Part 13 (1/2)

Chapter Eleven.

Maybe metaphorically hitting back at JoJo did some good, because the next morning she finally came through with something. Not much but then again, it could cut our job in half. If she was telling the truth, and if she was actually remembering the right things. I wanted to trust her, but so far she hadnt given me a whole lot of reason to do so.

Wed ignored each other all morning, but she called to me just as I was leaving my room for my jog. Or should I say, 'our room.

I didnt even try to hide my sigh. 'Is it important? I paused. Actually, the quip that came to mind was 'Is it life and death? Oh, I guess its too late for that. But, I dont know blame my weariness with the whole situation, but I just went easier on her.

She was frowning; concentrating. 'I think its a girl. Then as quickly as shed spat out the words, she clammed up again.

'What? Thats it? Still she said nothing. And it was obvious that was it.

A girl? Since JoJo hadnt given birth, I a.s.sumed she meant the Manic Messenger was female.

Great!

Maybe . . .

Outside, minutes later, my head reeled. Frustration pushed me to go harder than I should have. My Nikes. .h.i.t the pavement with a rhythmic thud that morphed into a m.u.f.fled squelch as I moved onto the sand. I loved running. What other girls in my year got out of a facial or a hot-rock ma.s.sage, I got out of running. The sun beat down, warming my skin; transforming the ocean into a starburst of sparkling diamonds that showered me with a fine mist each time a wave crashed onto the sh.o.r.e. It cleared my head, it centred me; it gave me perspective. Usually. And after the run last night, Id expected a reasonable result.

But today all I felt was the burn of muscles that protested at being dragged through the soft sand. The whole time I ran I focussed on JoJos words. A girl . . . The more I thought about it, the more sense that made. I mean, JoJo thought the person who had the phone was a girl. Truly, this was really more of a girl crime. Like, would guys actually be bothered? If it didnt involve their d.i.c.ks then they probably wouldnt even care. Theyd be like: 'Shes dead. Good.

So, for arguments sake, if it wasnt a guy then that only left . . . the Angels. Which in a way was no big revelation. I mean, my snooping such as it was had really only involved the Angels, so maybe subconsciously I was already at that point.

But what if JoJo didnt know what she was talking about? It wasnt like shed come up with anything else that was helpful.

Eight kilometres later, and back in my own driveway, I still hadnt moved past the problems piled in my overflowing inbox.

It was lunchtime before Seth called. As much as I wanted to share the news of JoJos revelation, I hadnt ha.s.sled him because I knew hed want to spend time with his dad. I also knew Macey would be juggling the mixed emotions of elation over her blog news and surfing a downer for a few days because her dad was leaving again, so I hadnt gone there either. Avoiding the folks and Simon seemed a good idea as well, so I went out and helped Carlos pull weeds for a couple of hours.

Seth picked me up and I surprised him with a hug. His eyes searched mine, but I was pleased to see there was no terror lurking in his.

'Dont ask. Its just good to see a friendly face.

He nodded, but he did keep shooting me little sideways glances as we drove to Kristies out on Paradise Island. I didnt bother explaining; I wasnt p.i.s.sed off so much as I was just kind of down, but I had to hand it to him, he was a great distraction. Especially when he put his mind to it.

When I caught one of those darting looks, he grinned back, one eyebrow raised as he said, 'Youre looking really hot, Wills. The cute smile got cheekier. 'I mean, not that you dont usually look good, but . . .

I grinned back. 'Just that sometimes I look like a dog?

'No! His eyes crinkled and the grin became a chuckle. 'You always look hot, its just that today you even look hotter.

'Yeah? Thanks! And as he stared at me, that familiar tingle started working its way up my body. Nice.

So Seth liked my outfit? As my blood turned to warmed honey, I tried to swallow the little smile of contentment that was sooo trying to break out. Blame JoJo, but I had gone to a bit more effort her no-touching point had been clear. She thought I was a fas.h.i.+on-challenged scrag, and while those things would never worry me as much as it did her, it did p.r.i.c.k a sense of pride. Feeling good, I looked down over the tight, straight, gold-and-brown ta.s.selled mini made from some Indian fibres that sparkled in the sun. The boutique Id brought it from had teamed it with this bright-yellow ruched b.o.o.b tube, so it had made sense to get that as well. And I had to admit the topaz, beaded gladiator sandals Macey had picked to go with the outfit were perfect, both in colour and style. Id straightened my hair and matched my makeup to my outfit, finis.h.i.+ng with some bronzey lip-gloss.

For once I felt professionally put together and when every other part of me was falling apart, that really helped in a weird way. Like the glue or the wrapping holding it all in place.

I felt myself relaxing and we talked about his dad for a while and I avoided telling him about mine. Easier that way. But I did tell him what JoJo had said. Seth nodded. He totally got the girl thing. It made sense to him as well, and while we couldnt rule out the guys completely, we agreed to focus on the girls first.

We werent far from the house when I remembered what else Id needed to ask Seth. 'Hey, did you bring my phone?

He shot me a frown before turning back to the road. 'I havent got your phone, Wills.

His frown was catching. 'No, seriously, I argued. 'You put it in your pocket yesterday when we were getting off the boat. Remember?

'No, seriously, he imitated, 'I didnt. I was going to. Remember? And then you took it back and shoved it in your bag.

The scene played back slowly. He was right. I had put it in my bag; thered been a bit of a crush as we alighted. Someone had b.u.mped me and thats why Id thought it was safer in my bag. So why wasnt it there when I looked last night? Mentally I shook myself. Itd turn up; Id probably dumped it down somewhere and couldnt remember.

But . . . 'So, I didnt leave it at your house?

He shook his head. 'There was nothing left on the table and thats the only place we were.

Okay, it was at home. But then, why hadnt Suzy picked it up? She was pretty n.a.z.i about the tidy thing which I secretly loved. So where? Stop! I had to stop; my head already felt like a maze, and really? On the Richter scale of drama in Willow Cartwrights life, the lost phone scored about a one. I decided to forget it Id find it when I got home later.

Which was a good decision, considering wed arrived. Kristies house was big and right on the ca.n.a.l. It was one of the originals built on the Island, so it still had that sixties look about it that most of the neighbours had remodelled out. There was a sombre feeling to the house; dark and subdued, in total contrast to the gleaming suns.h.i.+ne that almost demanded that everything sparkle. While we waited for the door to be opened I thought about Kristie. What was her story? She was pretty wild and out there and yet . . .

The door was answered almost immediately by a person I a.s.sumed was Kristies grandmother until Seth addressed her as Kristies mother! Wow. Headspin. Absolutely, totally nothing like Id expected. Mrs Negerson was kind of old-looking and frumpy, yet when I looked closely at her face I figured she wasnt that much older than Mimi. Maybe five years or so.

It was her clothes and hair that threw me. No makeup or hair colour here, just dull brown, with grey that was seeping through to form this band around her hairline and face, giving the illusion of someone older than she was. The rest of her hair was pulled back in a really tight bun, and she wore this flowery-print, shapeless dress. Surprise hardly covered it. This was the GC; upper-cla.s.s GC. In the world of tans, tyc.o.o.ns and tinsel, she was a standout.

I noticed she was giving me the once-over as well. And she wasnt impressed, which was totally weird given that compared to Kristie Id probably be called conservative! Or maybe the disapproval was Seths hand resting on my bare shoulder. His very warm hand on my very bare flesh . . .

She spoke precisely and didnt really smile much, even though she was saying all the right words to make us welcome. Funnily enough, she was achieving the exact opposite. One glance at Seth told me he was feeling the same like we were in some sacred place where one unexpected sound would bring the whole place tumbling down over us.

Creepy was the word, which was crazy considering the place was all clean and neat. The furniture was heavy and old-fas.h.i.+oned, not typical GC style, and there was all this really ugly stuff on walls and in the dark wood units.

Museum! It hit me thats what this place was like. A museum. Probably this stuff was worth a fortune, which was way too much to pay for the nightmares it would give me.

'Ill just call Kristie; shes studying. She paused on her way towards the staircase. 'I must say, its nice to meet some of her friends she doesnt have many people call around. However, I would have imagined you two would be studying as well. Exams are only a few weeks away, so Im sure youll have to be on your way soon.

And she wonders why Kristie doesnt have people around?

I was about to whisper those words but then someone else walked in and the words stalled. Id thought Mrs Negerson was a surprise, but that was nothing. This was more than a headspin; this was a total head rotation. In fact, I was actually sooo close to asking the girl in front of us to identify herself and perhaps my response hinted at that.

'Kristie? Kristie who always had everything hanging out?

The girl in front of us nodded, though her eyes were having trouble meeting ours. Hey, not that I blamed her my eyes were so not helping! Man, they were everywhere; I didnt know what to look at first. The really ugly below-the-knee-length, flowery full skirt? The baggy, high-necked T that covered e-ver-y-thing? The ugliest chunky leather sandals I had ever seen? I looked more closely. No makeup. No nails. No jewellery, and what was with her hair? More obviously, what was with her b.o.o.bs? It was like theyd deflated! Majorly!

She bore almost no resemblance to the Kristie we knew and when I finally caught her eye, I realised how hard this was on her. Id told Seth yesterday she was a fake, but Id had no idea just how true that was.

But the big question was why?

'Um, is there somewhere we can talk? I whispered, because it seemed the thing to do in this mausoleum.

She took a peek over her shoulder and led us out through some heavy doors and into a side garden. I noticed there were no windows on this side of the house, and it was blocked off from the water by a high wall and maybe thats why we went there. No one could hide and listen to conversations and I figured Mrs Negerson would be very good at that.

The garden was very protected, like a little haven, and Seth nabbed one of the two chairs sitting at the matching wrought-iron table and dragged me onto his knee so there was a free one for Kristie. By now her face was even tighter, and she looked almost green.