Snitch (22 page)

“Who traced it?”

“I don’t know.
The school.
The police.
Her parents.
I don’t know. I just know there’s going to be a hearing, and everything is going to be dredged up again. Kate called me hysterical last night because even though she wants to stand up for herself, she just wants to start over. She didn’t think she would, but it turns out she likes her new school and she likes this
Michael
guy. She doesn’t want anyone there to find out what happened, but her parents won’t give her a choice. They want
Chrissy
to face fines and jail and whatever other punishment they can get for her.

“
Of course,
Chrissy
says it was all Seth and Charlie’s idea, but no one can prove that, and with the pep assembly, which
Chrissy
also says was just a weird sign thing that happened
,
she’s toast. She’s in real trouble, and what if
people start tweeting again, what if
the newspap
ers find out and write articles? They love to write about bullying these days…”

Liz stopped talking long enough to wipe her nose with her sleeve and drop the final bomb
.
“And I’m
the main
witness.”

I was too shocked to say much, so Liz started talking again.

“I know I have to tell what I saw and what it was like and what
Chrissy
said that day in class, but I don’t want to get this all started again, and part of me feels like I am betraying Kate and her new life, and part of
me doesn’t want to be the hallway drama queen again, and part of me feels like I need to stop crappy bullies like
Chrissy
, but…”

“Whoa. Wait.
Stop.”
I held her face between my hands. “Are you going to do this?”

She wiped her nose again before nodding quietly. “I have to. I have to stand up for what is right.”

“This is going to suck.”

“I have to do what is right.” She kneaded her hands together. “But I need to know one thing because, well, I need to know…Did you mean what you said the other night?
Because if you don’t anymore, I understand.
You might not want to be seen with me after all this gets going. You might not like me anymore, let alone…” Her eyes, red and swollen searched mine.

And right there, in the middle of
Emerson Family Park
, I kissed her long
and hard trying to make the pit in my stomach go away.

Johnny finally answered his phone on the fifth ring.

“Dude, I have been calling you for two days now,” I told him. “Did you go out of town?”

“No. I’ve been home. I’ve been home most of spring break.”

“Oh.” I paused feeling that familiar pit settle in my stomach again. “Didn’t you get my messages?”

“No, I’ve been busy.”

The pit less
e
ned but didn’t go away. “What’s been going on? I’ve been out of it for so long, I feel like I’m totally out of things.”

“Nothing.
Nothing’s happening.” Johnny was silent.

Great.
He was mad at me. He said he was busy, but he also said he had spent most of his time at home. It was probably that whole
you’re spending too much time with Liz and not me
thing. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m great. Why
? Don’t
I sound fine?”

I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to tell him I knew why he was mad and it was stupid and juvenile
.
I wanted to laugh about things like we did in the old days, but instead I ended up reasoning with him
.

“I’ve been sick, Johnny. I’ve been puking and hot for a week. It’s not like I forgot about you or anything.”

Suddenly, Johnny-boy was back, cutting up and quick. “This is one weird phone call. I still love you too, Andy-O.”

“Let’s do something this weekend,” I suggested. “If there is one thing that would make this shitty vacation better, it would be another game of paint ball.”

Johnny paused,
“I can’t. I got stuff I have to do.”

And then things were awkward again.

“Okay. If you
have
stuff
…I guess I’ll call you later.” I hung up feeling horrible. Johnny was my best friend
,
and I was losing him.

I was kicking back watching some stupid reality show when
Liz’s ringtone sounded.

“I did it.” Liz said. “It sucked
,
but I did it. I had to go into this room where all these people in suits sat around a table and asked me questions.”

“Hang on,” I said running up the stairs to my room where I had a little privacy from Sarah’s big ears. “Okay.
Talk.”

“I had to testify. I don’t even know who was in the room, the judge, for sure, a couple of lawyers, and maybe even some people from the school district. Anyway, they asked me all these questions about what happened and what
Chrissy
said in class about not liking snitches. Remember that day?”

I did, and wished I didn’t.

“She’s in so much trouble. I actually feel kind of sorry for her.”

“Did they say anything about the
Facebook
page?”

“Not much. They just wanted to know if I saw it or posted anything. They know she posted it
—at
least they act like they do. Anyway, I was in
there for about a half
-
hour, and then Dad drove me home. Andy, I told them the truth, but every time I think of it, my stomach gets upset. I hate this. I hate all of this. Why did it have to happen?”

I had no answer, just one more question
.
“Did they bring up anybody else’s name?”

“Nope.
It was all about
Chrissy
.”

I smiled to myself. That was just the way
Chrissy
liked it most of the time.

***

Surprisingly, it took a few days before the shit hit the hallway gossip fan. A few members of the cheerleading squad, who by this time didn’t have any sports to cheer for, put their efforts together to let us know how pissed off they were by dramatically glaring or turning their disgusted faces from us anytime they walked by us. Liz found a few notes shoved into the slots of her locker that were nasty and, of course, anonymous. Whispering and pointing from a few self-appointed hallway divas became an art form. But there wasn’t much more than that.

Liz said she was okay, but I noticed her red eyes and smeared makeup on more than one occasion and I know the counselor called her in a few times. I was way beyond caring about the smack or the haters
talking it. My main concerns were Liz and Johnny. Liz was stressed and sad; Johnny was quiet and distant. It was obvious he, Wes
,
and Seth had been spending time together because I saw them more than once, heads bent together deep in discussions or slapping each other on the back. They had private jokes, private history I wasn’t a part of. Even Charlie was on the outs; I wondered if he hurt as much as I did.

Liz blew into science and motioned me over.

“It’s over,” she told me. “I just got the text. The judge ruled in favor of Kate.
Chrissy
was charged with cyber bullying and
has to go away
. Besides that
I think there’s going to be some big fine her parents have to pay. Did I do the right thing? Was it worth it?”

Almost
in
divine intervention, Jeff Underwood
, probably the most unpopular kid in all of ninth grade,
rolled into class, books in one hand, a candy bar in the other. He wedged his oversized body into a desk, too small for comfort and adjusted his glasses.

“Geez,
Underwood
!” a female voice admonished, “Put down the candy bar, will
ya
?
They don’t make desks
any larger!
”

Jeff froze and stared stoically ahead but couldn’t stop the embarrassment from coloring his
pudgy
face.

The girl laughed loudly. “Look at him blush,” she squealed.

“Yeah,” I said. “It was.”

***

I was surprised that night when the house phone rang and it was for me. Mrs. Palmer was on the line trying to locate Johnny.

“I was hoping he would be with you,” she said. “He’s not answering his phone.”

I knew that scenario well, but I had had Johnny’s back all these years and wasn’t about to let him down now.

“His ring can be really hard to hear. I tried to get him to change it and I don’t think he did.”

“Do you have any idea where I might find him?”

I did, but I remembered the party a few weeks ago and wasn’t going to tell her about it.

“No,” I lied. “I can make some calls and have him call you.” Those words came out easy because that part was true.

Mrs. Palmer sighed in relief and thanked me. “Do you know those boys he’s been hanging around with?”

“Sure. They’re on the basketball team. You’ve seen them before.
”

Mrs. Palmer hesitated. “Okay. It’s just that I haven’t seen you around much lately.”

“I’ve been kind
of
busy.” I could barely admit how guilty I felt to myself; I wasn’t going there with Mrs. Palmer. “Let me make some calls.” I dialed Wes.

“Hey, it’s Andy. Do you know where Johnny is?”

Wes paused
,
“Yeah. He’s here.”

I waited through some awkward silence. “Can I talk to him?”

“Sure. Sure. I’ll get him.”

What was going on? My brain could no longer deny something was wrong.
First Johnny, now Wes.
My stomach turned as I came to the only conclusion I could: the Seth
-
Charlie
-
Chrissy
thing was far from done. And it was costing me my friends.

“Yeah.”
Johnny said.
His
voice
was s
hort and curt.
Great.
No happy-to-hear-from-you Johnny here.

“Excuse me for interrupting. You
might
want to know your mom’s about to go ballistic looking for you. You
might
want to check your phone.”

Johnny paused. “Sorry, dude. Thanks. Thanks a lot. I’ll call her.”

I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help myself. “What the hell’s going on? Why are you acting like this?”

“Acting like what?
Nothing’s going on.
Nothing.”

“Fine,” I said. “If nothing is going on, meet me before school tomorrow outside the gym. I’m sick of this.”

I hung up and threw my phone. I was going to get to the bottom of this for once and for all.

***

Johnny met me before school wearing a smile, but I knew him too
well; it
was a fake smile. I could tell because his eyes were dead. Dark and flat like my dog who had been hit by the neighbor’s car
when I was eight
.

“What’s up
,
bro?” he asked, offering me a fist bump. “Thanks for saving me with Mom last night. I didn’t hear my phone.” He laughed a little too loudly.
A fake laugh to go with a fake smile.

“You must not read your messages either.”

“C’mon
,
O, don’t be
hatin
’
on me.”

I squared my face with his.
“Enough
,
Johnny.
Tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t give me shit. I’ve known you for too long. Is it the whole
Chrissy
thing? Is it you deciding that what Seth and she did
was
okay? Are you his boy enough to make you forget you were actually friends with Kate?”

I had Johnny’s attention now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about
,
”
he said, a
nd I could see he didn’t.

I changed direction. “Is it Liz? Is it you’re jealous of Liz?”

“Dude, you are seriously crazy
. D
o you know that?”

“No. What I KNOW is that you never return my phone
calls.
That you never hang with me anymore, and that your new best friends are Wes and Seth. Seth, you know, the guy neither one of us was too crazy about a few months ago?”