Don't Get Caught(78)

“You’d like everyone to believe you’re the naive preacher’s daughter, but you’re not. Not by a mile. You’re probably the smartest of all of us. I’m right about this. Just admit it.”

Ellie goes quiet, staring at some place far behind me. I prepare myself for more arguing, but then her body sags like warm wax.

“I shouldn’t have let it get as far as it did. That was never my plan,” she says. “I didn’t think anyone would ever find out.”

Oh God, I was right. It was one thing to think Ellie set us up. It’s another thing entirely to hear her admit it. Every part of me hoped she’d be able to prove me wrong, to offer up an alternative that made sense. But no.

I blink away the tears forming.

“Why did you do it?”

Ellie sighs, saying, “At first, it was like I said—I wanted the Chaos Club to pay for what they did to me last year. And to do that, I needed a team. Obviously I picked the right people too. But eventually, it became more fun than anything. I wasn’t even mad at the Chaos Club after a while, even if I acted like it. I just wanted to see if we could pull it off, and we did.”

“By using us.”

“We all used each other, Max. Don’t try to tell me we didn’t all have a great time. The five of us made a great team. Look at what we achieved.”

“By lying to us.”

“And I’m sorry about that. I really am. But just for a second, try to see the big picture—everything worked out for the best. I’m not just talking the Chaos Club. I’m talking about everyone. We’re all better for what’s happened this year. And somehow we even got rid of Stranko. None of that would’ve happened if I hadn’t done what I did.”

Now it’s my turn to be quiet. Everything she’s saying makes sense in a slanted, blurry way. If she keeps talking like this, I’ll cave.

“Who took the picture of us at the football field?” I say.

“Well, like Dave said, you can learn how to do anything on H8box.”

“And you doughed our lockers too?”

“Max, why are you getting caught up in the details? Yes, I did it, okay? Is that what you want me to say? But you were talking about giving up. And it worked. You stayed with it, and we accomplished our goal. The specifics don’t matter.”

“Don’t matter? I got arrested, Ellie. And suspended. My parents were ready to disown me!”

“That wasn’t the plan. I just wanted to keep you in the game. It was the worst night of my life when I found out what the Chaos Club did to you.”

“What did you think would happen?”

“Honestly? That they’d threaten you or pull a different prank—something that would get you pissed and focused again. I never imagined they’d set you up like that.”

“So what about Watson? He basically got fired over this. Not to mention we destroyed the Chaos Club, and they didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

“You mean besides the scoreboard prank last year? And how they got you arrested?”

“No, Ellie, you got me arrested. Not them.”

She doesn’t say anything.

“You led me on,” I say.

“No, that’s not fair. I may have lied to get everything started, but you can’t ever say I led you on. I made it clear the first time we came here that this was about destroying the Chaos Club, not about us being together. That just ended up being a bonus.”

Um.

“A bonus?”

“Yes, silly. Why do you think I had us meet here today? When we came here the first time, I told you maybe when the year was over we could go out. Well, what was a maybe is now a definitely. It was never my plan, but I like you now, Max. As in like-like you.”

Then Ellie kisses me, and the world collapses in on itself. Her lips are soft and warm and perfect, and I’m so shocked, so stunned, I don’t immediately kiss her back. This isn’t like the quick “for luck” kiss she gave me before. This is a universe destroyer. Then her fingers begin tracing the back of my neck up into my hair, and oh God, there’s her tongue on mine. And now I’m kissing her back with my hands on her hips, and she’s not stopping me. We fall and become entwined on the radar dish, our mouths together, our hands on each other. The hot summer sun overhead could supernova right now and I wouldn’t care. Because Ellie’s right. Any lies she may have told led us to this perfect moment. I can leave here with her, the two of us a couple, and return to Asheville and my friends and not tell anyone what I know. Because, man, I’ve wanted this for so long, and Ellie’s mouth is amazing, and her hands are moving to all the right places.

I mean, I could do all that, right? Not tell the other three what I know? Isn’t it only a betrayal if someone gets hurt? I mean, yeah, it’ll be hard knowing Ellie set up Wheeler, Malone, and Adleta, but doesn’t the mastermind have to carry the heaviest weight? And isn’t your crew only your crew as long as there’s a job to pull?

Aren’t they?

Please?

Shit.

I pull away, and Ellie leans farther in. If she gets her mouth on mine again, I’m a goner. So I back safely out of the kissing zone and hold out a hand to stop her from advancing.

“I’m leaving,” I say.

“Max,” she says, taking my arm. “Everything’s fine. It all worked out for every one of us. If the phrase ‘the end justifies the means’ was ever fitting, it’s here. Yes, bad things happened, but we can forget about that and move on—together. The two of us.”