Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Mr and Mrs. Hall emerge from behind the browning hydrangea bush, both disheveled from sleep. Mrs. Halls’ eyes flick between us, the scene registering on her face. Mr. Halls’ eyes dart to the second floor. I’m bloody and standing beneath their daughter’s bedroom window, dropping pills all over the ground. I look away, unable to bear their accusatory expressions.
“Reyn,” Mr. Hall says, “what’s going on here?”
Before I can even attempt to get out of this shitshow, Jerry jumps in. “What’s going on here, Mr. and Mrs. Hall, is that I caught this delinquent crawling out of your upstairs window. In his pocket, I confiscated a set of lock-picking paraphernalia, and—as you can plainly see—he’s also in possession of a large quantity of drugs—from the looks of it, prescription painkillers.” He plants his hand into the middle of my back, forcing me against the house again. “Where did you get the drugs, boy? Steal those, too?”
“Steal?” Mrs. Hall asks, her face suddenly cast in the flashing lights of the police cruiser screeching to a halt on the street in front of our houses. Her eyes hold mine and I think for a moment she’s going to put two-plus-two together and connect that the drugs came from Vandy. The flicker of awareness vanishes as quickly as it came. “I had no idea you were struggling like this, Reynolds.”
I swallow back any urge to defend myself. Instead, I say nothing as two deputies approach the scene. Everything that happens next is like sand, slipping through my fingers. Cuffed. Sat on the curb. Asked questions.
I’m not an idiot. I keep my mouth shut. I don’t even nod or shake my head, I just look straight forward.
“This one’s been in trouble before,” Jerry’s saying to one of the deputies. “It was only a matter of time before he reoffended. I’ve been keeping my eye on him. It’s my job,” he boasts, “to keep this community safe.”
Thirty minutes of this bullshit before I’m shoved into the cruiser, ducking to not hit my head. All I want is to get out of here, to get away before Vandy realizes what’s happening and tries to intervene. I led her into trouble once before, I won’t do it again, even if it means I have to take the fall for something I didn’t do.
37
Vandy
A sharp rap on my bedroom door jolts me awake. In a panic, I reach for Reyn, but remember that he’s gone, having snuck out the window approximately—I glance at my clock—an hour ago.
“Vandy, open up,” Dad calls.
“One sec,” I call, scrambling out of bed. I grab a sweatshirt and pull it hastily over my pajamas. I take a quick, nervous glance around the room to see if anything is out of place. Nothing seems to overtly say ‘your daughter got high on painkillers last night, had a boy sleeping in her bed, and then had amazing sex with him’, but I do another circuit, just in case.
Smoothing down my hair, I yank open the door. My father’s standing in the hall, and behind him are two uniformed officers.
I peer at them with wide eyes. “What’s going on?” My mind is instantly a rush of presumptions. Did they find out about the prank? That we broke into the school and did all those things? That we ruined the dance and the fundraiser? Dad’s expression is more concerned than angry, but that’s a weak comfort. I glance down the hall. Emory’s door is still closed. “Dad?”
“These two deputies need to check your room.” He steps aside and lets the two officers enter, so I’m guessing I don’t have a say. Again, my eyes skim the room, differently this time. Did I leave my bra on the back of my desk chair? What about my dirty laundry? Then, I’m seized by a totally different realization.
The pills.
My eyes jump frantically over my bed, but I don’t see them. They were gone last night, when I slid beneath the covers with Reyn. Had he taken them? Had he flushed them? God, did he just stash them somewhere? Will these guys find them?
My heart pounds erratically.
The deputies casually inspect my room, static from their radios echoing harshly off my walls. They note my laptop on my desk, the jewelry scattered on top of my dresser. My phone is charging next to the bed. “Miss? Have you noticed anything missing or out of place?” one of them asks.
The other man walks over to the window, and I watch