The Clique (14 page)

              “Maddie? What are you doing here?”

              Deep breath
.
“Hey Kate. I, um, I have something I need to tell you.”

              “Okay?”

              “Can I come in?”

              “Uh, yeah, sure.” Kate lets Maddie in and they find seats on the couch.

              “So, last Friday—uh, you remember Nate’s party?”

              “Yeah,” Kate replies, in a worried tone.

              “Well, Devon and I were waiting to get in, and we saw—“

              “You saw it too?”

              Maddie nods. “Kate, I’m so sorry.”

Aude shoves a spoonful of cereal in her mouth. Yesterday was like a day out of a nightmare. Being forced to wear those horrible clothes reminded her of elementary school, how she begged her mom to buy literally anything else. Middle school, how the other girls all made fun of her.

              But then she met Kate, and all of that changed. No matter what had happened before, Kate wouldn’t make Aude suffer through reliving those days
.
But yesterday, she had. No one laughed at Aude openly anymore, but she saw the looks, the how-the-queen-has-fallen
looks.

              The clanking of her spoon against the empty bowl shakes Aude out of her reverie for a moment. She must have finished without noticing. She stares at the porcelain bottom, slipping back into her thoughts. Even after Maddie helped her out, the looks had continued. Like everyone knew how she looked in her real clothes now, and anything else was a lie.

              Whatever she did must’ve been bad. And there’s only one thing Aude can think of that qualifies.
I should’ve just said no,
she thinks.
I should have let him dump Kate.

              If Kate knows and wants to punish her, then Aude decides to let her. No borrowing clothes from other friends.
I’ll show her that no matter what she wants to do, our friendship means more to me.
Aude sighs and gets in her car.

              She drives to Kate’s house and rings the doorbell. Kate answers. “I thought I made myself clear yesterday. You aren’t allowed to use my house anymore.”

              “Yeah, I know.” Aude stands at the entryway. “Can you please just tell me what I did?”

              “You should know exactly what you did.” Kate’s eyes flash dangerously. “Honestly, what kind of a best friend are you! He was my boyfriend!”

              “He made me! Kate, it was just a kiss.” Aude frowns at her. How could a kiss make her so angry?

              Kate glares back. “Don’t even bother lying to me.”

              “I swear, it was just a kiss! And I didn’t even want to do it. But he said if I didn’t that he would—” Aude searches her friend’s face for some sign of sympathy.

              “Bullshit! Maddie saw you! She saw you, Aude!”

              “She saw me do what!” Aude takes a step back. “What exactly did she say she saw me do?”

              “Fucking Sean.” She spits the words out and slams the door.

              “What? But…“
Aude can’t think of any argument that would work, if Kate truly believes that. She knows what sex means to Aude. She wouldn’t ever—couldn’t ever, especially with Sean. And Maddie… Aude can’t figure out why she would lie like that. The only answer she can come up with is that she did something wrong and Maddie wants payback—but she can’t remember doing anything to hurt Maddie. She sits on the front step, her long skirt already heating up in the early morning sun.

              Kate reopens the door. “What are you still doing here!”

             
Maddie—lied.
Aude tries to figure out how to make Kate see that. She turns to her friend. “I’m here to give you a ride.”

              “But I already told you I’m not letting you in!”

              “Yeah, well, I know. But you’re still gonna need a ride to school.”

              “I’ll figure something out.”

              “Like yesterday? Did you call in sick or what?”

              “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going with you.”

              “Yeah, you are. My best friend needs a ride, and I’m here to give her one. Kate, you can yell at me as much as you want, but I’m taking you to school.”

              “I don’t want to go anywhere with you! Now go!”

              “No.”

              “Excuse me?”

              “I said no. Kate, I don’t care what you want to do to me—heck, kick me in the face if you want. But I didn’t do what you think I did. So as far as I’m concerned, we’re still best friends.” Aude sticks out her jaw stubbornly.

              Kate snorts. “Wow, you’re such a good liar. But do you really think you can get away with this if you just keep pretending like nothing happened? Maddie saw you, Sean confessed to it—hell, I even remember wondering where you two were! When we were setting up, right? That’s why you wanted to be there early!”

              “No.” Aude traces a crack in the cement to keep the tears at bay. “I swear, Kate, it was just a kiss. He, uh, he wanted to do more but I didn’t let him. I said that you were my best friend and I would never do that to you.”

              “Do you even realize the irony of what you’re saying?” Kate moves to slam the door again. “Don’t be here when I get back!”

              But Aude doesn’t leave. A black car drives by, and she looks up at some rainclouds forming overhead, but she can’t convince herself to move. If she stays there long enough, Kate will have no choice but to believe her.

              Kate yanks the door open. “Ugh, I’m gonna call the cops!” Aude notices that her friend looks almost as bad as her: disheveled hair, wrinkled clothes, and lipstick that doesn’t quite cover her lips.

              “Fine, call the cops.” Maybe they can get to the bottom of this.

             
“You little—!” Kate walks over to Aude’s car and waits by the door.

             
Well, at least she’s letting me drive her,
Aude thinks
.
She unlocks the door and begins the most awkward drive to school ever. Kate glares daggers at her the whole while, and when they arrive she just gets out of the car without a word.

              Aude looks straight ahead.
Yup. Definitely gonna rain. Oh, come on, just get out of the car. It can’t be any worse than yesterday.
A pair of girls point and giggle at her as she steps down to the asphalt.

              School starts before Audrey makes it to the front doors, so she heads to English class instead of the usual hangout. She nearly bumps into Mr. Silveris as she leaves out of the staircase.

              “Hey there, kiddo,” Mr. Silveris says. “Love your outfit! Very conservative.”

              Aude nods, following him toward the classroom. “Uh, yeah, thanks.”

              “So, listen, your essay about the seven levels of hell—“ he holds the classroom door open “—I gave it an eight.”

              “Wow, thanks.” Eights in an AP English class—at least the AP English at George Washington—are nearly unheard of. Maybe a single student gets one a semester, but often as not no one does. But the information hardly helps Aude’s mood. There’s only one thing that can: absolution.

              Kate studies the wall as Aude finds her seat. Even Hannah seems colder than normal. Mr. Silveris starts in on his lesson and when he asks the class to divide into pairs, Kate chooses Hannah and Aude’s stuck with a butter-faced boy with overly long brown bangs.

              “So, I thought your thesis was really good. But your third paragraph sounded a little weird to me.”

              Aude shakes her head. “Huh?”

              “I, uh, that is, I said—“

              “Never mind. Here’s your essay. I marked everything wrong in a red pen.” Aude turns around in her chair.

              “Well, I only wrote down like half of what I wanted to say.”

              “Fine. Whatever.” She doodles until the end of the hour.

              “Alright, class dismissed,” Mr. Silveris says. “I hope your partner helped you out, because I expect a revised copy of your essay on Monday.” He gives a serene smile and nod to each student as they leave.

              “Excuse me, Mr. Silveris?” Aude hangs back until the entire class is gone.

              “Yes, kiddo?”

              “Can I talk to you, about something personal?”

              “Of course.”

              “Do you have a class next hour? It might take a while...”

              “Nope. I’m free as a bird, kiddo. So what’s the matter?”

              Aude sits on top of the nearest desk. “Um, Kate’s mad at me—“ she takes a deep breath “—because one of our friends said she saw me at a party, doing things with her boyfriend. Kate’s boyfriend, I mean. And I didn’t, but Maddie said I did and I don’t know why she’d do that and I guess Sean said I did too, even though it isn’t true.”

              Mr. Silveris scratches his beard. “So, she thinks you betrayed her. You say you didn’t, but of course she won’t listen. She’s made up her mind. I don’t know if there’s an easy solution, kiddo. Kate is an intelligent girl, though, and so are you. I’m sure you’ll find a way to straighten things out.”

              Aude’s first reaction is a strong desire to shake her teacher and say something to the effect of “that doesn’t help at all!” Instead, she shrugs and stands up to leave.
“Thanks.”

              “Do you know why your other friend would concoct such a lie?” Mr. Silveris asks.

              “No. That’s the weird thing. I thought we were really good friends.”

             
“Hmmm. Maybe that’s the right question to ask. If you find out why she lied, maybe you can convince her to tell the truth.”

              “Oh.” Aude cracks a small smile. That might actually be useful. “Thanks!”

              “You’re very welcome. And hey, I love the new style.”

              Aude leaves the classroom. Although she tries to corner Maddie before Stat, it doesn’t work. Maddie sits in a different spot, too, so Aude can’t talk to her during class. And after, she rockets out, like she knows Aude wants to confront her.

             
For lunch, only Hannah shows.

              “Where’s Maddie?” Aude asks.

              “I dunno. Listen, did you really sleep with Sean?”

              “No! I didn’t sleep with him! Look, he told me that if I didn’t kiss him, he would break up with Kate in front of everyone. He locked me in a freaking bedroom! What was I supposed to do?”

              Hannah purses her lips. “She said Maddie saw you. I just—I guess I don’t know how you could betray her like that.”

              “I didn’t! Please, Hannah, I really need a friend right now.”

              “Hmm…” Hannah frowns, inspecting Aude’s face like she’ll find the truth written on her cheek. “Okay. God knows I’ve done some horrible things, too. Let’s go to lunch.” It’s evident from her response that Hannah still believes the Kate version of the story, but at least she’s still willing to talk to Aude.

             
They go to Wendy’s, pick up some fries and Frosties, and eat in Aude’s car. After lunch, Audrey heads for her student assistantship in the Tech Room.

              “Whoa, Aude, you skipping out on church or something?” the Design Projects teacher jokes.

              Aude replies with her best withering look. “I’m not in the mood.”

              “Oh, okay. Sorry. Well, I was gonna ask you to show the drafting kids how to use Solid Edge, but if you want—you look like you could use a break. You wanna hang out in my office a while?”

              “Yeah, sure.”

              “Okay, Aude. There’s sodas in the fridge, if you want one.”

              Aude heads to his office. She grabs a root beer and pops the lid.

              She’s just settled into the teacher’s chair when her partner from English walks into the room. “Oh, uh, hey. Sorry, I didn’t know you were here. I’ll just go.”

              “No, you can stay.” Aude twists to look at the brown-haired boy. “I could use someone to talk to.”

              “Okay, yeah, cool.”

              “I’m sorry I was mean in English. I just feel like—I dunno, I’m not having the best day.”

              “Why not?”

              Aude laughs. “Well, my best friend thinks I slept with her boyfriend, all my other friends do too, and I can just imagine how
my
boyfriend is gonna react when he hears.”

              “Oh.”

              “Yeah. And it gets better. These clothes I’m wearing? This is what my parents want me to wear to school, because they’re insanely restrictive… And normally, Kate and I have a workaround, where I go to her house and change. But because she’s so mad at me, she wouldn’t even let me do that. So I get to come here dressed like Little House on the Prairie, while everyone giggles and laughs at me.”