OLIVIA FIDGETED UNCONTROLLABLY AS SHE SAT IN THE bleachers. This was the third all-school assembly in a month. The last two had been showstoppers: first DGM’s prank against Coach Creed, then Bree turning herself in with the whole school and half the Menlo Park Police Department in attendance. And today? Today would be no different.
Well, slightly different. Olivia scanned the bleachers as the last of the students and teachers filed into the gym. Instead of bursting at the seams as it usually did with the entire student body crammed inside, today the Bishop DuMaine gym was barely half-full. Three deaths had been enough for most parents, and almost the entire freshman and sophomore classes, plus a smattering of upperclassmen, hadn’t shown up for school.
No matter. There were enough eyes watching for what Olivia had planned.
She swallowed, and recrossed her legs for the billionth time. Was this going to work? Or were they about to make another colossal blunder?
“What’s wrong with you?” Jezebel asked. “You’re so jumpy.”
“Have you seen Amber?” Olivia asked by way of an answer.
“Nope.”
Where is she? Olivia reached into her tote bag, searching for her phone, when she remembered it wasn’t there. Part of the new security measures on campus. Since both Rex’s video and Amber’s photo montage made the rounds online, where every student with access to the internet in the palm of their hand could stream them in a matter of seconds, Father Uberti had banned all portable cellular and wireless devices from campus. First thing that morning, all Bishop DuMaine students had been greeted by uniformed police officers, who confiscated phones and tablets and forced everyone to open their mouths and give a DNA swab sample. Olivia was pretty sure that violated a half-dozen First Amendment rights, but whatever. She’d managed to stash her phone in Peanut’s car, and she just hoped that Kitty and Ed had managed to stash theirs before the cops bagged them.
Olivia shifted her body again, eliciting an irritated grumble from Jezebel, then her attention was drawn to the far side of the gym as Kyle and Tyler marched through the door. They wore matching black armbands over their blue ’Maine Men polo shirts, a tribute to their fallen comrade. They’d been handing out the armbands around campus all morning, and much to Olivia’s horror, the gesture had spread like wildfire. Their fellow ’Maine Men wore them, of course, but others had joined in. Rex Cavanaugh was more feared than revered at Bishop DuMaine, but in the end, he was one of them. And he had been viciously murdered.
Father Uberti arrived next, followed by a half-dozen priests. Representatives from the archdiocese. Two of them wore the same black hooded cassocks as old F.U., with matching cinctures around their waists. Must be members of his order. The rest wore the usual black pants and jackets with stiff white collars around their necks.
Father Uberti walked more slowly than usual, and his air lacked its usual cocky self-importance. His shoulders sagged, and he stroked his beard with an almost manic energy. For the first time in Olivia’s high school career, Father Uberti looked insecure.
He took the microphone with a heavy sigh. “I will assume by the marked drop in attendance,” he began unceremoniously, “that news of Mr. Cavanaugh’s death has been made public.”
He paused briefly, and Olivia noted the total silence in the gym.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Father Uberti continued.
Jezebel nudged Olivia’s arm and nodded toward the door. “There she is.”
Olivia turned and saw Amber in the doorway, her perfect spiral curls framed in the morning sunshine. She stepped into the gym and Olivia could see that her face was turning red, her body tense and clenched as if she was barely containing her rage. Her eyes swept the bleachers, searching. Then they landed on Olivia.
“You bitch!” she roared. Every head in the gym turned toward Amber as she extended her arm, pointing at Olivia. “This is your fault.”
Olivia looked behind her, as if Amber could possibly be referring to someone else. “What did I do?”
Amber stormed to the middle of the gym floor. “Don’t act like you don’t know!”
Olivia stood up and held her hands in front of her as she walked down the wooden stairs. “I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Amber met her at the base of the steps. “Don’t you?”
“No, I—”
Amber’s hand came out of nowhere, smacking Olivia cleanly on the cheek. The sting rippled through her flesh and stars shot in front of her eyes from the force of the strike. The students in the gym let out a collective gasp.
“Miss Stevens!” Father Uberti cried into the microphone. “How dare you strike another student.”
But Amber wasn’t listening. “I know the photos came from you. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Olivia righted herself, her palm pressed to her cheek. “I had nothing to do with it, Amber.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
“Miss Hayes, Miss Stevens!” Father Uberti sounded helpless. “Take your seats this instant.”
“Then you heard wrong,” Olivia shouted back. “I didn’t even know you went to fat camp.”
That was the tipping point, apparently. Olivia watched with some satisfaction as Amber’s face turned bright red, her lips pulled tight against her teeth. Then, without warning, she hurled herself at Olivia, arms stretched toward her neck.
Olivia hit the hardwood floor, and rolled over, then under, Amber, locked in a death grip. She landed on top of her former best friend, both sandals lost in the melee, dress hiked up to her hips.
The crowd cheered as if they were in the gym for a basketball game instead of an assembly, and their fervor seemed to spur Amber on. She screamed and lunged for a fistful of Olivia’s pixie-short hair, managing only a half inch or so of length, then yanked Olivia off her. Olivia lashed out with her arms as she tumbled over, and caught Amber’s head with her elbow. Amber howled and reared back, releasing Olivia’s hair, and she was able to scramble to her feet. Olivia lunged at Amber, still hunched on all fours, but a hand was around her waist, pulling her away.
“What the fuck is your problem?” she screamed at Amber, straining against Kyle’s arm.
Tyler plucked Amber off the ground and pinned her arms behind her back. “You’re my problem,” she yelled. “I hate you.”
“I hate you too!”
Father Uberti stormed across the gym, the priests from the archdiocese following in his wake. “What in the name of God is wrong with you two?”
Amber went limp in Tyler’s arms. “She started it.”
“Me?” Olivia gasped. “She attacked me, Father Uberti. Unprovoked.”
“Unprovoked my ass.” Amber turned to the priest. “She told DGM about the photos of me.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes, struggling against Kyle. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.”
“You want to find DGM?” Amber pointed directly at Olivia. “Ask her.”
Father Uberti’s eyes trailed from Amber to Olivia. “In my office. Both of you.”
“No,” Amber said, her voice strong but calm. “You know what, Father Uberti? No, I won’t go to your office.” She wiggled herself free of Tyler’s grasp. “I’m going home.”
And without another word, she stormed out of the gym.
