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The school assembly during their senior year had been named Pershing Does Good. It was supposed to have been video highlights of the Pershing community doing volunteer work. Instead, it had turned into a joke because Cole had inserted images of Mr. Hayes’s head superimposed on a champion wrestler’s body, and one of the principal seemingly dressed only in boxers and socks and posing next to a convertible.
It had been a brilliant piece of hacking, but Mr. Hayes had been in no mood to laugh.
Cole moved closer. “Or was it a way to get back at me after we’d had s
ex and I didn’t shower you with pretty phrases?”
She made a sound of disbelief. “You didn’t talk to me, either.”
He paused, his eyes gleaming. “Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.”
“Where?” she demanded. “You’ve written a script about a jilted lover seeking revenge.”
“Weren’t you one?”
“I was a virgin.”
“Okay, so I was the evil seducer who stole your virginity, and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? That’s a good story, too, except my recollection is that you were a willing participant.”
She shook her head vehemently. “It had nothing to do with sex. At least my confession to Mr. Hayes didn’t. You were closer when you thought it had to do with money.”
Cole’s face hardened.
“Mr. Hayes called me into his office. He guessed there were seniors who knew more about the prank than he did.” She fought to keep her voice even. “So he pulled in the person he thought he had something to hold over. Namely, me.”
Cole scowled.
“You humiliated and embarrassed him in front of the whole student body. He was going to get to the bottom of it, come hell or high water. So he threatened to take away my recommendation for a college scholarship unless I confessed who did it.” She swallowed. “I’d overheard you telling one of your teammates near the lockers that you’d managed to sneak into the school offices.”
Marisa had known back then in the principal’s office that Mr. Hayes’s job was at stake. While working her after-school job sweeping hallways, she’d overheard conversations among the staff about the principal’s contract maybe not being renewed by Pershing’s board because there was debate about Mr. Hayes’s performance. Cole’s prank would further make it seem as if Mr. Hayes wasn’t a good leader who commanded the respect of the school community.
Marisa had looked at Mr. Hayes, and in that instant, she’d read his thoughts. He was worried because his career might be on the line, and he had three kids to support at home. She had been able to relate because her mother had stressed about her job, too, and she’d had only one kid to worry about.
Cole’s frown faded, and then his eyes narrowed.
“I was backed into a corner. I had no Plan B. I needed that scholarship money, or there would be no happy ending for me. At least not one involving college in the fall.”
Cole’s lips thinned. “It’s unconscionable that the bastard would have twisted the arm of an eighteen-year-old student.”
“I was on scholarship at Pershing. I was there on condition of good grades and better behavior. Unlike some people, I didn’t have the luxury of being a prankster.”
Cole swore.
“So you were right all along. I did sell you out, and I’m sorry.” She felt the wind leave her, her words slowing after spilling in a mad rush. “If it helps, I was ostracized. People saw me go in and out of Mr. Hayes’s office, so they guessed who ratted you out. After all, you got confronted by Mr. Hayes right after I was interrogated, so the rumors started immediately. My only defense was that if I hadn’t kept my scholarship, I’d probably have struggled to make ends meet like my mother. I knew college was my ticket out.”
She ought to stop talking but she couldn’t help herself. The words had come out in a torrent and were now down to a trickle, but she couldn’t seem to turn off the flow completely.
“Why didn’t you tell me back then about Hayes blackmailing you into a confession?” Cole demanded. “He let slip your name when he confronted me, but he never got into details.”
“Would you have been ready to listen?” she replied. “All you cared about was the Independent School League championship. My reasons didn’t make a difference. You still wouldn’t have been able to play the end of the season.”
The old hurts from high school came back vividly, and she felt a throbbing pain in the region of her heart. She’d stayed home on the night of the prom. She and Serafina had watched Molly Ringwald flicks from the ’80s. The high school angst on the television screen had fit Marisa’s mood—because she’d been into self-flagellation. She’d discovered that Cole—his suspension ended—was going to the prom with Kendra Vance, a cheerleader. She’d cried herself to sleep long after Sera’s head had hit the pillow, hiding her grief because she didn’t want to invite questions from her cousin.
Marisa sucked in a trembling breath while Cole stared at her, his expression inscrutable. She realized she’d hurt him, and now he was still wary. But there was no way to change the past.
“How are we getting out of here?” she asked, reverting to her earlier panic—because, strangely, it seemed safer territory than the one she’d ventured into with Cole.
Flustered, she gestured randomly until Cole captured her hands. He gave her a look of such intensity, it stole her breath.
