this is only going to get worse.
After the local news report last night, today at school was all about Janice’s disappearance. The fact that the news openly stated she went missing at Gunnar’s party makes the situation even more of a hot-button topic. To say I received the cold shoulder from the majority of the student body who attended said party is putting it lightly. It’s no secret that my dad grilled Gunnar for information about Janice, and I guess everyone now assumes I was the snitch. Technically, they’re right.
“Did you get the plague and not tell me?” Alex jokes, coming up next to me as I sift through my locker.
I just roll my eyes and don’t answer.
“It’s just that I’ve noticed a lot of people giving you a serious case of stink eye.”
“Really? Huh, didn’t even notice,” I respond.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she says, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me in for a side hug.
“I kind of wish you could’ve, though.”
“Hey, I know something that will cheer you up. Want to know what it is?”
“Sure,” I reply, though I’m not at all convinced that it will cheer me up.
“You, me, Rory, and the Brick House. This Saturday night. The band is performing there, and I know how much you love hearing us play.” She sounds excited, but then falters when she doesn’t see the same enthusiasm reflected on my face. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Did you really get the plague?” she jokes again, which causes me to crack a smile even though it was a bad joke. “Ha, I knew I could do it—mission accomplished. I figured you needed a laugh after what I heard today.”
“What exactly did you hear?”
“Oh, you didn’t hear?” she replies, dodging my stare.
“Uhhh, no. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”
She pauses before she starts to answer. “Rumor is you snitched on Gunnar’s party.”
“Oh, that. Yeah, I knew about that,” I say, pulling out two schoolbooks and placing them in my messenger bag.
“Wait, there’s more,” Alex says, almost like she’s about to tell me a secret. “People are kind of saying you’re somehow responsible for that Janice girl’s disappearance. And by ‘people,’ I mean Portia and her bitch squad. Gunnar may have mentioned it as well, but there’s really no telling, right?” Her hollow laugh sounds nervous and I can tell by her face that I must be making a strange one.
“What the shit?” I blurt out, feeling enveloped with anger, while at the same time trying to ward off the sting of multiple backstabbings.
“Yeah, totally agree,” she says in a consoling tone with a hand on my shoulder. “Which is even more of a reason why we should go dance off these shitheads and get drunk at the Brick House Saturday night.”
“I don’t know, Alex. My dad’s really been on my case lately, and now it seems he’s not the only one who thinks I’m to blame for Janice. And let’s not forget, I’m kind of grounded for life,” I reply, sounding defeated.
Not to mention there’s this crazy psycho bastard out there effing with me.
“Please, please, please. If it’s any consolation, I don’t think you had anything to do with the whole Janice thing.”
Regretting the words even before they leave my mouth, I say, “I’ll see. I can’t promise anything, though.”
“Perfect. Hey, that’s better than no, right?” she replies with a huge grin before wrapping me up in another hug.
“Right,” I say, thinking to myself that I wish she knew what I was going through. Then she might not be so insistent.
As I watch her walk away, a scary thought enters my mind. If Unknown is so hell-bent on messing with me, I wonder how long it will take for the person to start taking it out on the ones I love. I shudder at the thought.
My locker slams behind me and I turn to see who did it. Gunnar stands there with a shit-eating grin on his face, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes.
“I really wish you’d stop doing that,” I say.
“Stop doing what exactly?” he asks.
“Whatever. I assume that since you slammed my locker, you have something you want to tell me?”
“You know, there was a time when I thought you were kind of cool, Dani. But it turns out you’re just a little nark,” he replies, the grin now gone from his face.
“I didn’t mean to nark on you. My dad just has this way of getting the truth out of people. He didn’t become sheriff for