Six Little Secrets(13)

‘That is gross,’ Jackie said when Zoe finished.

Zoe slid the paper back to Cece then rubbed her hands on her pants as if her fingers were covered with dirt.

Cece swallowed and nodded. ‘I’m not doing it.’

‘Who are the “two who matter most”?’ Holly asked.

Cece shrugged. ‘Probably my parents.’

‘It’s not like you have a boyfriend,’ Q remarked.

Cece shot him a look.

‘What?’ Q asked. ‘Everyone was thinking it. You’re only with girls all the time. I mean, I’m all for some girl-on-girl action but don’t get mad because we’ve noticed.’

‘I’ve never noticed,’ Teddy said.

Cece blinked at him.

‘What if the other “moment” is worse?’ Holly asked. ‘And this person sends something to your parents?’

‘Worse than showing everyone my naked body online?’ Cece asked. ‘No, thanks. I’ve done nothing wrong. This person is probably just jealous of me.’

Zoe rolled her eyes. She knew Cece was a snob but did she think someone would put this whole thing together because he or she was jealous of her?

‘Are we sure this isn’t Mr. Curtis?’ Jackie asked the group. ‘As I said, I’m pretty sure he likes younger girls.’

‘Why would Mr. Curtis care about what’s in Teddy’s bank account?’ Zoe asked Jackie.

The cheerleader huffed and crossed her arms. ‘I don’t see you having another theory.’

Zoe didn’t have another one. None of this made sense. She knew it wasn’t Mr. Curtis, though.

‘You were already here when we came in,’ Cece said to Zoe. Her eyes fell on everyone else as if drawing each of them in on her theory.

‘You think I did this?’ Zoe asked.

‘You keep defending Mr. Curtis,’ Cece added.

‘Just because I don’t think our teacher is involved doesn’t mean I am,’ Zoe said. How had this all come crashing down on her? She should have kept her mouth shut like she always did.

‘I didn’t know about Teddy’s account—’ Zoe said.

‘A likely story,’ Q said, interrupting Zoe. ‘Everyone knows you have a crush on him.’

Zoe scoffed. ‘What?’

Zoe glanced at Teddy. Her cheeks burned.

‘You know I wouldn’t have done this,’ she said to Teddy. ‘Tell them.’

Teddy was far away in his thoughts.

‘Teddy!’ Zoe said.

He blinked a few times, coming back to the present. ‘It’s not Zoe.’

‘See,’ Zoe said, thrusting her hand out to the rest of them.

‘That proves nothing,’ Jackie said. ‘Maybe you’re in it together?’

‘That makes no sense,’ Teddy said.

‘Why would I want to see Cece naked?’ Zoe said with a grimace.

‘Maybe you swing both ways?’ Q asked.

Zoe fisted her hands in her lap. Why did Q have to fan this flame?

‘We’re all here for a reason,’ Q said. Even though he spoke to the group, his eyes focused on Teddy.

‘What are you looking at?’ Teddy asked.

‘It doesn’t add up,’ Q said. ‘You’re obviously hiding something.’

Teddy looked at the rest of the group. ‘I didn’t do this.’

‘How did you get the money?’ Q asked. ‘I’ve never seen you do anything but study. Where do you work?’

Teddy’s shoulders heaved.

Why was he getting so upset?

‘Come on, Teddy,’ Q pressed. ‘The more you hide, the guiltier you look.’

Teddy shook his head, refusing to talk.

‘Now I’m curious,’ Jackie said with a wry smile. ‘Tell us.’

‘Who says it’s someone in this room?’ Holly said. ‘We were all here when he spoke over the intercom.’

‘Except for Mr. Curtis,’ Jackie said, still sticking with her theory.

‘Why are you so obsessed with him?’ Holly asked.

Jackie worked her jaw. ‘He’s the only other person in this building, loser.’

‘Stop being such an attention whore,’ Holly said.

Jackie opened her mouth to say something, but Q interrupted her.

‘What about Lurch?’ Q asked.

Cece wrinkled her nose. ‘Lurch?’

‘Yeah,’ Q said. ‘The janitor. We passed him on the way in.’

‘His name is Victor,’ Zoe said, proving her theory that most of the guys she went to school with were jerks. He didn’t deserve a nickname like that.

‘Are you two in on this together?’ Q said, waggling his eyebrows.

Just because she had the decency to know his name? Zoe seethed. But she held her tongue. Every time she opened her mouth, another accusation flew her way.

‘We need to take a step back and assess the situation,’ Teddy said. ‘This person brought us here for a reason. We need to find out what we all have in common. Then we might be able to figure this out.’

‘What would we have in common?’ Cece asked. ‘Other than going to the same school?’

‘We have some classes together,’ Zoe offered.