On the Night She Died: A Quarry Street Story Read online

  Tristan seemed to realize it, too. He shielded her from sight with his body. “Sorry, el roomo es occupado.”

  “Dude, it’s my room!”

  “Can you come back in about ten minutes?” Tristan asked.

  Rebecca heard soft, gruff laughter from Ilya. “Sure, if that’s only how long you can last.”

  “C’mon,” Jennilynn said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  When they’d gone, turning the light off too, Tristan sat up. “Oops.”

  Her stomach was churning, only this time not with lustful anticipation. Richie didn’t hang around with Ilya, but he and Jennilynn had a bunch of classes together, and Rebecca didn’t trust the other girl not to spill the beans. She was known for being a little bitchy, a side of her Rebecca had witnessed but never experienced personally, since she had the same sort of reputation.

  “Hey. You okay?”

  Rebecca hadn’t realized she was shaking until Tristan touched her shoulder. She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. If she opened her mouth, she would cry. Or puke.

  “They couldn’t see you,” he said as though he knew exactly her reasons for being scared.

  She shook her head and gulped down a sour runnel of spit. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure. Anyway, they were both pretty wasted.” Tristan shifted so they could both sit up next to each other.

  “I should go.”

  He made a small noise and put a hand on her knee. “Wait.”

  “Really, I shouldn’t have come up here with you,” she began, but he squeezed her knee and she fell silent.

  “You said you wanted me to kiss you.”

  “I did.”

  Tristan looked serious. “I’m not going to tell anyone. I mean, Richie or anything. I won’t tell him.”

  “Thanks. Still, I shouldn’t have come up here with you, or kissed you…or anything else.”

  “You must’ve had a reason,” he said.

  Rebecca closed her eyes for a second. She drew in a slow breath. The floor felt slanted under her toes, even though she knew it wasn’t.

  “I just…wanted something different,” she told him, trying to explain something she wasn’t quite sure she understood herself.

  “I’m something different?”

  “Yes.” She opened her eyes. “You’re something very different, Tristan.”

  Chapter 8

  Jenni

  Then

  On Monday, school was abuzz with stories of the blowout party that had happened over the weekend. Rumors were growing, spread by kids who hadn’t been invited or who’d stupidly passed up the chance to attend, some of them confirmed and exaggerated by kids who’d been there to make themselves look cooler. Jenni herself had been asked point-blank if it was true that the undercover cop at the party had been convinced not to bust anyone because he’d been given a blowie by an unnamed freshman. She’d said yes.

  Jenni had already been a princess at school. Popular, although she knew it wasn’t because she was well-liked. Other girls tried to be like her. Guys wanted to get with her. She knew about her bitchy reputation, and it had never bothered her because it was at least a little true. Now, though, the stories of the epic party spread and grew, launching Jenni into the realm of superstar.

  Only one thing had happened that she was a little worried about, and she was going to confront Rebecca Segal about it right away. Jenni found her in study hall, sixth period. Miss Delaney was notorious for taking a very long bathroom break at the beginning of this period, leaving her study hall unattended. So long as everyone kept the noise down none of the other teachers seemed to notice, and most of the kids used the time to gossip and chat rather than study.

  “Hey.” Jenni slid into the desk next to Rebecca.

  Rebecca had been reading a book and making notes on the pulpy gray notepad the school provided at the start of every month. She looked up, eyes narrowed, her smile insincere. “Hi.”

  “I want to talk to you about the party.” Jenni leaned forward so nobody could overhear them. “You better not tell anyone about me.”

  The other girl blinked and furrowed her brow. “About…you?”

  “Don’t play stupid,” Jenni hissed. “I know you were in Ilya’s room with Tristan. I know you saw us going up there. You’d better not spread any rumors about me and him. That’s all.”

  “Why would I?” Rebecca looked pissed off. She also leaned forward, dropping her voice. “You’d better not say anything about me being there, either.”

  “Mutually assured destruction,” Jenni told her with a grimace.

  Rebecca nodded and sat back. “Yeah. Okay. Anyway, I wouldn’t say anything about it. It was a party. People do dumb things at parties like that.”

  “I just don’t want anyone thinking me and Ilya are more than friends.” Jenni hated the way her throat had closed up and the burning of tears behind her eyelids.

  Why did she care so damned much? So what if Rebecca told the whole school that she and Ilya had been going to his bedroom, which she wouldn’t, because doing so would give up her own secrets, and Jenni ought to have known that. Why did she care so much about any of it?

  “I won’t say anything to anyone.” Rebecca looked concerned. “Are you all right?”

  Jenni was not all right. The party had ended days ago, but Jenni still felt hungover. Colors too harsh, lights too bright. She’d fidgeted her way through the first five periods today. Couldn’t sit still. Couldn’t wait to get out of school. She had to work the evening shift at the diner tonight, already had some deliveries scheduled. Cash money.

  Maybe she’d see Steve.

  The thought of that quieted her. “I’m fine. Just know that if you do say anything, I will end you.”

  “Jeeze, fine, okay.” Rebecca frowned and shook her head. “I get it.”

  For a fleeting second, Jenni felt bad. She and Rebecca had never been friends, but they hadn’t been enemies, either. Until Jenni had recognized her under Tristan in Ilya’s bed, she’d never have given the other girl even a passing thought. Now, though, they seemed inextricably linked by the fact that both of them had witnessed the other doing something neither one wanted anyone else to know.

  Without another word, Jenni got up from the desk and went back to her own just as Ms. Delaney came into the room. “Okay, class, settle. Settle. Who needs library passes?”

  Hands went up, including Rebecca’s. Jenni had no reason to visit the library. She looked out the window instead. As a half dozen kids filed up for passes, she put her head in one hand and pretended she was busy taking notes. Truth was, she might try to grab a nap. There was only half an hour left in the period.

  She slept.

  She dreamed.

  * * *

  Last Summer

  "She says they're going to get married!"

  Ilya paced in Jenni's den. Her parents were still at work, and Allie was upstairs in her room with the radio playing loud. Summer vacation had just started, but already they were bored, wanting to get into trouble. He and Jenni had planned to smoke a little weed and watch some shitty scary movies, the kind with a lot of bare bouncing boobs and blood.

  Jenni hadn’t been expecting Ilya to drop this bomb. "She's going to marry that guy? The one from the hospital?"

  "Barry Malone. Yeah. That's what she says. Next month. Talk about short notice." Ilya threw himself onto the couch beside her.

  "Maybe she's knocked up," Jenni said and ducked away from the cushion he used to hit her. "Stop it, jerk!"

  Ilya didn’t laugh. "You wouldn't be laughing if it was your mother."

  "Awww. Poor puppy."

  Jenni had some problems with her folks, but nothing like Ilya and Niko had to handle with their mom, Galina. She was crazy. Like, literally. But Jenni couldn’t tell him that. She didn’t have to tell him, Ilya knew it. But she couldn’t say it to him, because he was so clearly upset.

  They’d been friends for so long, all their lives, it felt like. When she gestured f