All These Things I've Done (Birthright #1)(83)

That night, I dreamed of Teen Crime Scene Enrichment Summer. I dreamed of Scarlet in my bedroom, helping me decide what to pack. I dreamed of Natty and Leo and Win waving goodbye to me at the train station. I dreamed of my roommate, a skinny red-haired girl, offering me my pick of bunks. I dreamed of white chalk lines on the pavement and evidence in neat plastic bags. I dreamed of ice cream socials and excursions to museums, real ones with paintings inside. How old-fashioned these trips were, but still kind of fun. Best of all, I dreamed of all the people I would meet, how none of them would know anything about me. In New York, I was Anya Balanchine, daughter of a slain crime boss, but outside the state my family was far less famous. Hadn’t Nana once mentioned some other Balanchine from a century back? A choreographer, maybe? A dancer? Yes, I would say I was related to that one. ‘I’m Anya Balanchine. I come from a long line of ballerinas.’

I could see it all so clearly.

X V I I I. i am betrayed

THE NEXT DAY, Scarlet and I were getting changed after fencing when she asked me about Win’s and my plans for the prom. ‘Do you think you guys will go?’

I told her that we hadn’t discussed it yet, but I didn’t see why not. In general, Win liked that sort of thing. And since Fall Formal had been such a debacle, I was planning on asking him this time. ‘Why?’

‘Well, it’s only a month off, and I’m on the junior planning committee, so . . .’ Her voice trailed off. ‘And the thing is, someone asked me,’ Scarlet said.

‘Already? That’s great!’ I kissed her on the cheek. ‘Don’t tell me. You got back with Garrett Liu.’

‘No . . .’ she said.

‘Who is it?’ I teased. ‘Is it someone who goes to our school? Or some sexy older man?’

She didn’t say anything.

‘Who, Scarlet?’ The longer she didn’t speak, the more it began to occur to me what (or rather who) her silence might mean. ‘You can’t mean—’

‘It’s a friends thing. And we’ve been thrown together so much since he’s come back to school. It isn’t romantic. Obviously. Gable’s just someone to go with.’

There. She’d said the name.

‘Scarlet, you can’t! He’s awful. He’s completely awful,’ I sputtered. I shook my head. There were no words. I couldn’t even look at her.

‘He’s changed, I swear. You’ve seen Gable. He’s different from how he once was. How could he not be? After what happened to him, I mean. He lost his foot, Annie. I . . . I feel sorry for him, I guess.’

‘Is that it?’ I asked. ‘You feel sorry for him?’

‘I . . . Look, it’s not like I’m Miss Popularity myself. No one ever asks me anywhere. They think I’m the . . . weird drama girl. Or Anya Balanchine’s odd friend. I might be silly, but I know what people say. And what do you care anyway? You have Win.’

‘Scarlet, you know that’s not the point! The point is’ – what was the point? – ‘the point is, we’re talking about the boy who practically tried to rape me the night before school started.’

‘I asked him about that. He said you misunderstood—’

‘I did not misunderstand!’

‘Listen a second, would you? He said you misunderstood, but only a little. That he wanted to have sex with you, but that he would never have forced himself on you, even if Leo hadn’t shown up. Either way, he knows he was wrong. He was in the wrong. He shouldn’t have gone into your bedroom that night. He shouldn’t have said the things he said after either. He knew you were a good Catholic girl – that’s what he said, Annie, “a good Catholic girl” – and that he never should have put you in that position. He knows he took advantage of your situation. He knows, Annie. And he’s sorry. We spent hours talking about what happened between you two. I couldn’t even consider going with him if I didn’t believe he was really and truly contrite.’

‘He’s lying, Scarlet. He’s manipulating you.’ I tried to control my breathing. I was dangerously close to saying or doing something awful to Scarlet, and despite her current betrayal, she had been a very good friend to me.

‘There’s one other thing I promised not to tell you this, but his parents wanted to sue your family over Gable’s poisoning. But Gable talked them out of it. He said it was his fault for asking for the chocolate. He took all the blame and told them that the rest was an unfortunate accident—’

‘It was an accident! How noble of him, Scarlet, admitting that what was an accident was an accident!’

‘Yes, but Gable had and has a lot of medical bills, so even though it was his own gluttony that led to his poisoning—’

I interrupted her. ‘Listen to me, Scarlet. If you go to prom with Gable Arsley, we can’t be friends any more.’

Scarlet shook her head. Her eyes filled with tears. ‘Gable said you would say that, but I thought he was wrong. Your life has been hard, but you are not the only person in the world who suffers, Annie. Gable has been suffering. All you have to do is open your eyes and look at him to see how much.’ She took a deep breath. ‘People do change.’

‘Gable Arsley has not changed.’

‘I was talking about me. I love you, Annie. I love your whole family. I love Leo and Natty and I would do anything for you, but I want to do something for me for a change.’