The Thrashers(96)

Oliver didn’t say a word as they capped the paint cans, scrubbed out the brushes, and took rags to the walls and tables that had gotten messy with Jodi and Julian’s paint fight. He didn’t ask what kind of mess this was or why she left it.

After half an hour had passed, she looked up from the lab table and watched Oliver’s back as he stood at the sink.

“Did I Thrash you freshman year?”

He continued like he hadn’t heard her. Then his voice lilted to her. “I thought you didn’t believe in that word.”

“You told the investigators that you were Thrashed. They told me the examples you gave them, like Paige’s hair at homecoming and Lucy’s pool party—”

“Oh, that was nice of them.”

“Did Julian and Zack say something to you?”

“They didn’t have to. It’s always the lack of attention with people like them.” He turned off the water and grabbed a towel to squeeze the brushes dry. “I believe you when you say that Zack has no idea what’s going on … ever. But it was pretty clear after Halloween freshman year that I was no longer welcome.”

Jodi’s brows furrowed. “Halloween?”

He looked up at her. “You don’t remember?”

She searched her memory. It was a party at a bowling alley. It was actually Jodi’s idea. They’d gone as the Ninja Turtles—the girls in spandex, Zack in a green suit, and Julian as a side character Jodi had never heard of. It was probably Jodi’s favorite Halloween since high school started. There were about twenty other kids from school there.

“Were you not invited?” Jodi asked hesitantly.

Oliver’s lips curved into a cruel smile. “I was. I was there. There were six to a lane, and I joined yours. And when I came back from the bathroom, the game had started, and there were only five names on the screen. The Thrashers only.”

Jodi’s heart pounded in her throat, choking her. “Oliver…”

“And you don’t even remember me being there, Jodi. So there’s your answer.”

She wanted to fight the idea that she was to blame. She wanted to ask if he made an effort to say hi. She wanted to blame him for not speaking up about it. But she bit her tongue and accepted the hit.

“I was really distracted that night. And I didn’t think about you. I’m sorry.”

Oliver chuckled. “Well, don’t apologize three years later. And you weren’t distracted. You were pretty focused on Zack—on how to be special to him. You’ve always had your focus there.”

She nodded, swallowing back tears. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s always been the case.”

“It’s whatever. In the past.” He dropped the clean brushes back into the brush jar. “We’re friends now.”

She felt her chest warm, hearing him acknowledge it. Jodi grabbed her forgotten shoes from last night and fiddled with the buckle as she tried to form the question she wanted to ask.

“I know things now,” she said softly, thinking about Zack, about Julian. “Things I didn’t know before, when I was questioned.”

She checked in with him. He tilted his head at her, and his magenta hair fell into his eyes. He shook it back with a flick and sighed.

“Well, you can stay quiet, like a good little Thrasher. You aren’t fighting for your own innocence, so it’s not like you have a reason to trade information.”

Hearing him say it was like a warm breeze washing over her. I could.

“Or,” she prompted.

“Or…” He smiled at his shoes.

She took a deep breath, thinking it over. Sending Zack to jail. Giving Julian up to the investigators.

“What do you know about Reagan seeing Lucy throw the bottle?” she asked.

“I think it’s bullshit. But she does live on the street where it happened, so … I dunno.”

Jodi picked at one of her cuticles and said, “Someone told me Emily was obsessed with me at the end. That it wasn’t about Zack anymore.”

“Ohhhh yeah.” Oliver laughed, grabbing his keys. “That’s definitely true.”

She stared after him as he headed toward the exit. “How … Why? I don’t get it.”

He pushed open the door and stopped to wait for her. “That’s your problem, Jodi. You’ve always thought there’s someone more special, more deserving. Zack Thrasher’s life, his comfort, his happiness—it’s always been more important to you than anyone else’s.”

She followed him out and let her mind race as she sat in his car. He pulled out of the parking lot, and just as he flicked his blinker to turn left, she said, “Can you take me to Zack’s house?”



* * *



Charity Thrasher let her in with a curious expression, explaining that Zack was probably still asleep.

“That’s fine. Can I just hang out by the pool?”

She took one look at Jodi’s paint-smeared sweats, oversize T-shirt, and determined face, and sent her outside with a smile. Jodi watched the water move in the pool, focusing on what she’d come to say. Ten minutes later, when the back door slid open and Zack’s tousled head appeared, he nodded to the pool house and followed her inside.

He looked like shit. Surprisingly. Dark circles under his eyes and puffy skin. She wondered if he’d drunk himself into a coma on her account.