The Thrashers(105)

She thought about it for a moment. “No. Not really. I told you, I never wanted you to go to jail. But I do have a favor to ask you.” She turned over her shoulder to look at Paige and Lucy, thinking of how many secrets they all kept. “Tell the girls. They deserve to know the truth.”

He rolled words around in his mouth for a moment, trying to get out of it, she assumed.

“It will be hard,” she continued, “but lying to your best friends is the worst thing you can do, Zack.”

He nodded. “I will. Before we all leave.” Turning back toward her, he took a deep breath. “I feel like things between all of us are weird now. You guys will be in SoCal, but I’ll be in Boston. And Julian … Have you talked to him?”

“I’m going to visit him in August,” she said. He clenched his jaw, and she rolled her eyes. “Relax. You should talk to him. He’s your best friend.”

He cleared his throat. “Do you think maybe I could come visit you at CalArts? Maybe in October? Or I could fly you to Boston?”

His face was open, waiting. “Maybe,” she said. “I think we should try things without each other for a while. That’s what college is all about.”

“I don’t want to lose you as a friend, Jo.” His eyes were a deep blue, begging her.

She nodded and said, “I don’t think of it as a loss. I think of it as … a chance to find each other again. You’re going to the East Coast, I’m staying here. It’s impossible to stay what we were, so let’s just see what else we can be.”

She looked up at him and saw him frowning. She had the distinct impression that Zack Thrasher hadn’t gotten what he wanted for once in his life. She smiled.



* * *



ONE MONTH LATER

Jodi checked in at the desk, handed over her sharp objects, and went through the metal detector. The fluorescents buzzed above her head, and the walls seemed to echo on their own.

The guard led her to a room with the plexiglass windows and two-way phones. A few visitors were already sitting, chatting with their loved ones in orange.

She only waited thirty seconds before the heavy metal door opened behind the glass, and Julian Hollister appeared. His hair was shorn short, and his skin had lost a bit of that Gap ad glimmer, but he was smirking at her.

He dropped into the chair across from her, picked up the phone with a twirl, and said, “Julian Hollister, who’s calling?”

“It’s not fair that you can shave your hair—your career-defining hair—and still look this good.”

“It was never just the hair.” He took her in, his eyes scanning her face, memorizing. “Do you want me to say something about how you look now?”

“No, that would be a little tawdry, since you’re incarcerated.” She folded her free arm on the counter and leaned forward. “Would you like to hear that I’m sorry?”

“Not if you’re not.”

She stared back at him with a soft smile, and he did the same.

“I got my driver’s license,” she offered.

His smile was electric. “Watch out, world. Jodi Dillon is on the streets.”

She rolled her eyes. “I mean, I don’t have a car yet. But now I have more options. And I’m going to school next week,” she said. “CalArts. I’m gonna try to ‘make a career’ out of this whole theater backdrop thing.”

His eyes sparkled. “Good. I might miss the show this semester, but do you think you could save a ticket for me for spring?”

She chuckled, and the guard behind him at the door glared at the two of them. She supposed this was far lighter than most discussions in this room.

They talked for a bit, and she finally asked what she’d been wondering.

“Who was driving the car? When Emily was on the hood?”

He tilted his head at her. “I told you it was me.”

“And I don’t believe you.”

Julian’s lips twitched. “Oh yeah? Who do you think it was?”

Jodi looked him over. “The only person you’d take the fall for. Who we’d all take the fall for.”

He pressed his lips together, a smile bitten back. “Not you though. You wouldn’t have.”

“No. I wouldn’t have. Not if they’d asked me to testify.”

He sighed.

“I wrote to Hannah,” he said, and she blinked. “I don’t know if she read it, but it doesn’t really matter. That’s up to her.”

“What did you say?”

“‘Sorry.’ I meant it, too.”

Jodi nodded. “Do you remember the weird texts we were getting? It was Hannah.” Julian’s brows lifted. “She was really angry and trying to … I dunno. Maybe make sure Emily wasn’t forgotten?”

He shifted in his chair. “Yeah.”

“A lot of the other weird stuff stopped. Lucy says she doesn’t wake up like she’s being watched anymore. Paige doesn’t either. I used to dream of her—I don’t know if I told you that—but that’s stopped, too.” She took a deep breath. “I guess it might have all been in our heads. Guilt playing with us.”

The guard stepped forward and gestured to Jodi. “Time’s up.”