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I started to turn away, my legs shaking so badly I could hardly even stand. That was when I spotted my mother. She was standing in the doorway with Gray, having just come back from the bathroom or from outside. Her hand was over her mouth, and she looked like she was about to pass out, burst into tears, or worse. I had to get to her.
“All right. That’s enough.”
I froze. The room—the tables, the balloons, the waiters—everything in front of me tilted. That was Jake’s voice. And it was coming through the speakers. Slowly, I turned around to look at the screen. The camera whirled, and there he was, clear as day. Jake reached out, took the camera, and the screen went black.
My whole body started to shake. He had been there. Jake was there. He’d seen my father. He’d seen him doing a minimum-wage job in a dirty apron getting humiliated by a bunch of kids. Everyone in the video had been wearing winter coats, which meant it was taken over the winter. Jake was there. He’d known for weeks and weeks where my father was. And he hadn’t told me.
The lights came up. Every single set of eyes in the room was trained on me. I looked down at Jake. He looked like he wanted to die.
“You knew?” I said, my voice trembling. “You knew?”
“Ally, I—”
“Don’t attack him,” Sha
“Sha
Sha
“How could you do this?” Chloe asked, standing up from the table.
“She deserves it, Chloe, trust me,” Sha
I took a step back, but my legs were so weak I almost went down. I caught myself on the back of someone’s chair. Jake got up and reached for me, but I batted his arm away. My vision was blurred by tears. I didn’t know what to do, who to yell at, which way to go. All I knew was, I’d just seen my dad for the first time in two years. He was alive. He was working somewhere nearby. Yet he’d never bothered to contact us.
And everyone I knew had this information months ago.
“No. No. There was no reason for you to do this,” Chloe said, shaking her head. She turned to me. “Ally, I’m so sorry. We—”
“She hooked up with Hammond,” Sha
I closed my eyes. Gasps everywhere. I couldn’t take much more of this. My heart and brain were still trying to process seeing my dad—being betrayed by Jake—and now this? Why? Why was she doing this to me?
“What?” Chloe said.
“The night she moved away,” Sha
Hammond looked queasy. “How did you—”
“I walked in on you guys. I saw everything,” Sha
Chloe’s shoulders curled. “Hammond? You didn’t.”
“It was nothing, Chlo,” he said, getting up. “It was a million years ago. We just—”
“Stop.” Tears sprang to Chloe’s eyes. She turned and shakily started for the door. I automatically went after her.
“Chloe. Wait. Let me—”
She whirled around.
“Don’t,” she said quietly through her teeth. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me.” She looked away for a moment, her chin trembling. “And all this time I’ve been defending you. . . .”
“Chloe, please.”
She took a deep breath and looked around, taking in the rapt audience. Chloe hated scenes, and here she was, smack in the middle of a huge one.
“I have to go,” she said, drawing herself up straight. “Do not follow me.”
And she was gone. Watching her retreat, my fingers curled into fists. As I turned to face the dance floor, I knew that everyone at all twenty tables was now focused, again, on me. What were they thinking? Did they feel sorry for me because of the video, or did they think I’d gotten what I deserved? Did they think Sha
And something inside me snapped. She was waiting for me to turn on my Payless heels and run, but she was about to be disappointed. I was not weak. I was not the girl who crawled away from scandal in the dead of night. That was not me. Not anymore.
“Ally, honey.” It was my mom, standing just behind me. “I think it’s time to go.”
“No,” I said firmly. “No. Sha
I looked Sha
“Wow. You really showed me, didn’t you?” I said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “But guess what? I’ll get over this stupid prank.” It wasn’t just a prank. It was way more than that. And at the moment, it didn’t feel like I would ever get over it, but she didn’t need to know that. “The person you really just hurt was Chloe.”
There was a flicker of doubt in Sha
“The truth. Interesting,” I said. “I’ve got a piece of truth I could share right now, too, right?” I glanced past her at her parents for good measure. “Actually, there are a few interesting facts I could spill right now if I wanted to.”
Sha
“But I won’t,” I said, “because even though I’m a Norm now, I’m a better person than you’ll ever be.”
Sha
“Ally—”
The very sound of his voice brought a sob into my throat. “No,” I croaked. “You don’t get to talk to me.” I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “Have a nice summer, Jake.”
I turned around and looked at my mother. Her eyes were sad, confused, but I could tell she was determined to hold it together. I took a deep breath and swallowed back all my emotion.
“Come on, Mom,” I said clearly. “Let’s get out of here.”
jake
The DJ started up the music again. I guess he was trying to distract everyone from what had just happened. But for a long moment, no one moved. Except Sha
“Are you okay?” Faith asked me, standing up.
I blinked. “What the hell just happened?”
“For whatever it’s worth . . . I didn’t know Sha
I swallowed hard. Sha
“I’ll be right back.” I went after Sha
“Sha
She stopped and turned around slowly. Her whole body was tense with anger.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” I blurted, barely containing my fury.
Sha