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Every ounce of my appetite fled.
Rachel grimaced. “I wasn’t going to tell you. I went back and forth on it, then I thought if it was me, I’d want to know. Needless to say, I’ve reported it, and I’ve got my girls on it reporting the hell out of it. I also might have emailed it to the cops.”
Setting the burger back in my lap, I stared out the window. “My phone is on silent at the moment.” I’d put it in do not disturb for the appointment. I squirmed to reach for my back pocket when Rachel cut her head in a sharp negative.
“Don’t. Believe me when I sayyoudo not need to see that trash. It’s lies. Anyone who was at Homecoming would see the lies.”
“Not everybody went to Homecoming, Rach.”
“No, but the people who matter did, and bitch showed her hand this time.”
“So she posted it as her?”
“No, it came from an anonymous account. I don’t know it. She, however, added it to the school mailing list, and it went out to all the accounts. That shit right there is enough to get her busted.”
I swallowed. Phone out, I stared at the screen.
Jake:Call me before you do anything else.
Coop:We’ll meet you in the parking lot when Rachel gets back with you.
Archie:Unless you decide to blow off the rest of the day, and if you do, just text us and we’ll meet you at the apartment.
Ian:Whatever you need. Just say the word.
Whatever that video showed,it must have been truly awful. They weren’t mentioning it all, and there was an intense vibe of protectiveness in each of those texts.
“Why does she hate me so much? I’m not trying to be dense. But, when did I become the enemy? She and Ian weren’t even dating when he asked me out. Not that we’re dating right now, but what did I ever do to her?”
“You’re you,” Rachel said with a shrug, stopping at a red light. “You’re the girl they all want. Everyone knew it, Frankie. All of us. The only one oblivious to it was you. Every single one of those girls always knew they were on borrowed time. Jake, you couldn’t nail down with a power tool. Coop drifted, half the time I was never sure he was even aware he was dating when he broke up with girls. Archie? Yeah, he knew. But he was never serious. It was always a passing fancy for him, and Bubba? Who the hell knows with that guy? Sharon was probably the girl he dated the longest, and even then, it wasn’t him chasing her. He never chased any of the girls. They always came to him.”
“Believe it or not, that part I know.” I’d had a front row seat for it all.
The light changed, and she accelerated. “Yeah, but that’s my point. You were always too close to it. But you were the one they couldn’t supplant. Because whether you noticed the guys’ interest or not, every single one of those girls was in full on competition with you.”
“We were friends before that.”
“Oh, honey, I love you, but no. You might have been friends with some of them, but definitely not all. Actually, I take that back, you were probably friends. They weren’t. Not all of them. You were their ticket in. Making friends with Frankie might get you an intro, and then there’s always the confidence that happens when the guys actually ask them out. But it doesn’t take long to notice—if you wanted or needed something, they’d drop those other girls without a second thought.”
“That’s asinine.”
Rachel shrugged. “I don’t make the rules. I’m just telling you what I see. Right now, Sharon doesn’t hate you anywhere near as much as she hates herself for not being you. Maria’s gotten over it. I think Maria wouldn’t mind being your friend again, she just doesn’t know how.”
“And Patty?”‘
“Eh, fuck Patty. Fuck Sharon, too. Fuck that little junior chick who got stupid with you.”
A laugh slipped out, and I shook my head. “I just want the crap to stop. I’ve tried ignoring it and being understanding.”
“And you know that’s not going to work, right?”
“Yeah.” I did. “I slapped her down a while back.”
“Good. You need to do it again. I’ll help.” She sounded almost eager.
“Oh that terrifies me. What you would do for revenge?”
“Revenge is such an ugly word,” Rachel informed me as we pulled into the parking lot. Sure enough, all four of my guys were right there waiting just feet away from Rachel’s assigned parking spot. “I call it just deserts. After all, she’s asking for it. Making sure we deliver it would seem to be the polite thing to do.”
