a bunch of losers.” She glared at Devon as she spoke, daring her to defend Raven and Bodhi.
“I heard that they worked there this summer. But that doesn’t—”
“I knew it! I knew you would defend the lying bitch.” Spit flew from Isla’s mouth as she yelled.
“Isla, I’m not defending anyone. I just want to help.”
“Spare me, Devon. You’re not my shrink. That’s why Hutch got the pregnancy test for her. She was too afraid to tell her pharmacist brother because he and Hutch were tight. Bodhi would have killed Hutch if he found out.” But all Devon heard was killed Hutch. Even though she didn’t want to believe it, Raven could have been, could even still be, pregnant with Hutch’s baby. And when she factored in that Bodhi had access to the car and the beer and the Oxy—and could have easily met Hutch at the Palace by driving up one of Reed’s fire roads—Isla’s theory wasn’t too far from the one Devon had been halfway to forming.
“What makes you say that? I mean, ‘kill’ is a big word.” What did Isla know about Bodhi that Raven didn’t let on?
“Please, you saw Matt’s face. All those Monte Vista guys are the same. They’re not smart enough, so they think beating everyone up is the solution to their problems.”
“Yeah, I was wondering what happened to Matt.” Devon tried to look curious.
“Duh. They jumped him. Of course they see some rich Keaton kid walking down the beach, so they think it’s cool just to beat him up and take his money. Anyway, Matt told me that you saw the whole thing. Let’s just stop bullshitting each other, okay?”
Devon let the slightest laugh out.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just, I’m not sure that’s the only side to that story. Bodhi did get a scholarship to MIT. Is it possible that Matt told you what he wanted you to believe?”
“What does that mean? I’m actually telling you something here and you think I’m lying? Nice work, they teach you that in therapy school?” Isla scratched at her arm again.
“I’m sorry, that was rude of me. Forget I said anything.”*
“Look, I trust Matt, okay? He wouldn’t lie to me.” Isla laughed to herself. “He wouldn’t.”
“What are you laughing at?”
“It’s just our thing. We don’t lie to each other. When we got together we promised that over the summer we wouldn’t lie unlike everyone else in our lives.”
“Wait? Over the summer? So you got together last year?” Devon sat a little straighter in her chair.
Isla looked out the window again. Studied her nails, trying to look nonchalant. But Devon could see the raised veins in her neck again. Finally she sighed. “Whatever. It’s not like Hutch is around to be all shocked now. Yes, Matt and I started hooking up a little last year while I was still technically with Hutch. We didn’t see each other over the summer or anything, so it’s not like we totally stabbed him in the back.”
“Right. You just slightly stabbed him in the back?” She bit her lip. Stupid. Above all, a peer counselor was never supposed to condemn a subject for any behavior, but Devon’s mind wasn’t on her training right now.
“I don’t have to take this from you,” Isla said.
Focus on the session. “Hey, I’m just trying to put all the pieces together. Like, when Cleo got you that pregnancy test you thought it was because she heard something about the night Hutch died? What would she have heard, Isla? That you were sleeping with his best friend on the night Hutch died? Was that it?”
Isla shook her head, but she wouldn’t meet Devon’s eyes. Devon shifted in her chair. Maybe she was playing “bad cop” now and yelling at Isla until she owned up to her mistakes, but she knew she had already crossed any counseling boundaries and there was no “good cop” to save the day. Isla had disrespected Hutch, lied to him, cheated on him. Devon couldn’t change that no matter how much she hated her for it. She steadied her breathing and tried to bring herself back to the moment. This was all about how to help Isla. How to help lying, cheating, drug-abusing Isla.
“No,” Isla said after a long silence. “You’re spinning this to make me look like the slut here when it was that freshman who went behind my back and slept with Hutch and got herself pregnant. It’s her fault. All of it.”
“Isla,” Devon sighed. Isla wasn’t making sense. Her illicit relationship with Matt