The Perfectionists (26 page)

Everyone gasped. Caitlin clamped her mouth shut, her skin prickling. She pulled into an empty parking lot. A dingy brick building housing a plumbing supply store loomed in the distance. Across the street, the bright lights of a 7-Eleven cast an eerie pallor on the pavement.

“But that's good, right?” Caitlin broke the silence, twisting around and looking at Julie. “I mean, why would Granger have it buried in his yard? The fact that he had it will be incriminating.”

“It would have been, if we'd left it in his yard.” Julie started opening files, staring down at the screen. “Now, as far as anyone knows,
we
have it.” She moved her finger on the trackpad. “His email is on here. The messages are current up to the day he died.”

She turned the screen so that Caitlin and Mackenzie in the front seat could get a good look. Caitlin watched as she opened the
Sent
folder. Caitlin leaned over to see better, her eyes widening. There were dozens of emails to Lucas Granger.

Julie opened the first. The subject line read only
Extra Credit
.

Hey Mr. G—I think that you may have made a mistake when you graded my paper on Jean Cocteau. I'm pretty sure it should have been an A.

Then Julie clicked on an attachment. It was a still shot of Mr. Granger leaning toward Justine Williams. Ava gasped.

Then Julie opened an email that said
Field Trip
. Caitlin squinted at the message.

You're a funny guy, Mr. G. Unfortunately I cannot provide all originals unless we double the amount we previously agreed on. My car got keyed again. Fixing that is expensive, you know?

“Like Nolan needed teacher-salary-level money,” Mackenzie muttered. “The guy was loaded!”

“Let's try not to feel too sorry for Granger,” Julie snarled.

Caitlin's heart pounded. She reached for her phone in her pocket. “I'm calling Detective Peters. This is some serious proof that Nolan was blackmailing him.”

“I
told
you,” Ava said.

“Yes, do it,” Julie ordered.

With shaking fingers, Caitlin dialed the station. It rang six times before someone picked up. “I need to speak with Detective Peters,” she said after the officer identified himself. “Please,” she added.

The officer snorted. “Peters is off duty. Do you want to leave a message?”

She blinked. Since when were detectives off duty? She thought they were like doctors, always on call. “Is his partner there? Detective Mc . . . McGillicutty?”

“Miss, if you haven't noticed, it's ten
PM
. Is this urgent?”

“Well, it's really important. It's about the Nolan Hotchkiss case. I've . . . found something. Maybe I could drop it with you?”

The cop paused, almost like he was considering it. Then he said, “You'll have to speak to Peters. I'll tell him you're coming. What's your name?”

Caitlin froze. Something about telling him her name seemed like a bad idea, but she did it anyway. The cop repeated it back to her, and then said Peters would see her at noon tomorrow. Then the line went dead.

Caitlin turned to the others, her mouth hanging open.

“Well?” Mac asked. “Are we going?”

She shook her head, explaining what had happened. Julie's shoulders slumped.

“What should we do in the meantime?” Mackenzie asked.

They all went silent for a long moment, thinking. Then Caitlin started her car again. “I guess we do what we have to do,” she said. “We get through the night . . . and then we go rat this jerkwad out.”

She dropped off the girls at the parking lot where they'd left their cars. They made a plan to meet the next morning at the police station. Then Caitlin pulled away, her head humming. Even though she knew she should go home and get some rest, she knew she'd be too wired to sleep. She needed to talk to someone.

And suddenly, she realized who that someone was.

Ten minutes later, she pulled up to the Fridays' curb. Most of the windows were dark, but a single one shone in the basement. Caitlin's heart thudded as she slipped out of the car. Mercifully, Josh's car wasn't in the driveway. He had texted her earlier this evening, asking if she wanted to go out with his buddies to celebrate winning the big game on Wednesday—something she'd barely
thought
about since it happened. But he hadn't seemed particularly bummed when she declined. Besides, it wasn't Josh she wanted to see tonight. It was Jeremy.

Caitlin tiptoed around to the back of the house where the basement windows were and peered inside. Her heart lifted. There was Jeremy, sitting on the couch, watching Cartoon Network, looking adorable.

She tapped once on the window. His head immediately snapped up, and his face brightened when he saw it was her. He leaped to his feet and unlocked the basement door. “What are you doing here?” he asked in a bewildered voice, his cheeks flushed.

“I—I wanted to see you,” Caitlin said, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

“I thought you were out with Josh,” Jeremy said. Then he looked at her carefully. “You seem . . . frazzled. Is everything okay?”

Caitlin looked away. Of course she wasn't okay, but there was no way she was going to drag him into the Granger nightmare. “I've just had a confusing and weird couple of days.”

Jeremy cocked his head. “I thought you'd be on cloud nine. You know, after the soccer victory.”

Caitlin shut her eyes. She
should
be on cloud nine. She'd scored three goals in that game. The UDub recruiter had spoken to her personally afterward, saying there was a spot for her on the university team. Her teammates and her moms had swarmed her, giving her huge hugs, and she'd
wanted
to feel elated and victorious, like she used to when the team had a win. But she felt as if there were a hole in the part of her that used to love soccer. Or maybe everything else she was worried about—thinking about—was taking up all the available space.

“There's more to life than soccer,” she said simply, looking at Jeremy.

“Gotcha,” Jeremy said, nodding. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Um, do you want to come in?”

“Yes,” Caitlin said, surprised at her forwardness. She was even more surprised when she took Jeremy's hand and let him lead her through the door. The basement smelled like popcorn, and the family's dog, Scruffy, lay on his bed in the corner. He noticed Caitlin and wagged his tail, then put his head back down.

“Hey, Scruffs,” she said.

Caitlin and Jeremy sat down on the couch together, their knees touching. Jeremy turned down the sound and stared into her eyes.

“I missed you,” Caitlin blurted.

“I've been thinking so much about you,” Jeremy said at the same time.

They both sat back and awkwardly laughed. Then Caitlin reached out and touched his smooth cheek. Jeremy shuddered. He lifted his gaze to her again and leaned forward. Their lips touched, and tingles shot up Caitlin's spine. Oh, how she wanted this,
needed
this. It immediately washed all her bad feelings away.

She wasn't sure how long they kissed, the light from the anime film flashing against their faces. Finally, Jeremy pulled back, out of breath.

He grabbed her hands. “Caitlin,” he said softly, “I want to be with you.”

She pressed her lips together. “I know.”

He took a deep breath. “But I get that it's . . . complicated.”

Caitlin bit her lip. It was obvious what he meant. It was weird, too—here she was, in Josh's house, Josh's basement, on a couch where she and Josh had made out hundreds of times. It was so familiar, and yet it was also totally . . .
new.

“I mean, you and Josh are still together,” Jeremy said carefully. “But you don't want to be with him, right?”

Caitlin cleared her throat. “No,” she admitted. “I don't think so.”

Jeremy's eyes gleamed. “Are you ready to be with me? To, like,
really
be with me? Not to hide under bleachers. Not to sneak around in my basement. Because I'm ready to be with you.”

It was such a simple question, but it gave Caitlin pause. She thought about what would happen if she broke up with Josh. What the team would think. The parties she probably wouldn't be invited to anymore. How uncomfortable it would be next year at UDub.

But all that she could get past. It was the part about their families that tripped her up. Her parents, Josh's parents—they were so
into
them being together. Would her moms be disappointed in her?

Then Jeremy leaned forward and kissed her again. Suddenly, all of Caitlin's doubts faded away. She slid her hands up his tight abs, breathing in his scent.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Jeremy, yes. I'm ready.”

His lips moved tenderly across her neck and jawbone, and she closed her eyes, tilting her head back. That was when she saw the slice of yellow light from the door up the stairs. And that was when she saw a figure standing in the doorway, staring at them.

Caitlin shot back as Josh walked down the stairs, but it was too late. His gaze moved from Caitlin and then to his brother. His lip curled, and his nose wrinkled. His hands became tight fists.

“Josh,” Caitlin blurted worriedly, afraid Josh might punch his younger brother. “It's not his fault.”

Josh stared at her again. “So it's
yours
?” His nostrils flared. “He's had a crush on you for
years
, Caitlin. I just never thought you'd fall for it.”

Then the basement door swung open wider. Caitlin turned. Josh and Jeremy's parents appeared down the stairs. Both of them were in bathrobes and socks.

“What's going on here?” Mr. Friday said sleepily. Then he noticed Caitlin. “Caitlin?” His voice grew stern. “I didn't realize you were over.”

“Oh, Caitlin wanted a little alone time with Jeremy.” Josh's voice was bitter. “Isn't that right, Caitlin?”

All eyes turned to her. There were all sorts of words jammed in Caitlin's throat, but she couldn't quite get them out. She felt Jeremy sitting next to her, waiting for her to tell the truth. To say,
It's right. I've chosen Jeremy.

But somehow, even though it was true, she just couldn't do it.

Instead, she felt herself jump up from the couch and back toward the basement door. “Um, I have to go,” she blurted, fumbling for the knob. “I'm sorry.”

The knob turned in her hands, and she fell through the door and into the garage. Just before she shut the door, she turned back and gave everyone a final look. The fury was clear on Josh's face. Mr. and Mrs. Friday looked tired and confused. And then there was Jeremy. His mouth hung open. His eyes turned down at the corners. He looked like Caitlin had just slapped him.

But all she could do was stab the button to open the garage door. It growled to life, and she didn't even wait until it was fully up before slipping outside. No one ran after her as she sprinted to her car. Maybe because no one knew what to make of what had happened.

Or maybe because they did.

VERY LATE THAT NIGHT, PARKER
reunited with Julie at Jaime's Big Bite, the only twenty-four-hour restaurant in Kirkland, a town twenty minutes away from Beacon Heights. On the wood-paneled walls, which dated back to the early eighties, were faded photographs of breakfast food. According to Beacon Heights High lore, an order of Jaime's chicken and waffles with a side of maple bacon would magically soak up all the alcohol from your blood and leave you hangover-free the next morning. Back before everything bad happened, Parker and Julie used to stop there on their way home from a party, Parker stoned or drunk and Julie usually sober, since she was the one driving. They would split a massive order of fries and an Oreo shake and giggle over everything crazy that had happened that night. Looking around the restaurant, Parker saw versions of their younger selves doing that exact thing, girls with wilted hair and smudged makeup laughing at stupid drunk jokes. She felt a familiar pang in the pit of her stomach for what could have been . . . if only.

A waitress sat them under a portrait of French toast, and Julie ordered chili fries for both of them. She and Julie sat on the same side of the table, a habit they'd instituted early on, mostly a tongue-in-cheek parody of all the lovey-dovey high school couples who couldn't bear to even spend a single meal not holding hands. Tonight, though, they held hands, too. Parker didn't know about Julie, but gripping someone else's palm kept her hand from wildly trembling.

“Thanks for getting me out of there,” Parker mumbled as the waitress placed the fries on the table mere seconds after they ordered.

“Of course,” Julie said, grabbing the ketchup bottle. “There was no way I was risking you getting caught. I don't think you could have handled it.”

Parker nodded. “You're probably right.”

They didn't say much else while they ate. Parker's hands continued to tremble as she swiped a cheese-and-chili-powder-covered fry in ketchup. She felt as if she hadn't eaten in days. She'd had no appetite lately, with everything going on. But maybe, finally, the nightmare was almost over.

She looked up, getting an idea. “Next year, let's go as far away from this shithole as we can,” she suddenly blurted.

Julie blinked, then picked up another fry. “Where do you want to go?”

Parker shrugged. “Your Spanish is good. Let's go live in Mexico. Cabo, Cozumel, Cancún. Somewhere on a beach. I bet it's cheap.”

“What about college?”

Parker snorted. “No one's going to take me with my grades. And besides, there's no way my mom will pay for it.”

Julie looked down at the plate. “Yeah, I don't know how I'm going to pay for it, either. I think I'm going to be stuck here—UDub's resident tuition isn't cheap, but if I work, I should be able to manage it.” She saw Parker's face and frowned. “Wait, are you serious?”