scared?” James lurched toward her again.
Warning bells sounded in Lina’s ears. This was not going to end well. But she stayed where she was with her camera trained on the two of them.
Rose paused and shook her head slowly. “Not scared. Not exactly.”
“Well, you should be. You need to stay the hell away from me. Everyone does.”
“But it was supposed to be me.” Rose said the words so quietly that Lina almost missed them. “I was supposed to be with you that night. Not Willa.”
James let out a short bark of laughter. “Oh! So you have a death wish? That’s why you’re talking to me all of the s-s-sudden.” He slurred his words. “It’s all coming together now.”
Rose spun and bolted.
Lina ducked down, fiddling with the camera to turn it off. Her hands trembled. Enough was enough. She had no desire to watch two attempted date rapes in one day. The red light of the camera finally blinked off. She started toward the pool house door. This tango was over. But by the time Lina made it out to the pool, James was collapsed at Rose’s feet. She scowled at Rose.
“He fell. Tripped over one of the chairs. And now he’s out.” Rose kneeled down and started unbuttoning his shirt while Lina stood there gaping at her. A pool umbrella lay beside James’s limp body. Either it had fallen from the table a good ten feet away or someone had grabbedit. “Well? What are you waiting for? This is it. Get the camera.”
“Did you …?” She wanted to ask Rose if she’d hit James with the umbrella. She wanted to apologize for being such a bitch and questioning her loyalty to Willa. She wanted to thank her for being able to fix the mess Lina had made of this entire day, but instead, she obeyed Rose’s order without so much as a peep. It was the best Lina could do. Besides, these pictures? They were going to be worth way more than any of her words.
Chapter 14
For the first time in a long while, Lina woke up without the feeling of dread heavy on her chest. It took her eyes a second to adjust to the morning light filtering in through her blinds. Her entire back wall, crown molding to baseboard, was covered in photographs. Most were from school, her friends bunched together with arms slung around shoulders, smiles so big they threatened to take over entire faces, wearing everyone’s clothes but their own. And then there was summer. Hawthorne Lake, bikinis, sunshine, and beach parties. Early lunches, late dinners, illicit happy hours. Home. Madge, Sloane and … Willa.
Lina’s smile vanished. She shot up in bed, her hands reaching for her neck, gasping for air as if ripping a hole in her throat might help her breathe. But it was no use. At least she’d had a few minutes of happiness this morning. That was longer than she’d had in ages.
The girls were due to meet at their usual spot in the Club’s attic, and because Rose kicked ass last night, Lina actuallyhad something to show for an otherwise waste of a day. So strange: the only thing Lina had been right about when it came to Rose McCaan was her atrocious fashion sense. The girl had proved herself and beyond.
Lina slipped into a fitted cotton dress—it skimmed her mid-thigh—and a pair of wedges that added more height to her already statuesque frame. Every single psychiatrist she was forced to talk to told her she was obsessed with her appearance to compensate for feeling like an outcast as a kid. After the third lecture, she got her first tattoo. It hurt like a bitch, but the shock on her shrink’s face had made it completely worthwhile.
When she raced into the attic, breathless to see the look on Madge’s face at the pictures they’d taken of James last night, Rose was the only one waiting. Her hair had frizzed into a comically large halo around her head. In her defense, it was about a million degrees up there. Lina touched her closely cropped hair to make sure it hadn’t curled in the heat. Nope. Straight as a bone, as always. This is why God
Warning bells sounded in Lina’s ears. This was not going to end well. But she stayed where she was with her camera trained on the two of them.
Rose paused and shook her head slowly. “Not scared. Not exactly.”
“Well, you should be. You need to stay the hell away from me. Everyone does.”
“But it was supposed to be me.” Rose said the words so quietly that Lina almost missed them. “I was supposed to be with you that night. Not Willa.”
James let out a short bark of laughter. “Oh! So you have a death wish? That’s why you’re talking to me all of the s-s-sudden.” He slurred his words. “It’s all coming together now.”
Rose spun and bolted.
Lina ducked down, fiddling with the camera to turn it off. Her hands trembled. Enough was enough. She had no desire to watch two attempted date rapes in one day. The red light of the camera finally blinked off. She started toward the pool house door. This tango was over. But by the time Lina made it out to the pool, James was collapsed at Rose’s feet. She scowled at Rose.
“He fell. Tripped over one of the chairs. And now he’s out.” Rose kneeled down and started unbuttoning his shirt while Lina stood there gaping at her. A pool umbrella lay beside James’s limp body. Either it had fallen from the table a good ten feet away or someone had grabbedit. “Well? What are you waiting for? This is it. Get the camera.”
“Did you …?” She wanted to ask Rose if she’d hit James with the umbrella. She wanted to apologize for being such a bitch and questioning her loyalty to Willa. She wanted to thank her for being able to fix the mess Lina had made of this entire day, but instead, she obeyed Rose’s order without so much as a peep. It was the best Lina could do. Besides, these pictures? They were going to be worth way more than any of her words.
Chapter 14
For the first time in a long while, Lina woke up without the feeling of dread heavy on her chest. It took her eyes a second to adjust to the morning light filtering in through her blinds. Her entire back wall, crown molding to baseboard, was covered in photographs. Most were from school, her friends bunched together with arms slung around shoulders, smiles so big they threatened to take over entire faces, wearing everyone’s clothes but their own. And then there was summer. Hawthorne Lake, bikinis, sunshine, and beach parties. Early lunches, late dinners, illicit happy hours. Home. Madge, Sloane and … Willa.
Lina’s smile vanished. She shot up in bed, her hands reaching for her neck, gasping for air as if ripping a hole in her throat might help her breathe. But it was no use. At least she’d had a few minutes of happiness this morning. That was longer than she’d had in ages.
The girls were due to meet at their usual spot in the Club’s attic, and because Rose kicked ass last night, Lina actuallyhad something to show for an otherwise waste of a day. So strange: the only thing Lina had been right about when it came to Rose McCaan was her atrocious fashion sense. The girl had proved herself and beyond.
Lina slipped into a fitted cotton dress—it skimmed her mid-thigh—and a pair of wedges that added more height to her already statuesque frame. Every single psychiatrist she was forced to talk to told her she was obsessed with her appearance to compensate for feeling like an outcast as a kid. After the third lecture, she got her first tattoo. It hurt like a bitch, but the shock on her shrink’s face had made it completely worthwhile.
When she raced into the attic, breathless to see the look on Madge’s face at the pictures they’d taken of James last night, Rose was the only one waiting. Her hair had frizzed into a comically large halo around her head. In her defense, it was about a million degrees up there. Lina touched her closely cropped hair to make sure it hadn’t curled in the heat. Nope. Straight as a bone, as always. This is why God
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