Page 73 of A Scandal in Homeroom
I tilted my head in the direction of the stairs leading to the second level. Were they giggling? Were they all sitting on Irene’s bed, while she was wearing my T-shirt, with nothing on underneath, and giggling?
About me?
“Fun?” I questioned.
“I’ve heard it’s amusing,” Croft said, then reached for his second piece of toast.
An illuminating conversation with my brother to be sure.
* * *
Reen
“You mean it,guys. You forgive me?”
We’d been crying for a while. About Beth’s dad, what had really happened to her family. Then Janie asked me if I was wearing Locke’s T-shirt, and suddenly, we were all laughing because it was obvious we still really loved each other.
Now, I felt this huge rush of relief.
“I don’t have much choice,” Janie said. “You’re my sister.”
“Well, I do have a choice. I’ve already got three sisters,” Beth said.
“Four,” Janie corrected her. “You have four sisters.”
“Did I forget Mary again? Shit. I have to stop doing that. Anyway, I forgive you, too. I had a taste of what it’s like to have nothing. That sense of desperation is real and serious. All this time, I’ve been so blind to what you’ve both been going through. I’m sorry. My privileged self is very, very sorry.”
I hit her gently in the arm. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Let’s face it, there are reasons why we keep secrets. Like how Janie won’t tell us what happened between her and Ed this past summer.”
“Nice attempt at distracting us,” Janie replied. “But it won’t work. We need to focus on what has to happen now.”
I nodded. “Right. About that. I’m going to ask Locke to help.”
“And you think he will?” Beth asked. “Not just for his own agenda, but to actually help you?”
I smiled. “I’m pretty sure he’s already working on a plan. We have to figure out what our roles are going to be in that plan. Because we’re not just going to sit back and be saved by the guys.”
“Hell no,” Beth said.
“We’re not freaking damsels in distress,” I added.
“We control our destiny,” Janie said.
That’s right. Girl power was potent stuff.
“Asking for help is not an admission of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. Locke is super smart and very observant. These are tools we can utilize.”
“Not to mention he obviously has ties inside the police department,” Beth added. “He got ahold of Fitz’s arrest report, like, the day after it happened.”
“So we talk to him, figure out his plan, and let him know that we’re not going to be bystanders,” Janie summed up. “We can do this.”
Gingerly, I got up from the bed. Twisting left and right to see how my ribs were. I was sore, but movement was manageable. I turned back to the girls and Beth snorted a laugh.
“What?”
Janie also quietly laughed.
“What?” I asked, more forcibly.
