on the phone in my hand. When it vibrates, I’m startled again.
“Jumpy much?” I ask myself.
I see Rory’s face show up on the screen, and smile. I know he’s calling to hear all the gossip about last night’s party, and boy do I have some things to talk about.
The drive to school the next day is awkward, to say the least. It’s filled with my dad constantly reminding me how disappointed he is, and I think I heard, “What were you thinking?” at least a hundred times. I don’t even want to get into the discussion we had over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table earlier.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the icing on the cake. Lexi has been marked off-limits, and now I have a personal chauffer for an indeterminate amount of time. You know, though, it’s not often a girl is lucky enough to get dropped off at the very front of a public school—with everyone watching mind you—by a sheriff’s car. The walk of shame up the school’s steps is easily the most memorable part.
Standing at my locker, I find myself staring at the pile of books inside and not really doing much else. I can’t shake the thought that they still haven’t found Janice. As more time passes, the outcome becomes grimmer in my head. The slamming of my locker door brings me back to reality. I turn to see Gunnar waiting there, not looking very happy.
“So, your dad grilled me pretty hard at the station yesterday. He was asking a lot of questions about Janice. Do you have any idea why he’d single me out like that?” he asks in a hard whisper.
I panic. “Uh…not really, no.”
That’s it, Dani, keep piling on the lies.
He sends me quite the glare. “Well, do me a favor and tell him to back off, because I have no idea where she is, all right?”
“Okay, got it,” I reply, wanting to crawl inside my locker forever and never come out. Damn, I’ve never seen Gunnar this pissed before, but I guess I don’t really blame him.
As he storms off, I look around and notice that the halls are quickly clearing out. The bell must’ve gone off and I didn’t even notice. That may have something to do with the irate GQ model who was just all up in my face.
I lean back against the lockers and release a deep sigh. Drawing up my messenger bag, I sling it over my shoulder and trudge my way to Mr. Whitman’s office. He may be slightly irked with me after hearing I still have no idea what my essay is going to be about. I’m so dreading our little chat this morning. The last thing I need right now is to have yet another person tell me how disappointed they are in me.
Not really feeling up to eating when lunch rolls around, I enter the cafeteria and search out Rory and Alex instead of heading for the food line. They’re sitting at one of the round tables in the back corner of the room, and Rory waves me over when he sees me.
“Where the hell did you go Saturday?” I hear Alex ask as I approach the table. “You just up and disappeared.”
“It’s a long story, believe me,” Rory interjects, referencing our conversation last night.
“Wait—you knew and didn’t tell me?” Alex complains while scowling at him.
“Hey, it wasn’t my secret to tell.”
Alex turns her questioning look in my direction and waits for me to reply, her fingernails tapping on the tabletop. “Well?” she asks, after I take my seat and don’t give her what she wants. “I’m waiting.”
“I may have had a little too much to drink and then woke up in a guy’s bed…no big deal,” I say.
Alex’s mouth drops open and Rory reaches over to push it back up.
“What? Really? Who was it? You’ve got to tell me,” she insists.
“A girl never kisses and tells. You know that,” Rory comments. Alex just flashes him a glare.
“Hey, Alex, I already asked Rory this, but do you remember the girl I was at the party with? Janice?”
“Yeah, the one dressed in your slutty bride costume, right?”
“Yeah, her. Did you see her again after we bumped into you? Like with anyone else other than me?”
“No, not that I can remember. Why?”
“No reason really.”
“Come on. You can’t ask a question like that and not follow it up with a reason,” she remarks.
Rory laughs. “It’s a hopeless cause, Alex. I tried to get it