keep your heads down and stay out of trouble. Don’t go starting shit with anyone else.”
“Yes, Mom,” I said, causing him to scowl.
Archer, in the back, watched the interaction with a creased brow. “You two have a weird relationship, don’t you?” It wasn’t an outright joke, more like a deadpan, but it was something that reminded me of the old Archer, before the shit hit the fan and exploded.
“Shut up,” Jacob muttered.
When the high school came into view, I felt my heart skip a beat. Brittany was still in the hospital, and I bet we’d have a few days without her. Who knew? Maybe her parents wouldn’t let her return here. Wouldn’t that be nice? If I never saw her again, how could she try to kill me?
Jacob pulled up to the front doors, and we got out. I blew him a kiss, which riled him up, and I chuckled to myself as Archer and I headed into the school.
Archer muttered, “You like teasing him.”
“Only because it’s so much fun.” I glanced back at him. “Is it weird for you to see me with him?” We arrived at the hall where we’d have to part; our lockers weren’t close by each other’s. Both of us stopped in the middle of the hall.
“This whole thing is weird,” he said. “Nothing in my life has been normal since you showed up in it.” He ended that statement with a tiny smile. Dimple-less, but still a smile nonetheless. He was trying, and that was all I could ask of him. “I’ll see you in homeroom.”
With a sigh, I watched him walk away, waiting until he was out of sight before turning and heading to my locker further down the hall.
The day went on just like any other, as if Archer’s mom hadn’t just died, as if Brittany herself hadn’t sprung up from the dead like a forgotten daisy after a bad winter. Time itself never stopped, not waiting for you to catch your breath. Time was uncaring, harsh and cruel, but I was thankful that it continued and didn’t stop. We couldn’t let it stop here, anyway. Not when things were such shit.
Fourth period rolled around, and before I had the chance to sit down, I was pounced on by Bobbi.
“God, I cannot believe it,” Bobbi spoke, her eyes wide as we took our seats. “That bitch is alive, after all this time. I just—how?”
“Isn’t that the question of the week,” I muttered, frowning to myself. The bell hadn't rung yet, so Ms. Haber was still in her office. We had a few minutes to talk, at least. Maybe even the whole period if we were lucky.
Bobbi shook her head. Today her brown hair was free of curls, having been straightened. The highlights in her hair had been toned over the weekend, no longer as brassy as they were before. She even wore some makeup today. “My dad never would’ve gone after you if he didn’t think you did it, Jaz. I still don’t understand how she could’ve faked it so well and framed you at the same time.”
My shoulders rose and fell once. “Archer said she told him that she drained some of her blood every day and kept it in a refrigerator.” I didn’t know how she framed me, but it wouldn’t be impossible to pick off some hair from my clothes or something. I had a lot of hair; my scalp shed like a dog sometimes.
“What a psycho,” Bobbi muttered. “I can’t believe she’d go that far. And she did it right after the dance—she had it planned even before you took her crown.”
That was true, I realized. “Almost like she knew and timed it so it would look as bad as it could.” That was probably getting into a conspiracy theory I should avoid. I mean, no one else besides Bobbi, her friend, and my guys knew that I would upstage her at the dance.
“I wonder when she’ll get out of the hospital,” Bobbi said, leaning back in her chair.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But she wasn’t happy to see me there.”
My friend’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “You talked to her?”
“I did. She talked with Archer right before and basically threatened me, telling him if he didn’t break things off with me and go crawling back to her, she’d tell the police that I hurt her and kidnapped her.”