostrils were almost as wide as Missy Thurber's, who could have snout-doubled for Seabiscuit. He had a rolled-up newspaper in his hand.
"What happened?" Noelle asked as the boys arrived, blustering and short of breath.
"They let the prick go. They let the freakin' prick go," Dash said.
"They didn't," Ariana said.
115
Dash shoved the newspaper at Noelle and Ariana, his hands trembling. Slowly, Noelle took the paper in both hands. It was a local publication I had seen around campus before. The headline read Murder Suspect Freed. Beneath it was a picture of a person I assumed to be Rick DeLea walking out of the Easton police station.
"He came up with an alibi," Gage said. "Some crackhead girlfriend, no doubt. We should've known. These podunk cops'll take care of their own over us any day. Even if he is a scum-sucking drug dealer."
Thomas was a scum-sucking drug dealer, too.
I don't know why that was the first thought that came into my head, but it was. And even though it was the truth, I felt guilty for thinking it.
"I don't believe this," Noelle said. "I thought we had this all under control."
"We?" Dash said.
"We. They. You really want to debate pronouns with me right now?" Noelle snapped.
Her skin looked shiny with sweat, and her hand was over her mouth. Seeing her look so thrown was almost more disconcerting than the news itself. Turning in Rick the Townie had been her idea, and clearly, she didn't enjoy being wrong. I glanced at Ariana and Kiran and Taylor. Everyone looked like wide-eyed caricatures of themselves. I wondered if their stomachs felt as tight and empty and sick as mine did. If the police were right, then Thomas's killer was still out there.