but she might have information about other people who had bones to pick with Bryan.
“No,” Crystal said, her voice ringing with certainty. “Definitely not a girlfriend. Just a hookup.”
It crossed my mind to ask her how she knew, but I wasn’t sure I’d understand. Alice’s generation had strange ideas about boy-girl relationships, about what constituted dating as opposed to just “hooking up.”
Crystal glanced down at her wrist. “Oh, dear, I have to run. Jason was supposed to drop off the deposit check for the band, but he got a part-time job with a firm in town, so now it’s up to me.”
“That’s good news about the job,” I said.
“Yeah. He’s taking the bar in July, so he needs to study, but he’s hoping that Madeline and Kristen will hire him on permanently in the fall.”
“Jackson and Ver Steeg?”
“You’ve heard of the firm?”
I smiled. Dalliance really was a small town. “Only good things,” I said.
“Do you have enough for the milk shakes?”
I looked at my notepad. Dr Pepper and raspberries. Huh. “Do you trust me?”
Crystal grinned. “If that cone was a fair representation of your work, then, yeah, I trust you.”
“Well, if you trust me and you’re willing to be a bit adventurous, I think I have you covered.”
chapter 13
Emily and Finn had already staked out a spot at the back of the A-la-mode that Friday evening, and both were busy tapping away at their laptop keyboards, when Alice stormed in. She covered the distance to their table in long, purposeful strides and let her backpack drop to the floor with a menacing thud.
“Hey, kiddo,” Finn said as he raised his head. “How’s tricks . . . ?” He let the question trail off as he took in Alice’s furious expression.
“Alice?” Emily said. “What’s going on?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” Alice ground out.
By that point, Bree and Kyle had joined me at the counter, and we watched the drama unfolding before us with cautious concern.
“What do you mean?” Finn asked.
“I mean that Dr. Clowper has been lying to us all.”
“Alice,” Finn said, his tone stern, almost fatherly, “that’s a serious allegation.”
“I know,” Alice said, “but it’s the truth. Dr. Clowper is a liar.”
A fine tremor of rage vibrated through Alice’s whole body. Bree took a few tentative steps toward her child, but I reached out to stop her. As angry as she was, Alice was apt to lash out at Bree if she interfered, and then we’d never get to the bottom of this.
Emily met Alice’s fury with stone-faced calm. “I have not lied to you, Alice.”
“Really?” Alice raised her chin in challenge. “I know about you and Reggie.”
The color leached from Emily’s face, leaving her ashen. Ghostly.
“What are you talking about?” Finn said.
Alice and Emily simply stared at each other.
“Seriously,” Finn said, clearly exasperated, “one of you needs to start talking. Now.”
Emily cut her eyes in his direction, a furtive glance. The tip of her tongue peeked out and moistened her lips. I thought she might explain, but then she clammed up again.
Finally, Alice propped her hands on her hips and turned her attention to Finn.
“After class today, Reggie and I met to go over the grading rubric for the midterm. The message light on his phone was blinking, so he put it on speaker so he could take notes while he listened to the messages. One of the messages was from Dr. Clowper.” Her voice hitched, and she cleared her throat before continuing. “She said, ‘Hey, babe.’ ”
It took a second before the penny dropped. A teacher didn’t call her student “babe.” Not unless they were engaged in some serious extracurricular activities.
Finn’s eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at Emily for confirmation. She couldn’t hold his gaze for long. And while she didn’t say a word, the misery on her face was eloquent.
I couldn’t hold Bree back anymore. She dashed around the counter and to her baby’s side. But when she tried to wrap her arms around Alice’s shoulders, Alice shook her off and stepped toward Emily.
“You knew,” she said.
“Knew what?” Emily asked.
Alice’s eyes narrowed. “You knew I liked him. And you never said a word. Just let me make a fool of myself by asking him out and getting turned down flat.” Most of the time, Alice was the smartest person in the room, so it was easy to forget she was a teenager, just turned seventeen in May, and her world revolved around Alice.
“I didn’t—” Emily protested, but Alice rushed on.
“Did you two have a good