Page 96 of The Prom Queen Project
It was her.
Meredith was the one who ripped open my diary and revealed my secrets for the entire school to see.How much had she read?It didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was the fact that she betrayed me.Again.
“It was you?” I whispered. “You did this?”
“You left your bag open in the locker room. I saw that journal you always carry around and wondered what was inside.”
A familiar sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Elliot and Ryan were still locked in a silent standoff, while Mason glowered at us in silence. And Meredith…well, she was running her mouth without a care, just like every other damn day.
My lip twitched. “Meredith,” I muttered flatly, my voice devoid of emotion as I stared right through her. “I’m sorry…I don’t know how it took me so long to realize…”
“It’s oka—”
“That you’re the fakest person in the room.”
Her face fell, the smirk falling off her lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but it wasn’t her voice that I heard next.
We all jumped apart as Mrs. Hawthorne rounded the corner. “Ms. Taylor, Mr. Keller—in my classroom. Now,” she said pointedly.
I fantasized about wiping the smug grin off Meredith’s face as she shifted her weight to one side, folding her arms across her chest. My jaw tightened, and I shot a glare at the three of them. Ryan arched a brow and took a subtle step back, distancing himself from Elliot.
Grinding my teeth, I pivoted on my heels. Elliot trailed closely behind me as we fell into step, following Mrs. Hawthorne’s lead. We walked in tense silence until we reached her classroom. She held the door open, then clicked it shut behind us. Elliot’s shoulders slumped, his eyes laced with worry as he stared blankly ahead. Without thinking, I slipped my hand into his, gripping it tightly as we both stared forward, bracing for whatever came next. Mrs. Hawthorne scanned us as sheadjusted the frame of her glasses, her eyes peeking over the rim.It was the outfits. She was totally staring at our outfits.
“I’ve seen the notes on the walls about you two. How you helped him cheat in class.” She nodded as her lips pressed into a thin line. “It’s a good thing after twenty-two years of teaching, I learned not to listen to every bit of gossip that spreads through these halls.”
I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding as Elliot’s fingers coiled around mine.
“You…you don’t believe what everyone’s saying?”
“No matter how much you two make me want to pull my hair out.” She sighed, sitting on the edge of her desk. “With the way you both look at each other, you can’t fake that. And Mr. Keller, your test scores speak for themselves. She can’t help you cheat on those…trust me, I would’ve noticed.”
“So, wait…” I paused. “Then, why are we here?”
“Because the teachers elected me to be the one to punish you.”
“Punish?” Elliot questioned, his voice breaking slightly. “I can’t—I need to graduate. I thought you said—”
“I saidIdon’t listen to gossip; I never said the rest of the teachers didn’t.”
“So, what’s gonna happen to us?” I asked, tugging at the ends of my hair.
“You will both take a mock exam to prove your academic standing wasn’t forged through cheating,” she explained simply. Her thin lips curled upward. “And I signed you both up to volunteer at the local Summerville Library every Friday until the end of the school year.”
No, going to Ryan’s party, then.Bummer.
Twenty-three
“I guess, it’s a good thing I like libraries.”
“I don’t.”
“Oh, come on. What about the book I gave you?The Catcher in the Rye?”
“Just because I like one book—”
“Ha! I knew you liked it!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
