One of Us is Lying(5)
Ms. Grayson’s hands flutter around her throat. “Goodness, I don’t suppose so. You told the paramedics everything? Simon … took a drink of water and collapsed?” Bronwyn and Cooper both nod. “It’s so strange. He has a peanut allergy, of course, but … you’re sure he didn’t eat anything?”
Cooper gives me my phone and runs a hand through his neatly cropped sandy hair. “I don’t think so. He just drank a cup of water an’ fell over.”
“Maybe it was something he had with lunch,” Ms. Grayson says. “It’s possible he had a delayed reaction.” She looks around the room, her eyes settling on Simon’s discarded cup on the floor. “I suppose we should put this aside,” she says, brushing past Bronwyn to pick it up. “Somebody might want to look at it.”
“I want to go,” I burst out, swiping at the tears on my cheeks. I can’t stand being in this room another second.
“Okay if I help her?” Cooper asks, and Ms. Grayson nods. “Should I come back?”
“No, that’s all right, Cooper. I’m sure they’ll call you if they need you. Go home and try to get back to normal. Simon’s in good hands now.” She leans in a little closer, her tone softening. “I am so sorry. That must have been awful.”
She’s mostly looking at Cooper, though. There’s not a female teacher at Bayview who can resist his all-American charm.
Cooper keeps an arm around me on the way out. It’s nice. I don’t have brothers, but if I did, I imagine this is how they’d prop you up when you felt sick. Jake wouldn’t like most of his friends being this close to me, but Cooper’s fine. He’s a gentleman. I lean into him as we pass posters for last week’s homecoming dance that haven’t been taken down yet. Cooper pushes the front door open, and there, thank God, is Jake.
I collapse into his arms, and for a second, everything’s okay. I’ll never forget seeing Jake for the first time, freshman year: he had a mouth full of braces and hadn’t gotten tall or broad-shouldered yet, but I took one look at his dimples and summer sky–blue eyes and knew. He was the one for me. It’s just a bonus he turned out beautiful.
He strokes my hair while Cooper explains in a low voice what happened. “God, Ads,” Jake says. “That’s awful. Let’s get you home.”
Cooper leaves on his own, and I’m suddenly sorry I didn’t do more for him. I can tell by his voice he’s as freaked out as I am, just hiding it better. But Cooper’s so golden, he can handle anything. His girlfriend, Keely, is one of my best friends, and the kind of girl who does everything right. She’ll know exactly how to help. Way better than me.
I settle myself into Jake’s car and watch the town blur past as he drives a little too fast. I live only a mile from school, and the drive is short, but I’m bracing myself for my mother’s reaction because I’m positive she’ll have heard. Her communication channels are mysterious but foolproof, and sure enough she’s standing on our front porch as Jake pulls into the driveway. I can read her mood even though the Botox froze her expressions long ago.
I wait until Jake opens my door to climb out of the car, fitting myself under his arm like always. My older sister, Ashton, likes to joke that I’m one of those barnacles that would die without its host. It’s not actually so funny.
“Adelaide!” My mother’s concern is theatrical. She stretches out a hand as we make our way up the steps and strokes my free arm. “Tell me what happened.”
I don’t want to. Especially not with Mom’s boyfriend lurking in the doorway behind her, pretending his curiosity is actual concern. Justin is twelve years younger than my mother, which makes him five years younger than her second husband, and fifteen years younger than my dad. At the rate she’s going, she’ll date Jake next.
“It’s fine,” I mutter, ducking past them. “I’m fine.”
“Hey, Mrs. Calloway,” Jake says. Mom uses her second husband’s last name, not my dad’s. “I’m going to take Addy to her room. The whole thing was awful. I can tell you about it after I get her settled.” It always amazes me how Jake talks to my mother, like they’re peers.
And she lets him get away with it. Likes it. “Of course,” she simpers.
My mother thinks Jake’s too good for me. She’s been telling me that since sophomore year when he got super hot and I stayed the same. Mom used to enter Ashton and me into beauty pageants when we were little, always with the same results for both of us: second runner-up. Homecoming princess, not queen. Not bad, but not good enough to attract and keep the kind of man who can take care of you for life.
I’m not sure if that’s ever been stated as a goal or anything, but it’s what we’re supposed to do. My mother failed. Ashton’s failing in her two-year marriage with a husband who’s dropped out of law school and barely spends any time with her. Something about the Prentiss girls doesn’t stick.
“Sorry,” I murmur to Jake as we head upstairs. “I didn’t handle this well. You should’ve seen Bronwyn and Cooper. They were great. And Nate—my God. I never thought I’d see Nate Macauley take charge that way. I was the only one who was useless.”
“Shhh, don’t talk like that,” Jake says into my hair. “It’s not true.”