of me knew I saw the real Archer, tucked away behind the façade he normally wore.
The real Archer liked to joke around. The real Archer was passionate and fiery, and he had to tuck himself away to play the part Brittany had wanted.
Man, I thought, this sucked. But, of course, that thought was the understatement of the year.
“Oh, my God,” Bobbi’s high-pitched voice was the first thing I heard as I walked into choir. The last thing I wanted to do was sing, but alas, I failed to drop out of choir when I could’ve, so my opinion on it didn’t matter anymore. I’d be forced to sound like a dying cat in need of a vocal tune-up until I graduated.
I took my normal seat in the corner, and Bobbi followed me, plopping in the seat beside me.
“Girl, what the hell is going on?” Bobbi’s hazel eyes were bright and curious, her light brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail. Today she wore a long-sleeve shirt, along with a pair of leggings that looked like jeans even though they weren’t.
“I have no idea,” I said, hunching over and placing my chin on my fist.
“Well, I know what I’ve been hearing, but I know it can’t be true,” Bobbi said, biting the inside of her cheek as she studied me. “So much for the victory at the dance, huh? Somehow, that bitch still got back at you.”
Felt kind of wrong to curse someone who was dead, but at the same time, Brittany deserved that and more.
“I don’t know what happened,” I muttered, feeling quite down about it all. “But she’s gone, and your dad thinks I killed her.” Right, because who could forget that her father was the detective who questioned me at the station, along with showing me the pictures of the crime scene?
All that blood…
“My dad doesn’t want me hanging out with you anymore, so no more choir practice,” Bobbi spoke. “At least not at your house. He said there’s evidence, Jaz, evidence he can’t ignore.”
“My DNA was at the scene,” I said.
“And there was no body.” Bobbi knew her facts, apparently. I had no idea if her dad had told her all this, or if the rumor mill really knew that much about it. “It doesn’t look good, Jaz. If you didn’t have Oliver Fitzpatrick, you’d be deep.”
I nodded along. That much was true. If it wasn’t for Ollie…I honestly didn’t know what the hell I’d be doing right now. Probably stuck in jail, waiting for my trial. It really did pay to have connections, as much as I didn’t want to admit it.
I could feel the rest of the class’s eyes on me. The bell didn’t ring yet, but it was coming. Most everyone had gathered in their seats, whispering amongst themselves, but I knew they talked about me, stared at me. They had a murderer in their midst—or at least they thought so. I hated it.
It took everything in me to whisper, “I didn’t do it, Bobbi. I didn’t kill her. I know everyone here thinks I did—because, let’s be honest, everyone knows Brittany and I hated each other—but I didn’t. I might’ve hated her, but just because I hated her doesn’t mean I did it. I’m not like that.”
“I don’t think you are, either,” Bobbi said, leaning into me to add, “but my dad doesn’t know you like I do. I know things are going to be weird for a while, but maybe this’ll all blow over and things will get back to the way they were before.” Seemed like such an optimistic thing to say, a stupid thing to hope for.
Still, that’s kind of what I wanted. Everything to go back to the way things were at the beginning. Me, oblivious to Midpark’s dark underbelly. Me, unaware of Archer’s connection to Brittany. How stupid I was, and yet things were so much simpler in the beginning.
“Thanks,” I said, right as the bell rang and Ms. Haber exited her office.
Well, at least Bobbi believed my innocence—that, or she was a really good liar. For whatever reason, I didn’t want to face the fact that she might be lying. It could be that her dad put her up to this to see if I’d confess it to her.
Was it sad that that’s what I thought? Maybe.
It really sucked not being able to trust anyone in Midpark.
Chapter Four – Vaughn
I got to lunch as early as I could, waited in line and bought whatever lunch they