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“Come with me.” I clamp a hand around Je
“Where are you going?” she demands. “I have an advisory meeting with Principal Haverford.”
“It can wait.”
“But I need his approval—”
“Seriously, Je
That silences her protests.
Thankfully the halls are mostly empty. Half of the student body is probably eating, either in the cafeteria or in some secret spot around campus. The rest are in study sessions or advisor meetings. No one is there to see me physically drag Je
Assault. Kidnapping. Forced socializing at lunchtime. That probably wouldn’t look good on my permanent record.
We come up on Tru from behind, so he doesn’t see who I have in tow.
“Hey, what took you so—” He sees Je
“I don’t think Je
“What? Me? No,” Je
I ignore her. “I think it’s Aimeigh.”
“You think it’s…” His question trails off, and I can see him sliding the puzzle pieces into place.
Tru has known her longer than me. How can he not know what she’s done? He must have seen things, heard things. He’s just too good-hearted to want to think something so terrible of his friend.
“You think what is Aimeigh?” Je
“But why?” Tru asks. “Why would she do it?”
“To get me out of the way for the scholarship competition,” I explain. I nod at Je
“You think it’s Aimeigh what?” Je
Maybe it does.
“Who spread red plastic all over the front of the school. Got Jaq suspended. Set up Mira for cheating.”
Je
Clearly I’m going to have to explain it closer to home.
“She stole your sketchbook.”
Je
Yeah, clearly.
Tru’s brows draw together in thought, and I can only imagine what he’s processing. Aimeigh is his friend—as much as Tru has friends—so it must be hard to suddenly be asked to doubt her.
“We couldn’t go to Haverford with a guess,” Tru says. “Even if Aimeigh is guilty, we’re going to need proof.”
“I know,” I say with a shrug. And thus endeth my plan.
How do you prove someone did something when there is no evidence? Clearly she’s covered her tracks well, or someone else would have suspected her before now. She would have been expelled instead of Tru or me.
“Any suggestions?” I ask our little group.
Tru shrugs. “You’re the evil mastermind,” he says. “You come up with all the plans.”
I’m not sure whether to kiss him or punch him in the arm, so I settle for neither. I slide onto the bench next to him, letting my arm press against his. He presses back. We’re in this together now. All the way.
“We could confront her,” Je
Tru and I exchange a glance.
I ask, “Do you really think she’ll confess?”
“She’s too clever for that,” Tru says.
“You’re probably right.” Je
Tru nods. “Too bad there’s no one left to sabotage.”
“Yeah,” I say, starting to agree. “No, wait. Actually there is.”
They both look at me. I point at myself.
“Right,” Tru says. “She didn’t actually take you out.”
“Or Je
We all fall silent, presumably trying to think up a way to use this information. Thoughts are spi
Like Tru said, I’m the evil mastermind. I come up with all the plans. And this one is going to knock Aimeigh’s socks off.
“I’ve got it,” I say. “I know how we’re going to catch Aimeigh in the act.”
“How’s that?” Tru asks.
I flash him a diabolical smile. “By giving her exactly what she wants.”
She’ll never see it coming.
Chapter Twenty
We have all the details hammered out and are ready to carry out our plan between third and fourth periods on Friday. Right before senior seminar. Aimeigh and I walk together from Building E as usual.
She’s too smart to miss anything really out of the ordinary. Between us, Tru, Je
As soon as I settle into my seat in senior seminar, I reach into my bag. I dig around for a couple of minutes. Put the bag on the table and search through everything.
“Damn it,” I mutter.
Je
“What?” Aimeigh asks.
How had I missed the tone in her voice before? She sounds almost delighted at my distress. Now that my new-girl blinders are off, I’m seeing her in a whole new light. And it’s not an attractive one.
“My tablet,” I say. “It’s not in my bag.”
“Bummer,” Aimeigh says, doing a fair approximation of actual sympathy.
Je
This class session is supposed to be our first official meeting about the senior project, so of course she would have a bunch of things ready to present.
“I don’t know where I could have left it. I haven’t used it all day.” I dig through my bag again, as if certain that I must just not be seeing it in there. “It has all my new work for the scholarship portfolio on it. I haven’t backed it up yet.”
A lie, of course. But hopefully just the kind of bait Aimeigh is looking for.
Je
“Yeah, that’s it,” I say. “Have you seen it?”
She smiles absently. “I found it on the counter in Mr. Danziger’s room. I put it on the file cabinet next to the door.”
“Oh great,” I say, starting to push to my feet.
For a second I don’t think Aimeigh is going to bite. She’s going to let me get up and retrieve my not-really-forgotten tablet without a hitch.
For a split second I have doubts. What if I’m wrong? What if Aimeigh isn’t the culprit? What if—
“Hey, wait,” she says, grabbing my arm before I can move away from the table. “I left my seminar notebook in my locker. I can grab your tablet on my way back.”
I smile with relief, inside and out.
“Great,” I say. “Thanks.”
As soon as she’s out the door, I exchange a look with Je
She pulls out her laptop and flips up the screen as I drop into the seat next to her. Her browser is open to the webcam feed that Tru set up. He’s monitoring it from the supply closet in the chemistry classroom.
Je
I have to admit, part of me wants to be wrong. The part of me that was grateful for the easy friendship she offered wants her to prove me wrong. Even if that means going back to square one in the hunt for the copycat vandal, it would be worth it to know that she really was my friend.
I stare at the screen, hoping she just grabs the tablet and brings it to me.
But she doesn’t.
Aimeigh snatches the tablet from the counter where Je
I watch, horrified, as she flips open the tablet and pulls up my CloudFile app. Locates my portfolio folder. And promptly deletes it.
She even goes to the trash folder and empties that, deleting the files permanently.