Player by Laura DeLuca

decided to go to school, even though he still wasn’t feeling one hundred percent. His father had actually taken the day off from work, and the last thing Josh wanted was to spend the whole time hiding in his room avoiding him. He’d rather be with his friends.  Andrea had already left without him, assuming he’d be home awhile longer, so Josh jumped into his father’s Mercedes and stopped to pick up Rosa along the way.
    “Good morning, beautiful.”
    Josh leaned over to kiss Rosa’s cheek as she slipped into the passenger seat. She lifted her braid onto her lap to avoid catching it in the door. “I guess you must be feeling better if you’re starting the day off with corny lines.”
    “How is that corny?” Josh pouted. “You are beautiful.”
    Rosa blushed and cleared her throat. “Are you really sure you’re okay to go to school? You’re not going to pass out or anything? Seriously, I can’t handle that again.”
    Josh squeezed her hand as he pulled out of her driveway, feeling grateful for her concern. “I’m fine. Besides, I have some investigative work to do. I plan on finding out who slipped me that rat poison.”
    “It sounds like you already know,” Rosa observed.
    Josh was quiet for a minute. He watched as houses and a few stores zipped past his windshield. Fall leaves fluttered to the ground, and a few landed on the hood of the car while they were stopped at a red light. He felt his fingers grip the steering wheel aggressively as his angry thoughts inched their way to the surface.
    “I have my suspicions,” Josh replied, making an effort to keep his voice calm and steady.
    “Well? Don’t keep me in suspense.”
    “I think it was Bryan Grant,” Josh announced, deadpan. “I know for sure that he hates me enough to do it. He trashed my Mustang. I’m sure of that. Why wouldn’t he take things a step further?”
    “There’s more than one step between vandalism and attempted murder,” Rosa reminded him. “If Bryan did do this, he’s really dangerous.”
    “Tell me about it,” Josh said. “That’s why I need to take care of it now, before he takes another shot at me.”
    Rosa shivered and zipped up her jacket, but it wasn’t because of the cool autumn morning. “But how could he have done it? When would he have had access to your medication?”
    Josh thought about it for a minute. He had only considered the motive, not the means or the opportunity, but the answer seemed obvious. “He must have done it while we were at wrestling practice. I usually don’t bother locking my stuff up in the locker room.”
    “If that’s the case, anyone could have done it. How can you be sure it was Bryan?”
    “Who else would want to hurt me?” Josh asked her.
    “What about Elena? Or that new girl, Nadine?  Even the girl from the arcade could have snuck in while you were at practice.” Rosa reached out her hand, and touched the still tender scratch on Josh’s cheek where Jasmine had clawed him. “They were all angry with you. And to be honest, poison sounds more like a woman scorned than a brother defending his sister’s honor.”
    “I just can’t believe any of them would be capable of something like this,” Josh said as he pulled the silver Mercedes into the student parking lot. “I know they have their moments, especially Elena, but I can’t imagine them physically hurting anyone. And Nadine, well, she would never be able to come up with such a complex plan.”
    Rosa frowned. “I don’t think you give Nadine enough credit. She’s in some of the honors classes with me, and she does pretty well. I overheard her telling someone she got a 1400 on her SATs and from what I hear, she’s already been accepted to a few really good colleges. I think the airhead thing is just an act because she thinks the guys like it.”
    “I had no idea,” Josh said thoughtfully. “Still, I don’t think she would hurt me. And Elena looked really surprised when she saw me in the hospital the other