Page 115 of Enemies to Prom Dates
“Elizabeth!”
“Good night, Dad,” I said with my own sneer. “Actually, no. You don’t deserve the title anymore. I think I call you Roger from now on.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
I walked toward the study door and opened it. Looking back at him, he didn’t look so distinguished now. His eyes were red from the bourbon, his shirt wrinkled. In fact, he looked like a hot mess.
“Try me, Roger.”
* * *
Lunchroom
Monday
Fitz
“What the fuck is happening?”Ed asked me. Loud enough that students sitting at other lunch tables turned in our direction.
Our lunch group was together for the first time since the events of yesterday. Minus two, of course. Reen was at school but had chosen not to eat with us.
Heath, however, was gone.
This had been the first opportunity I’d had to tell Ed everything. Between telling my parents, then heading to the Earnshaws, only to find that Heath hadn’t gone home, it all seemed to happen so quickly.
“Quiet,” I said.
“Why? You think it’s not going to be pretty obvious that Heath is fucking gone?”
I could feel Beth tense next to me. When I saw her this morning, she looked exhausted. I didn’t ask about her father because I knew it wasn’t something she would want to talk about at school. We made plans to meet up at my house to study after football practice. I would find out then what story her father had given her.
For now, we all just needed to come to terms with the facts.
Heath had been behind the Freshman Bait List.
I’d called the hospital and had Wick confirm it. When I told him Heath had seemingly disappeared, Wick had seemed relieved.
The Earnshaws, however, were not relieved at all. They’d filed a missing person’s report with the police, but so far, the police hadn’t found a trace of him.
“Where could he have gone?” Janie asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But if he had access to all the money from bets that had been placed, he’s got enough of a cushion to see him through for some time.”
“Yes, but what about school? What about college? What he did was unforgivable, sure, but it doesn’t mean he has to sacrifice his whole life, does it?” Ed asked.
I sighed. “He hit Wick with a car, Ed. That’s a crime. Maybe a good lawyer would have gotten him off, I don’t know. I suppose Heath wasn’t willing to take the chance of doing time in juvie.”
“No, he wouldn’t have taken that chance,” Janie said quietly.
“What?” Ed asked.
“He would never have gone to juvie. I can’t pretend to tell you I know Heath. Obviously, none of us really knew him. Not even you two. But I can tell you from the time I spent with him in Thornfield Home, he wouldn’t have let himself be arrested. He would have run away before he ever went to any kind of detention center.”
“Janie,” Ed asked her quietly. “What the hell happened to all of you in that home?”
“It’s not my story to tell,” she said. Then she looked at Beth. “Are you going to try to talk to Reen?”
“I tried this morning before class,” Beth said dully. “She’s avoiding me.”
