Poisonous: A Novel by Allison Brennan

all his classes so he didn’t lose the scholarship offer from UCLA, he liked helping his mom out because she was having trouble with her arthritis, shit like that. But really, getting stoned wasn’t his cup of joe. Who needed that shit in their bodies? He saw what it’d done to his buddy, the kicker. Went from a decent runner to dead last in laps because he just couldn’t keep up with the pack.
    Lunchtime traffic through town sucked. By the time Travis got to Bailey’s school, the girls were walking from the cafeteria and gym back to the main building.
    Almost immediately, he spotted Bailey, even though all the girls were wearing the exact same uniform, plaid skirts and white blouses. Some wore blue sweaters, but most didn’t because it was warm.
    Bailey was drop-dead gorgeous, the type of pretty other high school girls would kill for, with beautiful long blond hair that she wore pulled back when at school. But looks alone were not what made her stand out from the other students. It was her poise. Bailey was tall and slender, and had a distinctive, confident stride.
    But maybe she just stood out to Travis because he had known her since they were six.
    The school yard wasn’t fenced, but he didn’t dare walk onto campus. He illegally parked in the school lot and ran over to an oak tree by the main entrance. He was probably breaking a hundred rules. Ignoring the many girls looking at him as he partially hid behind the oak, Travis kept his eyes on Bailey.
    At first she didn’t see him, then she did a double take and stared at him in shock. Finally she frowned and Travis felt the urge to run over and throttle her. They’d been friends for fucking forever, and now Bailey was playing games? What did she think he was going to do after finding that flip phone in his locker? Roll over and do whatever she said?
    He motioned for her to come over. She said something to the other girls she was with, then glanced around before approaching him.
    “What are you doing here?” she said. “You can’t be here.”
    “Why’d you leave a phone in my locker? Why can’t you just call me?”
    She stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Travis. You need to go.”
    She was nervous, which told him everything he needed to know. “Fine, you don’t want to talk about it here. Tell me what you know about the reporter.”
    “The reporter? What do you know about that?”
    “Nothing! You must know more than me.”
    Bailey shook her head. “My mom and I were in Boston this weekend touring Boston College and Amherst. When we got home last night there was a message on our answering machine from someone named Maxine Revere. She said she’s the host of a cable crime show and wants to talk to me about Ivy’s death. My mom doesn’t want me to call her back. She hopes she’ll leave us alone if we don’t respond. Did she call you?”
    “No,” Travis said. But she could have called his house today. His parents were working. There could be a message on his answering machine, too. His heart raced. What was he going to do? Ignore her. He’d ignore her, like Bailey.
    “I have to go to class, I’m going to be late.”
    Travis still wasn’t sure if she’d left the phone in his locker. But if it wasn’t Bailey, who the hell would it be?
    He said, “If you want to talk to me, just call me, Bailey. Stop with these stupid games.”
    She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Travis, but I’m not playing any games. We can never go back to the way things were, and I’ll never call you.”
    She walked away. Travis didn’t know if she was lying to him and playing with his head or what. But she knew about the reporter, she didn’t deny it. Fine, if she didn’t want to talk to him, he didn’t have to respond to her stupid text messages ever again.

 
    Chapter Eight
    Parked across the street from Tommy Wallace’s school, Max sat in the rental car with a clear view of the campus’s special