Six Little Secrets(25)

‘I know,’ Jackie said. ‘It’s the same shade I use every day. Which is why I didn’t think it would do this!’

‘Do you have yours with you?’ Q asked.

She squinted her eyes and pointed to her bag.

‘You need to wash that off,’ Teddy said.

‘Well, duh,’ Jackie said. Her voice lifted as if she were about to cry.

Zoe wouldn’t blame her.

Q produced a tissue from Jackie’s bag and handed it to her.

‘Thanks,’ she said, blotting her eyes.

‘Did the note say how long you needed to keep that on?’ Holly asked.

Zoe grabbed the note and read it twice over to see if there was any mention of it. ‘It says, “Leave on until I say so.”’

‘Ow,’ Jackie said, waving her hand in front of her head as if a breeze could stop the reaction.

‘It’s the temporary option,’ Q said. ‘It’s not going to be temporary if you keep it on.’

Tears sprang to Jackie’s eyes as the rash spread. ‘This is like really bad. I haven’t reacted like this since I switched my products. It feels so much worse than I remember.’

‘I think you should wash it off,’ Teddy said.

‘I’m not going to lose my turn,’ Jackie said determinedly.

‘You won’t lose,’ Q said. ‘I—we’ll make sure of it. I think you should go.’

‘How can she ask Mr. Curtis to go to the bathroom now?’ Holly asked. ‘He’s going to have questions.’

‘I have a hat if you want to borrow it?’ Q asked Jackie.

Jackie shook her head. ‘I’m not ruining my hair over this.’

Q opened his mouth to say something, but as if he thought better of it, he pressed his lips together.

‘He said we all get a break,’ Zoe said. ‘We’ll cover for you.’

Jackie nodded. ‘Thank you.’ She slunk toward the door and opened it as silently as possible.

Mr. Curtis remained unaware for the time being.

‘We should get back to work,’ Holly said. ‘In case Curtis comes around.’

‘Good idea,’ Zoe said. She picked up a slip of paper and turned it over. She wasn’t sure what she expected. A message for her? Another red letter? Jackie’s punishment had been given out, and her secret was safe. Zoe had hope that she would share the same fate. It wasn’t just her that would be affected if the secret came out.

‘Should we try and figure out who this Jacob person is?’ Cece asked.

‘That might help,’ Teddy said. ‘The name is the only clue we have. Maybe it will determine how we’re connected.’

‘I don’t know a Jacob,’ Zoe murmured.

‘My uncle’s name is Jacob,’ Cece said. ‘But that’s not helpful. He lives overseas. And I barely know the guy.’

Zoe glanced at Holly and caught the end of an eye roll. Cece was right, that tidbit into her life wasn’t helpful.

‘There’s a kid named Jacob in my Calculus class,’ Teddy said.

‘Jacob Thompson?’ Cece asked.

Teddy nodded.

‘He’s definitely not doing this,’ Holly said.

‘How do you know?’ Q asked.

‘Trust me,’ she said. ‘He may be book smart, but he’d never be able to pull this off.’

Zoe wondered how well Holly knew Jacob Thompson and if her reputation was more than a rumor.

‘Okay,’ Teddy said. ‘Any other Jacobs?’

Q cursed, and everyone looked at him.

‘What?’ Zoe asked.

‘This isn’t the same lipstick,’ he said, shoving his hair out of his face. ‘The shade is a little bit off, and the consistency is different.’

Q smeared both of the lipsticks on the sheet of paper that Teddy had used to write down the letters they found for Jackie’s task. He was right. Someone had tricked Jackie into using a different lipstick, causing the reaction on her forehead.

‘That’s terrible,’ Cece said. ‘What if her reaction had been even worse?’

‘I guess this person knew it would only cause a rash,’ Q said.

‘He did his research,’ Teddy said.

‘It has to be someone at school,’ Cece said. ‘That’s the only place where all of us are on a regular basis.’

‘I wish Curtis hadn’t taken away our phones,’ Q said. ‘Then we’d be able to look up Jacob online.’

‘What if there is more than one person involved?’ Teddy suggested.

The idea made the hairs on Zoe’s arm stick up. She tugged on her sleeves again, crossing her arms over her chest to keep her body warm.

‘It’s possible that the rest of the names involved will come up with the next tasks,’ Teddy said.

Zoe couldn’t imagine branding her body with someone’s name, permanently or temporary.

‘It makes sense,’ Teddy said. ‘We don’t have anything in common outside of school. But if you factor in people we all know, then the network of connections expands.’

‘You lost me at “factor,”’ Q said.

‘I understand,’ Zoe said.

‘I think I do too,’ Holly said.