A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd #1)(52)

When I left Tray’s car and went into the house earlier, I played nice. I stood around. I joined in with the fake banter, fake smiles, and fake politeness. The truth was that I wanted to tear upstairs and demand to know if it was true. I held back and when the girls started to leave, I shook my head. No, I didn’t need a ride. Yes, Tray was picking me up. Yes, it was wonderful. Yes, we were together. I had frowned as I said that, but he did kiss me in front of everyone. I knew it meant something, even though there’d been no actual conversation between us.
That could wait. Finding out Mandy’s secret was my priority now, and with that thought, I reached forward and opened her door. It swung open, showing her pink picture frames, her desk, her pink laptop, and her queen size bed with its beige bedspread. She had her own bathroom attached to her bedroom. That was where I headed first. Pushing past the nagging feeling that I was violating her trust, my jaw firmed. My hands clenched.
I began searching.
As I did, the storm of emotion inside of me calmed. The anxiety, the fear, the tension, the need to demand answers—all of that silenced, and as I opened her bathroom cabinets, my hands didn’t shake. I moved with purpose. Each drawer was looked through. Underneath the drawers were explored. On top of her mirrors, then every corner in the room was felt for any loose tiles or framing. I felt inside her Kleenex boxes, on the inside of empty toilet paper rolls. I lifted her garbage, then took the bag out to make sure nothing was hidden beneath it. I ran my fingers over every dip and turn of the toilet, feeling the screws to make sure they weren’t loosened.
Nothing.
The closet was next. Thick hangers were examined to make sure nothing was taped to the opposite side of it. I lifted the closet dowel itself and ran a hand over the end, no opening had been carved into it to hide drugs. Each shoe box. All of it. Every pocket, every inch inside of her clothes, under the soles of her shoes, there was no space unexplored by me.
I felt the door frames and doors themselves, making sure no room was carved out. The knobs were tested to make sure they weren’t loose. I found nothing so I turned to the bedroom.
Brian hid his drugs in a small box under a patch of carpet. I wondered if Mandy would do the same, so I looked at the corners of the room, making sure there was no slack in the carpet. There was none. She couldn’t lift any corner of it. The bed was next. Each blanket and sheet was lifted, then investigated. The pillow case and pillow were too. Then I checked the mattress, still nothing, so I flipped it over. Nothing was taped to the underside of it. I moved that aside and rested it against the wall, then turned and studied the bed frame. Nothing.
After I put it all back and remade her bed, I went to the desk. Nothing. Her dresser was last and I found nothing there.
I sat in the middle of her room. It was all back in place. Each picture frame was adjusted exactly how she left it. She would have no idea how deep her room had been searched by me. Maybe it wasn’t true. Maybe Jennica and Amber were being spiteful and jealous, but even as I thought that, I shook my head. “No, it can’t be.” They weren’t lying to each other. They were telling the truth. I had heard it in their voices. They didn’t think anyone could overhear them. The guys that were between us didn’t care and they knew that. That meant it was true. Mandy had a stash. I knew it.
My phone buzzed in my pocket then, and I looked at it. It was a text from Tray: Outside. Take your time.
I sent a reply to Tray, telling him I’d be out in five minutes. As it sent, I stood. I needed to grab my things, but when I turned for the door, a shadow behind her curtain caught my eye. They were light-colored, thin enough to let some light through, but as I went closer, I saw it. A small box was pushed in the corner. The words ‘PRIVATE’ were on top in pink, glittery letters. A lock was attached to it, but I used a bobby pin I found in the bathroom and popped it open within seconds. Lifting the lid, there were three rows of prescription pills. As I looked through them, I read the labels. Ritalin, Vicodin, Xanax.
A heaviness settled over me. It had been hovering over my head as I searched the room, but it now rested on my shoulders. Studying the bottle, I notice that Dr. Parsons prescribed each bottle to her. Whether he was aware of it or not, her own father was her drug dealer. I had no idea how to handle this. If it had been Brian, I would’ve packed up his bag and taken him straight there. The idea of waiting and talking it out with Shelly and Kevin wasn’t an option. It wouldn’t get done. Whatever was going on with this family, I couldn’t keep lying to myself. I wanted a family. I wanted something better, and they had given it to me, but this was wrong. They were never home.
I packed a bag for Mandy. I put enough clothes and toiletries in it to last a week, then I tucked it in my room. Mandy was going to rehab tomorrow, whether she wanted to go or not. Brian had denied his problem. He had accused me of having the problem. He yelled. He pounded the walls. He broke chairs. Then he broke and started to plead. There were tears every time, but I made him go in every single time. He had to. So did Mandy. Whether this family wanted me or not, I loved her. I would do what I needed to take care of my sister, even if it meant protecting her against herself.
As I got into the car, I didn’t say anything.
He was studying me. Then he asked, “Are you okay?”
I shook my head. “I will be.” And I would.
*

Rickets’ House was busy like it always was. Cars filled the parking lot and were lined up on one side of the driveway. Groups of people were walking to the party as we passed. One guy signaled at Tray and said, “The lot’s full, but you can try, man.”