Pretty Girls Dancing(54)
She paused at the bottom of the stairway. But there had been one thing her sister hadn’t shared. Something major. Which underscored the fact that Kelsey had had secrets Janie never knew about.
Taking a breath, she slid the backpack down one arm and left it next to the stairs before walking into the family room.
Cole was standing in front of the fireplace, hands shoved in the pockets of his Buckeyes jacket, studying the family pictures arranged on the mantel. Her chest constricted with a familiar tightness. She took a long, steady breath. Exhaled slowly. Repeated the exercise before asking, “What are you doing here?”
He turned. His smile flickered and then fell away. “Hey. Just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
“I don’t know why.” The words burned as she forced them out. Deep breathing didn’t help. A thousand reasons for his presence here were racketing around her brain. The fact that most were ridiculous and paranoid didn’t quell their formation. She knew better than to allow any one of them to settle and take hold. Just get through it.
“I figured it’d be easier for you to talk at home.” For the first time, he looked uncertain. He reached up to push his shaggy brown hair from his eyes. “And I thought maybe you wouldn’t want anyone to see us together at school.”
The hint of uncertainty in the words had her studying him more carefully. It was unexpected. He’d seemed plenty sure of himself up until now. But they hadn’t had a real conversation, she realized suddenly. Just online.
“I couldn’t figure out why you were so mad,” he continued. “You know. Before. But then I thought about it and figured maybe you thought I was trying to set you up. Give you the material to bring down Heather Miller and then have you take the fall for it.”
She took a few more steps into the room. Came to a halt behind the couch. “Weren’t you?”
He shook his head violently enough to have his hair flying. “No. I was . . . I dunno. Trying to apologize, I guess.”
Janie blinked. This whole scene was getting more bizarre by the moment. “For changing Heather’s grades?”
“What?” His puzzlement appeared genuine. “Shit, she’s got the teachers at that school so buffaloed, all she has to do is show up and they give her a gold star. No, I . . .” His gaze slid away as his voice trailed off. After a moment, he tried again. “Last spring. I took her SATs for her.”
Janie leaned against the couch, her knees going suddenly weak. “How? You were . . .”
“Kicked out. Yeah. Didn’t mean I couldn’t sign up to take it. Ferin put us in touch. You know the two of them are a thing?” She could only nod. “Humphries monitors the test. He’s not exactly observant. Just took a little sleight of hand to switch answer forms.”
Of all the possible reasons she’d imagined for his appearance here today, this one hadn’t occurred to her. “Why tell me? I could turn you in.”
“You won’t.” He cocked a brow at her expression. “You wouldn’t use that picture against Heather, and I figure you hate her a lot more than you do me. When I switched schools last year . . . well, let’s just say I was pissed off and not thinking things through. I did some dumb stuff.”
“You were pissed about moving?” Most kids their age would be upset at being forced to switch schools so close to graduating.
He regarded her silently, as if trying to decide something. Finally, he responded. “My brother was killed almost two years ago. Half brother really, but we were raised together since we were eleven. Drunk driver who hit the car blew nearly three times the legal limit. Walked with no more than probation.” Janie recognized the bitterness in his tone. She’d lived it. “I just wanted him to pay. But he never will. Guess you know about that.”
She ignored the reference to Kelsey. “What do you want Heather Miller to pay for?”
His gaze met hers. “I’ve been doing some digging. Almost sure she’s the one who tipped the school off about my operation last year. She could have found out from Ferin. He and I . . . ah . . . traded services for a while. Then she offered me two hundred bucks to take the SAT for her, because by then I was the safest bet in the world. I mean, who would believe me if I ever tried to rat her out? Assuming I could, without implicating myself. Anyway”—he shrugged—“the score I got her is a few points higher than yours. And I started thinking, that might mean the bitch beats you out of scholarships. Awards and whatnot, while she gets by scot-free. Just like the bastard who killed my brother.”
Traded services. Meaning last year Ferin supplied illegals to him. She didn’t ask how he knew her SAT score. From what she’d observed, he pretty well walked through the school server at will. There was a quick burst of temper, one that was short-lived when a snippet from her altercation with Heather floated across her mind.
I hope you realize you’ll have to do a verbal presentation. The days of you getting a free pass because of your poor dead sister are almost over. Being certain that Heather was cheating her way into the university of her choice burned. But Janie couldn’t argue with the truth. She’d be at a disadvantage in any case because of her anxiety. No amount of practice would magically gift her with an ease for social discourse. And that couldn’t be blamed on Heather Miller.
“Sometimes cheaters win.” Her voice was flat, her fingers clenched on the top of the couch. “Sometimes crimes aren’t solved. And sometimes people don’t pay for what they’ve done. Getting high doesn’t change that.” Janie was the last one to pretend she had the answers. But she knew that they weren’t found in a vodka bottle. They didn’t coincide with the number of pills popped. Her mother was living proof of that.