Pushing Perfect(54)

“Assuming it’s in a place where that makes sense,” Alex said. “Justin’s on his way, but he isn’t happy about it. I had to call in some chips.”

“He owes you a favor?” I asked.

“He owes me lots of things,” she said, and took a bite of her disgusting pizza.

I guzzled my Diet Coke while we waited for Isabel and Justin to show up. I was curious to see how they reacted to the group—I believed that Isabel had no idea who would be here, but I wasn’t as convinced Justin would be surprised to see her. I was sure he knew more than he was telling us.

Isabel got there first, and relief washed over me as I realized I hadn’t been sure she’d really show up. She’d changed into jeans and pulled back her hair; that must have been why she’d taken a little longer to get there than I had. She sat next to Raj.

“Hi, gorgeous,” he said. “Sorry to be seeing you again under these unfortunate circumstances.”

Gorgeous? It was true, but I felt a pang hearing him say it. I wondered whether they’d ever gotten together; if they’d been going to all those fancy parties, it was definitely possible. Or maybe he was just trying to show me that I didn’t have to worry about me not telling him that I liked him too, after he’d opened up to me and I’d given him nothing back.

Or maybe he was trying to make me jealous. If he was, it was working.

“It’s much more fun hanging out with you at parties,” she said. “So is this everyone?”

“We’re waiting on one more,” I said.

We didn’t have to wait long; Justin was crossing the parking lot as I said it, and I could see him out the window. He had a stern, determined look on his face as he opened the door, but it fell away as soon as he saw Isabel. “Oh, shit, not you too.” He sounded genuinely surprised, though I reminded myself that he was an actor. He sat at the end of the table, grabbed a piece of pizza, and started picking anchovies off it. “So the gang’s all here, then?”

I turned to Isabel, curious what she’d say. She kept her cool, though. “Please tell me someone here has an idea what’s actually going on.”

“I wish I could,” Raj said. “I don’t know how much you know, but I’m guessing we don’t know a whole lot more than that.”

“Speak for yourself,” Alex said.

“What?” I asked.

“Not talking about me. I think there’s one person at the table who knows more than the rest of us.” She looked at Justin. I guess we’d had the same idea about him.

“What, me?” he asked with his mouth full.

“Gross,” Isabel said.

“Spill it,” Alex said. “If you value our friendship at all, it’s time to start talking.”

Justin put his pizza down, wiped his face with his napkin, and leaned forward. Apparently he was ready to talk. “Okay, here’s the thing. I might not have been completely honest with you guys when I told you I first started getting those texts a month ago.”

“Yeah, we got that,” Alex said. She pressed her lips together as if to keep herself from saying anything else.

“This all started about a year ago. Do you guys remember the student teacher who covered some math classes last fall?”

We all shook our heads. I’d never been in any classes with Justin, and apparently no one else had, either.

“His name was Mr. Schultz, and he was hot. I’m telling you, just super super cute. He was finishing up his undergrad at SF State, getting a teaching certification. Anyway, he taught my class for a while, and we got to talking. Pretty soon we were meeting for coffee, then dinner, though always nowhere near here.”

“Wait, you mean—” Was I understanding him right? He made it all sound so casual.

“I think we both knew we were into each other right away,” he said. “And, I mean, he was only twenty-one. Five years is nothing.”

“So this is why the mystery boyfriend’s stayed a mystery,” Alex said. “A teacher!”

“I couldn’t tell anyone, not even you, Alex. He’d get in so much trouble. Which is how this all started. We were super careful when he was working at Marbella High, but after he got his degree and graduated, it didn’t seem like such a big deal. Someone must have seen us, though, someone who knew we’d met when he was my teacher, because late last year I started getting these text messages. Just like you guys—from a blocked number. Pics of me and Mark, holding hands, kissing—enough to cause problems. The person said he’d need some favors.”

Oh, I knew all about that.

“It was weird, though—at first the favors were just answers to questions about kids at school, and mostly gossipy stuff. Who was hooking up with who, who was in charge of getting booze for parties, that sort of thing. But then the questions got a little more specific. Who was doing drugs, who was getting them. I didn’t really know, but apparently I was supposed to find out.”

“So you basically educated this person about all the kids at school and what they were into,” Alex said. “You’re the reason Blocked Sender knows all this stuff about us? You told him our secrets?” When she’d teased him about the teacher, I’d thought maybe she wasn’t so angry with him anymore, but I’d never heard her sound so mad.