The Thrashers(23)

Jodi watched her chin wobble and wondered how Paige Montgomery, who had friends in every class, five extracurricular projects a semester, an entire dance team in another town that she saw on weekends—how Paige could be that afraid of being lonely. Then Jodi remembered the wild way her eyes searched for help on the street outside Burr’s, how she said she couldn’t breathe, how she felt she was being watched. Maybe it wasn’t being lonely she was afraid of. Maybe it was being alone.

Lucy stood. “No, this is right. We have to make changes.” Her voice was firm, and Paige seemed to nod her acceptance. “I have to get home and talk to my dad,” Lucy said. “My uncle is a defense attorney.”

Julian and Paige followed her into the kitchen to get their things.

“Jodi, do you need a ride?” Greg asked.

She thought of her empty house and the millions of notifications on her phone about tonight’s vigil.

“She can stay, right?” Zack asked. “We can take her home in the morning?” His eyes were red-rimmed.

Greg agreed and left the dining room to make up a guest room for her. Jodi smiled softly at him from across the table, and then went into the kitchen.

Zack said his goodbyes to everyone else from the doorway, and Jodi rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher, swallowing back the lump in her throat.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Zack leaning on the kitchen island. She wiped her hands and faced him.

His mouth was open, like he had words to say if only his throat would move. A harsh sigh fell out of him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, sniffing. He pressed his palms into his eyes and slapped his face awake. “I’m sorry about all of this. I should have listened to you all when you said not to be nice to her.”

Jodi’s breath caught in her chest, but still she asked, “Did you sleep with Emily?”

He shook his head, eyes crinkling in pain. His voice choked out the word, “No.” Then he was reaching for her, burying his face in her neck. His breath was hot on her skin and his arms were tight on her ribs.

She held him as he cried, hoping this moment could be worth all the things she was sure to miss as her life broke into pieces.





Chapter Seven





At seven in the morning, Hank Dillon trundled down the Thrashers’ drive in the Corolla. Jodi stood from the window seat and sent Zack a text to say goodbye and to call if he needed anything. She slid into the passenger seat, buckled, and let her dad wring every answer out of her.

That morning, her dad called a friend from high school who was a lawyer, but not a criminal one. He gave them both some peace of mind on what they could expect over the next few days.

“Just the media, if anything,” he assured them on speakerphone. “If cops come to the door, call a lawyer immediately, but if they didn’t have anything on Jodi last night, they don’t have it. She’s a minor. They won’t want to make this messy.”

Jodi cooked eggs for the two of them while Hank took notes.

She didn’t hear from the others all day. Paige sent a picture of her cat to their Snapchat group in the afternoon, but Zack was silent. Probably grounded because he failed chemistry and therefore being watched carefully by Greg.

On Sunday night, she pulled Monday’s clothes out of her closet. A jean jacket Lucy had bought her, Skechers from Zack, a necklace from Paige. She could feel like her friends were with her in small ways.

Hank made tacos for dinner, and it was almost nice how rattled he was about it all—he’d forgone drinking to oblivion, sticking with a can of Bud and nothing else.

At bedtime, Jodi stared at her empty notifications before asking Lucy in the Snapchat group if she got her schedule changed.

ya i have english with julian still, but i changed everything else

no drama with you jo. Sorry

Jodi stared at the phone. She didn’t even want to take drama class. Paige did. Then Paige needed Model UN, so it was only Jodi and Lucy. Now it was just Jodi.

She’d have to drop it tomorrow. There was no way she was getting left behind only to end up playing a tree.



* * *



The moment Jodi stepped on the bus Monday morning, she decided to ride her bike for the rest of the year.

There were rows upon rows of classmates staring at her, some lifting cool, assessing brows. Jodi realized most of them had seen her face on the news three nights ago.

She inched to the back, passing full seats and finally dropping into an open aisle next to a kid with a lip ring and large headphones.

She’d been stared at before, mainly in jealousy or—what Jodi assumed was—confusion. How did she end up a Thrasher?

But this felt different.

The bus rumbled to a stop at school and she let herself be jostled off, pouring out into the warm morning. She wound through the crowd to the locker she’d had for three years. Paige had had the one just next to hers since sophomore year, but when Jodi twisted the combination and unlatched, a pink note fell out.

I had my locker changed. see you in English

Jodi stared down at it. Paige’s precise but flowery letters looked out of place. She crumpled the note and stuffed it into her pocket.

Everything seemed out of place. It was like a nightmare version of senior year. She had never aimed to be “popular.” It wasn’t her entire goal like it was for the kids in high school movies. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that she aimed to stay popular, but really, she just aimed to stay with Zack, to be needed or wanted. It wasn’t until walking into Se?ora Barnett’s class that she saw the flaw in all that.