Projection (27 page)

Jessica shook her head. She couldn’t begin to imagine.

“He’s been buying clothes from Abercrombie. At first I thought, you know, he’s always hanging around with those high school kids. Maybe he’s dating one of those little idiots and buying her stuff. In which case I’d have him arrested for statutory rape. So I called the store, and I had them pull up the receipts and read to me what he’d bought.”

Jessica tried not to balk at this suggestion. She couldn’t think of anyone at her school who would possibly want to
have an affair with Rob. For one thing, they’d all be too terrified of getting caught by Michelle. She bit her lip to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “And? Was it girl’s clothes?”

“No. It was all guys’ stuff. Jeans, T-shirts, hoodies, cargo shorts.” Michelle let out a bitter laugh. “Like he’s preparing to be Mr. Single Guy, and he thinks he’s still a seventeen-year-old. Does he really think women won’t realize he’s almost forty if he dresses like he’s in high school?”

The
click
in Jessica’s head was almost audible. She stared at Michelle. “What did you just say?”

“I asked you if he thought women won’t realize he’s almost forty if—”

“No,” Jessica interrupted, waving her hand impatiently. “Before that.”

“That he thinks he’s still a seventeen-year-old?”

Jessica nodded. “Yeah,” she said, so faintly she almost didn’t hear herself. She sprang up from the bed. “Get up,” she commanded to Michelle. “I need the chair.”

Jessica snatched the chair from under her as she stood, almost knocking Michelle off-balance. She placed it in front of her closet and climbed up onto it.

“What are you doing?” Michelle wanted to know.

But Jessica just held up an index finger as she pulled a shoebox down from the top shelf of her closet. “Come on, come on, be in here,” she said to herself as she rifled through the contents of the box. Pictures of her parents, certificates from when she used to take gymnastics, a ticket stub from a Black Keys concert she’d gone to with some girls at boarding school. “There you are,” she breathed.

She lifted up a booklet of cream-colored paper that had been stapled down the middle.

Michelle peered over her shoulder. “Why are you looking at your middle school graduation program?”

Jessica held up her finger again as she scanned the pages, looking for the list of awards.

The color drained from Jessica’s face as she looked up at Michelle.

“Jessica, what is going on?”

She could barely even manage a whisper. “Michelle, did you ever tell Rob about the Plotinus Ability, or anything about Plotinus at all?”

Michelle looked at her with disdain. “What? No, of course not. What does that have to do with anything anyway?”

Jessica ignored her question and asked again. “Do you swear? Do you swear on your career that you never told him?”

“Yes, I swear
on my career
,” Michelle answered with an eye roll. “What’s going on?”

But Jessica shook her head. “I have to go out.”

Michelle’s mouth opened. She looked Jessica up and down, taking in her tight black jeans and low-cut tank top, as if just realizing that she was dressed for a party.

“What do you mean, you have to go out? Cancel! What I’m going through right now is more important than some date with Connor Matthews!”

“I’m not going on a date with Connor. I mean, I was, but not anymore. Look, there’s something I have to do, but I can’t tell you what it is right now. Not until I’m sure. But it has to do with Rob leaving you.”

Michelle’s eyes flashed. “Jessica, tell me right now!” she commanded. “Right now or so help me God, you will not leave this room until you go to college!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” She reached out for Michelle’s hands and held them. “Look, I know that we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I’m on your side with this. I swear I am. I just need for you to trust me right now, and I’ll explain everything to you as soon as I get back. Please, Michelle. I need you to let me go out right now.”

Michelle’s narrowed eyes searched Jessica’s, then softened. She dropped Jessica’s hands. “Be home by midnight. And you tell me everything the minute you walk in that door.”

“Fine. Deal.” She smiled at Michelle and put her hands together under her chin, bowing slightly at her. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Dozens of cars lined
the street outside Jasper’s house; Jessica had to park almost two blocks away to find a spot. She texted Connor as she walked on the sidewalk toward the sound of a thumping bass.

Can’t pick u up. So sorry. Will explain l8r. Meet me @ Jasper’s. xo

Inside, the house was packed with people from school; mostly juniors and seniors, but a few bold sophomore girls had shown up as well, overdressed in short skirts and their mom’s high heels. Jessica pushed through the crowds in the hallway, turning her head in every direction as she looked for Ariel. She spotted Molly Carson in the living room and made her way toward her.

“Molly!” she shouted. “Molly!” The music was so loud Molly couldn’t hear her, so Jessica grabbed her arm.

“Oh, hi, Jessica!” she yelled. Her eyes were glassy and Jessica could tell she was already drunk. “Where’s Connor? You two are so cuuuute together!”

“Have you seen Ariel?” she asked, ignoring the Connor remark.

Molly snorted. “Uh,
ye-ah
. She came with
Gretchen
. Can you believe that? I mean, talking to her at lunch was one thing, but bringing her to a party? Seriously?”

Jessica took a step back, trying to hide the surprise she was feeling. She hadn’t known that Gretchen was coming tonight, but she didn’t want Molly to know that they’d left her out of the loop. Or that she was suddenly feeling insecure about having been left out. But she didn’t need to worry; Molly wasn’t paying attention to her at all. She’d closed her eyes and was swaying drunkenly to the music.

“So have you seen them?” she asked.

Molly moved her head up and down in an exaggerated motion, as if her neck muscles had turned to jelly. “They were in the kitchen before.”

And they were still, Jessica discovered, as she made her way past the double islands and found Ariel and Gretchen standing near the stainless steel, sub-zero refrigerator. They both gave her the same wary look as she approached them.

“Hi,” she said, taking an accusatory tone.

“Hey,” Ariel answered coolly.

“I need to talk to you both. In private.” She looked around for somewhere quiet where they could talk, but every square inch of the house seemed to be filled with people. “Can we go outside?”

They found a secluded spot on the side yard under a small, covered area where Jasper’s parents kept the trash bins. It smelled of wet paper and rotting vegetables. Jessica crossed her arms and eyed them both suspiciously.

“So, what, you throttle her, she kicks you in the stomach, and now the two of you are going to parties together?”

“I called Gretchen to apologize to her,” Ariel explained. “And I invited her to come with me. I thought it would help her to take her mind off things, even if just for tonight.” She looked down at the floor. “I wanted to apologize to you, too, but I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.”

“No,” Jessica said with a sigh. She slumped her shoulders and dropped her arms to her sides. “You don’t need to apologize. I think you might actually be onto something.”

Gretchen’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure exactly. Look, Ariel, I need to talk to Nick, but he doesn’t trust me. The only way he’ll tell me anything is if he thinks I’m you.” Jessica shook her head ruefully. “I promised myself I would never do this again, but I need to project with you. Tonight. Now.”

Ariel made a
yeah, right
face and took a step away from Gretchen. “Did you know about this?” she asked. Gretchen shook her head no, but Ariel made a face like she didn’t believe her.

“Ariel, it’s over,” Gretchen said gently. “You didn’t kill my mom. I know that now. And we don’t want to get revenge on you anymore. We’re your friends. For real. What you did at school the other day … it was really nice of you. I didn’t think you’d changed, but I see now that you have. You can trust us.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “For real,” she added.

Jessica nodded in agreement. “No more secrets between us, okay? No more secret plans, no more hiding things from each other. From now on, we tell each other everything.” She exhaled slowly. “I’ll start. When Gemina and Plotinus projected, they got stuck in each other’s bodies. Forever.”

Gretchen’s face went white. “Oh, my God,” she whispered.

“That can happen?” Ariel asked. Her eyes had nearly
doubled in size. “How come you never warned me that that could happen?”

“I didn’t know that it could happen until today. It’s not like I want to get stuck.”

“We shouldn’t do it, then,” Ariel insisted. “I’ll talk to Nick. What do you need to know about that’s so important?”

“I need to know what Rob’s been talking to him about. Look, I think Rob’s planning to leave Michelle, and I think he’s planning to use Nick to help him. But you can’t do it. There’s no way that I can explain to you what the right questions are to ask about Rob. It has to be me.” She looked at them both with a serious stare. “But this has to be the last time, and we have to do it completely by the book, with Gretchen as the witness.”

“I don’t know,” Ariel hedged.

“Look, I don’t want to get stuck, either. But it’s always worked for us before.” She glanced at Gretchen. “And if I’m right … well, then we’ll finally know the truth.”

Gretchen gasped, then quickly put her hand over her mouth. “You don’t have to, Ariel,” she said. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to do it.”

But Ariel was silent. They both watched her as she took a few moments to think it over. Finally, she nodded. “I’ll do it.”

Gretchen began to softly cry. Jessica grimaced. “Okay. We change back the second I get what I need from him. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Jessica’s heart pounded in her ears. “All right. Close your eyes, and try to clear your mind.”

Ariel did as she was told, and Jessica whispered the words in Greek. “
Écho exorísei aíma egó dió xei ostó n, proválloun ti n psychí mou se állo spíti
.” Then she leaned in and put her mouth on Ariel’s soft, gloss-sticky lips.

•  •  •

“There you are,” Nick
said, grinning as she walked over to him. “I’ve been looking for you all night.”

Jessica put Ariel’s arms around his neck and pecked him on the cheek. “Sorry. Girl issues.” She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I heard you came with Gretchen. How’s Jessica taking that?”

She tried not to flinch at the knowing look he gave her. The look that said:
Jessica is such a nightmare. I’m sure she’s being her usual nightmare self
.

“Oh, you know, she’s Jessica, but she’s handling it okay.”

“Did you ever find out why she hated Gretchen so much?” He raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice to sound mock-seductive. “Were they together?”

He’s such a dolt
, Jessica thought. She chose her words carefully. “No. And I don’t think she actually hated Gretchen, either. I think she was just embarrassed about that old video, and she was worried that if people saw them hanging out together, they’d think … well, they’d think what you’re thinking. But she couldn’t win, because people just thought that anyway.”

Nick shrugged. “I guess.” He pulled her closer to him. Jessica could sense that he was losing interest in talking.

“Oh, hey, speaking of Jessica, is Rob at this party? Apparently he went out hours ago, and nobody’s been able to get a hold of him. Jessica thought that maybe he was here. Have you seen him?”

Nick frowned but didn’t answer her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. He pursed his lips and looked down at the ebony-stained, hardwood floor. “Nick, what’s going on? Did something happen with Rob?”

“That guy’s an asshole,” he finally said.

“Why?” Jessica asked. The word came out of her mouth slowly, as if it had been marinating there in molasses.

Nick glanced at the people standing around them in the hallway. “You can’t tell anyone about this,” he urged. “Do you understand?” Jessica nodded. He bent his neck forward so that the top of his head was touching the top of hers.

“He’s blackmailing me,” he whispered. Jessica could smell the beer on his breath. She looked at him with wide eyes. “He’s going to walk out on Michelle. Just disappear. He has some money—I don’t know how he got it—but he said she’ll freeze his bank account as soon as she realizes he’s gone. ’Cause, you know, technically it’s half hers, so legally she can do that. But he wants to hide the money in my savings account, just for a little while, until he gets situated in a new city. I’m supposed to wire it back to him when he contacts me.”

Jessica could feel her blood running hot and fast in her veins. “And what if you say no?”

“Then he’ll tell coach about how he gets us alcohol for parties. He has pictures of almost every guy on the team drinking, sometimes on the night before a game.”

Jessica shook her head. She didn’t understand. “So what?” she asked.

Nick glared at her. Their faces were so close, she could almost feel the annoyance emanating from his eyes. “So what? Ariel, we’d all get suspended from the team, and the season would be over. No chance of state. No chance of divisions, even. And forget about getting recruited for college.”

She closed her eyes. So
that
was why Rob was always so eager to supply liquor to her friends. She’d always thought he just wanted them to think he was cool. She would never have
guessed that he was really trying to collect damning evidence against them.
Well played
, she thought.