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I looked from one expression to the next as everyone’s faces contorted from confusion to eager nods. This could happen. It all started to seem real—not only to me, but to them.
The battle had just begun.
“Room inspections are day after tomorrow,” Tara said, wiping some snot from her upper lip with her sleeve. She cleared her throat. “If you can get out by today, have all your things removed, then yeah. It could work.”
I smiled at her, and she smiled back. “That could definitely work,” I replied, “considering all I brought with me was a suitcase with some toiletries and a few changes of now-ruined clothes.”
Ah, the perks of being on a budget.
“Yeah,” Felix said, as if coming to his own conclusion. “The only person you’d have to convince is your roommate. No one else has to know you’re really just staying here.”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
“Ooh,” Tara said, sitting up all of a sudden. I was glad this was able to take her mind off of what Vivian had done to her, even if it had to do with Vivian herself. “You can stay in my room for the next couple of nights, if you want.”
“Sure, thanks,” I said, feeling my chest buzz up with nerves. This was actually happening. “Do you think Kenny would like to be in on this?”
Tara smirked, and for the first time since I’d met her, her expression seemed actually wicked.
“Hellyes,” she said. “He wants revenge on this bitch just as much as I do. Plus, he’s got more LSD than he knows what to do with. I think he can spare some to stuff under your roommate’s mattress.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the image of Kenny dashing into my room with a conspicuous-looking package only to dash out seconds later with nothing but a sloppy grin on his face. I looked at Elliot and the boys, and motioned to bring them out into the hall.
“Can I chat with you guys outside for a quick sec?” I smiled at Tara. “I’ll be right back.”
They followed me out into the hall without a word, and we made a tight circle a few yards away from Tara’s room.
“This is perfect,” I said. “We go to this meeting tomorrow with the Dean of Students, and the day after, we get our revenge.”
“Question,” Felix said, holding up his index finger. “What if what happens at that meeting tomorrow affects the plan? What do we do?”
“Oh, shit,” Leo exclaimed. “Wait—do you think your roommate’sgonnabe in that meeting?”
I nodded.
“Considering thatshewas the one who brought it to the school’s attention, I wouldn’t be surprised,” I answered. “But it works in our favor. While we’re all at the meeting, Kenny can duck into my room and plant the drugs. Since all four of us will be in that same meeting, they can’t suspect that we were the ones to have done it.”
Felix clapped. “We have a plan, everybody.”
“We sure do,” I said, allowing a big smile to grow across my face. “Any final concerns?”
The three boys looked around at each other before their gazes settled back onto me. For once, I was the one in charge. For once, I had their fate, all of our fates, in my own hands.
9
“Kathleen Silver?”
I looked up from my phone to find that the secretary had appeared back around the corner and was motioning for me to follow her inside like a nurse at a doctor’s office. I’d been waiting outside the Office of Student Life for about twenty minutes, drumming my fingers against my thigh as I went over the morning’s events in my head.
I’d moved all my stuff—that is, one suitcase—over to Tara’s after the boys had gone back to Powell last night, and told Vivian that I was going to be transferring. She’d simply shrugged, which scared me more than itshould’ve. Maybe I’d expected more of a reaction from her. It was as if she knew I was lying, as if everything was going according to plan. According toherplan.
I rose from my seat and followed the secretary to a door a few yards from the front desk of the Office. It was a conference room. She let me inside, and I was greeted by six pairs of eyes—Elliot, Leo, Felix, Vivian, Jason, and the mysterious Dean of Students herself.
“Kathleen,” she said, and gestured to the seat opposite of her. “Please.”
Forcing a flat smile onto my face, I moved toward the chair, watching out the corner of my eye as the secretary shut the door behind me. I unstrapped my purse from my shoulder and slung it over the back of the chair before settling in. Leo and Felix sat on either side of me, while Elliot and Vivian sat across from each other. I was directly opposite to the Dean, who sat at the head of the conference table.
“My name is Pat O’Donnell,” the Dean said. “I spoke to you guys in a few email blasts over the summer. I’m sure you remember.”
