Page 118 of The Forever After Bet

“Join the club,” Chanel says with a chuckle.

“What about Bree?” Alison asks.

“She says that she has something against me. Something big, that, if it came out, would ruin my chances of being valedictorian and even affect the college scholarships I could qualify for. Do you know what that could be?”

“Oh, my gosh, that stupid bitch,” Alison hisses, stomping her foot.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.” My heart is in my throat, and my palms are sweaty.

Alison purses her lips. “Kenton Smith.”

“Kenton Smith?” I repeat the name, then worry my bottom lip, and shuffling through my memory for a face to go with it. “We had science with him, right?”

“Yes. He moved here two weeks into the school year, and his family moved away in February. I remember because they rented the house across the street from me.” Alison turns to look out her front window.

I wipe my sweaty hands on my practice skirt, trying to remember anything I can about Kenton. “He was smart, smarter than me. I remember I used to complain about him a lot.”

“Uh yeah.” Alison rolls her eyes.

“Did something happen between you two?” Chanel asks.

“Not that I can remember. I remember I became obsessed with my science grade because he was doing better than me.”

“Don’t you remember the science fair that year?” Alison asks, arching an eyebrow.

I shrug. “I remember half of my display got ruined, and Kenton said I could put my name on his. We used the parts that weren’t ruined on mine in his.”

“He let you put your name on his project?” Alison asks.

“Yeah. I spent all the lunch period trying to fix the unfixable, but it couldn’t be saved. Kenton found me sobbing over my wrecked project. Mrs. Allen was in the room, and since we’d both picked the same topic, he asked if we could combine our projects. She said yes. We spent the rest of lunch and even after school fixing the display.”

“I didn’t know that,” Alison whispers, running a hand through her hair. “You gave me your first-place ribbon, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” I nod. “You were upset you didn’t place.”

“I was mad because I thought you stole Kenton Smith’s project and got first place. I would have gotten a third-place ribbon instead of coming in fourth.”

“You thought I stole his project?” I ask.

Alison nods. “I cut myself on that stupid rusty watering can and it was all for nothing.”

“You’re the one who ruined my project. Mrs. Allen thought the watering can accidentally fell on it, but it was you.” I stomp my foot angry.

“You always won. I just wanted to do better than you for once,” Alison yells.

I cover my hands over my face. “I really was a terrible friend, wasn’t I?”

“We both had our faults, but I was worse. It was easier to hate you and date Jack. That’s what he wanted. Then you caught Jack and I kissing at the party. Something inside me snapped. I’m sorry for the way I treated you. It was wrong. I’d spent all day with Bree and Melissa. They’d filled my head with how much better I was than you and what a terrible friend you were. I believed them, and I shouldn’t have. Bree is a master manipulator. She breaks you down and then builds you up for her own needs.”

Chanel sighs. “Being friends with her made me crazy. You never knew what kind of mood she’d be in.”

“I still have that ribbon hanging on my mirror. She asked me about it, and I told her how you stole his display.”

“It was just Lakland Middle School’s science fair. Middle school grades don’t count toward valedictorian.”

“But the three top placements were entered into the city-wide science fair., Where your project took second place. You got that big trophy and cash prize.”

“I got the trophy but didn’t get any of the money. They wouldn’t split the prize money. So, I let Kenton have it.”

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