and carefully slips a gloved hand into the vent, feeling around for something. Plastic crinkles under his fingers. “Bingo,” he mutters, pulling out two partially melted bags of dry ice. Despite Bodyguard Steve’s gentle movements, liquid droplets spatter over the desk.
Dry ice. “The stuff that emits carbon monoxide as it melts?”
“Correct. It can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness. Eventually victims lose consciousness, and if they aren’t removed from the source of the gas, death. Judging by the size of this bag and assuming it was full when placed in the vent, anyone in the nearby rooms would have experienced symptoms.”
Suddenly the absence of anyone in the wing of classrooms makes sense. Anyone who began to feel sick would probably retreat to the dormitory. But Ricardo may not have had time to react, being so close to the source of the poisonous gas.
My hands tighten around Ricardo’s. I was right. This wasn’t an accident. Someone put that dry ice in the vent in order to hurt another person. And pretty much everyone at school knows Ricardo has been in the surveillance office on Friday afternoons since the semester started.
My eyes lower to Ricardo’s face. “Someone tried to kill you.”
25
I read the same calculus question for the umpteenth time, but it still doesn’t penetrate the nervous buzz in my skull. My brain simply won’t focus on my homework until I tell Adrienne and Genevieve what’s going on. And frankly, it’s about time I came clean with them. They deserve my honesty, and I’ve been feeding them lies. “I have something to tell you both. It’s important.”
Adrienne looks up from her e-reader, her auburn brows scrunched together.
Genevieve, too, looks up from her laptop. “What is it? You can tell us.”
I lick my lips. After Ricardo’s near-death experience, it was obvious to me that somehow, faking a relationship with him had lead to real feelings. Even though I denied it, I knew the truth. I was falling for Ricardo. And knowing that, I can’t stand to lie to my sister and my best friend anymore. Even though I’m afraid of how they’ll react.
“You know how my relationship with Ricardo came out of nowhere?”
Genevieve and Adrienne nod in tandem.
Taking a deep breath, I spill it all before I lose my nerve. “That’s because it did. The first day of school, when we ran into Kenneth in the hallway. I was still upset over our breakup, and I knew Ricardo wanted an excuse to avoid his mom, so… I made it up. I told everyone we were dating, but we weren’t. We’ve been faking it.”
Adrienne’s mouth drops open, even as Genevieve sits up straighter, her eyes fixed to my face.
“You mean, you and Ricardo aren’t madly in love?” Adrienne says, looking as if someone just smashed her favorite rolling pin to bits.
“You made it up,” Genevieve says, deadpan.
Flinging myself down on the rug beside them, I hold up my laced hands in supplication. “Forgive me. Please. I never would have done it if I thought it would come between us.”
Genevieve’s jaw works as she stares at me, considering my words. A flicker of sadness moves over her face. She’s not going to forgive me. This is the end of our friendship, right here. And I can’t blame her for it. Lying is unforgivable.
Putting her pen down gently on top of her notebook, she shifts onto her knees. She’s going to walk out without even letting me explain. “You’ve been fake dating Ricardo for the past month and a half, as a way to make Ken Doll jealous.”
I nod, daring to look past her toward where Adrienne is sitting, frowning. She runs a hand through the lush pile of my faux fur rug. “I can’t believe you both were faking it this whole time, and you both kept it from me. I have to say, I’m hurt, Charlotte.”
“I’m so sorry, to both of you.” There aren’t any excuses I can make that will make the situation better, so I stop there.
Genevieve’s lips purse. “I forgive you.” It’s simple, straightforward, and given willingly. I don’t deserve a best friend like Genevieve.
“Me too,” Adrienne says.
Relief courses through me as I throw my arms around them, pulling the three of us into an awkward group huddle. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. I had no idea how complicated fake dating would get, or that it would last this long. And I never thought I’d fall for him, but I…” I