Lovely Girls(46)

“Why did you do it?” Alex asked.

“Because the two of them having sex is wrong.” Callie tossed her hair back over her shoulders. “They shouldn’t get away with it.”

“You know Coach is probably going to go to jail, right? My mom and I watched it on the news last night. They said that if he’s convicted, he could get a twenty-year prison sentence.”

“He shouldn’t have slept with a student.”

“You’re right. But . . .” Alex hesitated. “From what I saw, Daphne didn’t seem unhappy about the situation.”

“Oh, I’m sure Daphne planned the whole thing. But it’s Coach’s fault if he let her ruin his life. He should have exercised some of that self-discipline he’s always telling us we need.”

“Isn’t that victim blaming?” Alex asked. “Or is it slut shaming? Either way, I don’t think you should say that.”

“But Daphne is a slut.” Callie laughed. It was a hard, mean sound. “And now she’s going to pay for it.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to Daphne.”

“Are you sure about that? This is a small town. From now on, Daphne will be known as the girl who slept with her tennis coach. The video’s already been posted online. Even if it gets taken down, someone will just put it up again. It’s going to follow her forever. No matter where she goes or what she does, whenever someone googles her, they’ll find that video. The internet is forever.”

“Why do you hate her so much?” Alex asked. “She was your best friend, like, five minutes ago.”

“Daphne isn’t capable of being a real friend. The only person she’s ever cared about is herself. I think I’ve known that for a long time.”

“Because of Coach?”

Callie shrugged. “Let’s just say this whole situation opened my eyes. Daphne’s not a good person. And she deserves everything that’s coming her way.”

“I wonder if they’ll cancel the rest of the tennis season. My mom said they’re trying to find a replacement coach, but we’ve already missed one match.”

“No idea. I don’t really care either way. I’m just focusing on getting my college applications finished so I can get away from this toxic town and all of the toxic people that live in it.”

“I don’t get you,” Alex said. “I can’t wait to go to college, too, but everyone here hates me. You don’t have that problem. Everyone likes you.”

Callie frowned, the corners of her pink lip-glossed mouth curving down. “Do they? I don’t think that’s true. I think they suck up to me because they’re afraid of Daphne. Or they were afraid before this happened. Where are you applying to?”

“NYU, Boston University, Tufts. You?”

“You’re lucky you can go out of state. I have to go to a state school, so hopefully UF or FSU. As far away from here as I can get.”

“That’s definitely the goal,” Alex agreed.

“There will be life after Shoreham High. Thank God.” Callie stood, shouldering her floral print backpack. “I’m going to head home. I have a ton of homework to get through, and Daphne wants me to meet her later.”

“Wait, what? I thought you just said you weren’t going to hang out with her anymore.”

“Oh, I’m not. But she texted me this morning and asked me to meet her tonight. She probably wants to find out what I know about the video.”

“I’m sure she thinks I was the one who sent it to everyone,” Alex said.

“Yeah, Daph’s going to freak out when she finds out it was me. I can’t wait to see the expression on her face.” Callie grinned. “Why are you making that face? You should be glad I’m going to tell her the truth. Who knows, she might even leave you alone once she finds out. I know she thinks you’re the one who sent her those texts.”

“Did you send those to her?”

“No, that wasn’t me. I don’t know who sent them. A lot of people hate Daphne. It could be literally anyone.”

“Is it weird I kind of feel sorry for her?” Alex asked.

“Yep. Because she wouldn’t hesitate to make your life miserable, and she wouldn’t feel the least bit sorry about it. She’d enjoy it because she’s a terrible person. Anyway, I’m going to get it over with tonight.”

“Get what over with?”

“The breakup.” Callie smiled thinly. “That’s what it is, isn’t it? We’re not going to make up, so we’ll break up. And we’ve been best friends since we were babies.”

“You don’t have to stop being friends with her,” Alex said.

“That’s exactly what I have to do.”

Callie turned to leave.

“Wait,” Alex said.

“What?”

“Where are you meeting her?”

“At Isle Beach tonight at midnight. I’m going to have to sneak out, but hopefully my mom won’t notice. She’s usually asleep by ten, so I should be okay.”

“I think it’s a bad idea.”

Callie tipped her head to one side. “Why? We go there all the time.”

“When you were friends,” Alex pointed out. “Not after you sent a video of her having sex with Coach to everyone in the school.”