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On the morning of June 4, Kat had picked up Josie for school as usual. They needed to be there early, for a run-through of a cheer routine that would be performed at the last-day-for-seniors rally. They were in Kat’s car-a used Mercedes that her father had justified on the grounds that it was safe-when her cell phone buzzed. Dutiful Kat, however, had promised her father she would never dial and drive, so she asked Josie to grab it.
“It’s a text message,” Josie said. “From Perri. She wants us to meet her in the north wing girls, second floor.”
The “us” was a little presumptuous. The text message had been for Kat alone. Josie tried to rationalize that Perri had to know that Josie and Kat would arrive at school together.
“Perri,” Kat said, “can go fuck herself.”
Josie had never heard Kat say anything so blunt, so naked. Oh, sometimes late at night-sitting by the reservoir, allowing themselves a beer or two just to be companionable with their jock friends-Kat might have let a profanity fly. But it was unusual.
“What if it’s important?”
“Believe me, it’s not. Just more drama from the drama queen.”
“Please, Kat.” Josie seldom argued with Kat, but she missed Perri, missed the three of them. It would be so sweet if they could reconcile before graduation. “Please go see her?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll go. I want to hear what she has to say.”
“No.” Kat sounded almost panicky at the thought. “Okay, we’ll both go. But I’m telling you, she’s crazy. You can’t believe anything she says.”
The bathroom was empty when they arrived, with no sign of Perri.
“See?” Kat said, brushing her hair and then applying lipstick. “Just more Perri drama.”
Josie tried one of the stalls. The door was locked, but when she glanced beneath the door, she didn’t see any feet. The one next to it had an out-of-service sign taped to it. She was moving down the row, to the third and final stall, when Perri came into the bathroom.
This part happened just as Josie had said. Perri locked the door and removed a gun from her knapsack, an orange-and-black JanSport she hadn’t carried all year. And yes, Josie knew what knapsack Perri carried, noticed what she wore, even what she had for lunch as she hunkered in a corner of the cafeteria with Da
But she never pointed the gun at Kat, not on purpose. She held it to her own head.
“I’m going to kill myself, Kat. If you won’t admit what you did, I’m going to kill myself right here in front of you and Josie and leave you to explain it. I’ve decided I’m willing to sacrifice myself rather than let you go on pretending you’re so i
Kat had tried, for a moment, to keep her back to Perri, to maintain eye contact only with her own reflection. But when Perri placed the gun against her own temple, Kat turned and faced her.
“Perri…” Her voice was-But Josie could not put her finger on what Kat’s voice conveyed. Concern? Yes. Fear? No. Kat was never scared. Perhaps she thought it was a prop gun, stolen from the drama department. The thought had occurred to Josie, too. This was not real. It could not be. Perri was playacting.
“Go ahead. Tell Josie. Tell her how you tried, for once, to concoct your own scheme. You told Seth Raskin to go to the Snyders’ farm. You told him to do something that would scare Bi
“I didn’t. I told you that I had nothing to do with it.”
Perri had been carrying her knapsack over her left shoulder. She put it down now but continued to hold the gun to her temple. “No, I can’t prove anything. Which is why you need to confess once and for all.”
“I never asked them to do anything. Seth asked me why I was upset one day, and I told him. That was all. I didn’t ask him to do anything about it.”
“You never ask anyone for anything. You don’t have to. You never did. Ever since we were kids, people have tried to guess what you wanted and do it before you asked. Everyone thinks it’s such a goddamn privilege, taking care of Kat Hartigan.”
“You’re crazy.”
Josie, almost without noticing, had backed herself against the stall in the corner. She was at once fascinated and repelled, incapable of breaking her gaze, desperate to disappear.
“If crazy is being willing to die for something you believe in, for a principle, then I’m that crazy, Kat. Agree to apologize to Bi
“I didn’t do anything to Bi
“It’s a good thing she got financial aid, given that those pigs were going to be auctioned for her college fund. Who was the anonymous donor who stepped forward and made restitution for the animals anyway? Your father?”
“Leave my father out of this.” Kat had always been hard to anger, but any mention of her parents brought this edge to her voice.
“Why? Your father’s always inserting himself into your life. Making sure you don’t get zoned into the bad middle school. Practically bribing Mrs. Paulson to change the class-ranking system for your benefit. Mr. Delacorte even offered Bi
“Shut up,” Kat said. “My dad didn’t do anything.”
“Your dad didn’t do anything. You didn’t do anything. No one in your family ever does anything. Unless it’s noble and visionary, of course. Well, I’m going to do something, Kat. I’m going to pull this trigger and leave you and Josie to answer all the questions. Do you think Josie will take your side now, now that she knows? Let’s see.”
Perri and Kat turned to Josie, who was struck dumb. She did not want to be the referee in this ugly fight. She did not want to believe what Perri said, yet she could see that it explained so much. The Delacortes-Perri had gone to work for them this fall, and it was this fall that she had become so cold and odd toward Kat.
Even as she tried to process all Perri had said, the third stall banged open and Bi
“Stop it,” Bi
She had a cell phone in one hand, which she threw to the tiled floor with such force that its battery pack fell off. The body of the phone skidded on the bathroom’s slick tiles, and Bi
Perri tried to hold the gun away from Bi