Chapter 25 - A Heart that Devises Wicked Plans

I couldn’t believe it.

The police.

That wasn’t my intention.

The ambulance.

I couldn’t go to school.

The entire incident terrified me. The world continued to revolve despite my disbelief. Classes continued without me. Planes flew passengers over the Potomac. Bailey left noisy messages about Harvest Ball plans. I had no idea what Daniel was doing. Nicole lay in the hospital. For three days I tried to visit, but she was in ICU and only family members could go inside. She wasn't the enemy. Daniel was the jerk who led me on all summer. He convinced me to sleep with him and then made me a joke at school. I wasn’t sure how I’d get him back, but I couldn’t face anyone until I had a plan. 

On day four, Uncle John agreed to let me stay with him in Manhattan until I “felt better.” I signed up for online homework and caught a flight out of Reagan. My absentee parents didn’t ask or care. Only Nanny Bella hugged me good-bye saying, “Come home soon.”

If I thought being away from Virginia would help, I was nuts. For over a week Daniel haunted my every thought. I was becoming freaking OCD.

Revenge.

Retribution.

Payback.

He stalked through my mind. Tonight, he got in the way of me fully enjoying Halloween. My uncle and I planned a night of British comedies and junk food. Daniel lurked on the edge of every breath. A bowl of popcorn and cold pizza and an online queue of ridiculous characters couldn’t keep the creep at bay. The doorbell rang, followed by a loud, "Trick or treat!"

I carried a stack of full-size candy bars to the door. A pint-sized zombie and teenaged mummy opened their bags. The bandages around the kid's head were stained with blood. He took a Snickers. I thought of Nicole. There had to be a way I could help her and hurt Daniel at the same time. 

As I closed the door, my cell phone vibrated next to the pizza box. I planned to ignore it, but Uncle John got to it first. He checked the caller ID.

"What are you doing?" I wasn’t in the mood for teasing. But that didn’t stop him. He spoke into the phone with a high-pitch Asian accent.

"Herro! Superior Chinese takeout."

Normally I’d laugh at his silliness, but tonight I just groaned. "You’re a US Senator, for God’s sake." Uncle John got away with murder most of the time. Any other adult who touched my phone would be dead. But what did it matter? Fat chance Daniel was calling to ask my forgiveness. 

"Sweet and sour chicken. Yes."

He nodded.

"Fried rice. Okay."

"That's enough. Now give me the phone." I reached for him but he climbed over the couch.

“What are you four?” I shook my head and laughed in spite of myself.

"Yes, yes. Courtney here." He poked out his two front teeth like a rabbit and squinted his nose. "You want talk to her?"

I stuck out my hand with insistence.

He relaxed his face and said, "Yes Bailey, how's my other favorite niece?"

Bailey, great. I should have known, Uncle John wouldn’t have answered the phone unless he knew who it was. I pulled my hand back. She was the last person in the world I wanted to talk to. I hurried into the kitchen. He shouldn’t have answered the stupid phone. I didn’t want updates on the costumes and clowns going to the dance. She and her boyfriend could fall off the earth as far as I was concerned. I turned on the faucet and rinsed a random cup. 

Uncle John knew about the accident in Virginia. He didn’t need to know any more. Lucky for me Congress had adjourned two days before Nicole’s fall. He’d already left DC to do what he called “district-work.”

"Courtney," he called from the other room.

"Coming." I wiped my hands on a dish rag. I’d better talk to Bailey. If not, I’d have to explain myself. And that ain’t happening. I straightened my back and walked toward the couch. "I'll take this in the other room."

"I can nuke us more popcorn." He patted my head and I smiled. The seemingly condescending touch didn’t bother me. Lame, maybe, but when no one else in your biological family touches you, any contact felt good.

I headed to the spare bedroom. My plan, get this over with quick and get back to watching British wit. 

"Hello." I closed the door.

"I can't believe you would do such a thing." Bailey's voice echoed.

"Do what Bay?" Outside the trees in Central Park thrashed in the rain. A storm pounded against the double panes. Wind chimes from the balcony clacked and clattered in protest. Branches waved frantically, encouraging the gusts to grow.

"How could you push Nicole down the escalator at the mall?"

Was she kidding? I shook my head. It had been ten days. The staff at Master’s Elite would have told everyone by now. Pep squad would have done rallies and all that stuff.  

"Do you deny it?" I could practically hear my cousin put her hand on her hip.

“Absolutely! It didn’t happen like that.” I couldn’t believe Bailey was trying to start a rumor. “Look, I didn't see the escalator."

"But you did see Nicole."

"What?" I shook my head again. This was insane. The whole nightmare replayed in my mind. "I didn't see anything. I was texting. I bumped into her by accident, Bay. Ask the witnesses. I never wanted to ... to ..." The words wedged against the back of my throat refusing to come out.

"To kill her?" Bailey's words were worse than anything in my own brain.

"Don't say that." I couldn't breathe. Bailey didn't witness the fall or the blood. If she had, she wouldn't say these things. The police officer on the scene had reassured me that head wounds bleed a lot. The doctors at the hospital said she had a good chance of full recovery. “She's not dead.”

"No thanks to you."

"Stop it, Bailey. It was an accident."

"Strange coincidence, right? You hated her and now she happens to be in the hospital. Did you want to humiliate her like you did that Ribbon girl in Junior High?"

"What are you talking about?"

Did someone just giggle? Baily was on speaker phone. Muffled voices came through the line. It must be Kylie. That witch. I should have known. My cousin didn’t make up rumors, she preferred to repeat what she heard from others.

"Have you even gone to see her?" Bailey accused.

"I tried. She was in ICU. Only family allowed." Everyone knew that much. Or at least I thought they knew. Bailey should have come to me first if she heard anything bad. The last few days I'd been so focused on Daniel, I wasn't sure if I avoided Bailey or she avoided me. 

"If you cared, you'd know she's been moved."

"Listen, Bailey and whoever else is there. I didn't mean to hurt Nicole. You can twist it anyway you like. But that's not what happened. Got it?"

The line hummed empty. I pulled the phone from my ear, the display showed we were still connected.

"You guys can say what you want. I'm not worried about you. I'm worried about Nicole."

"Courtney, you've never worried about anyone else in your life."

"Whose side are you on anyway?"

"Don't ask me that. Don't you dare ask me that! I'm not taking sides. And if you expect me to ignore any mean-girl behavior because you're my cousin, you've got me all wrong. I'm not the same shy girl who danced when you said dance simply because you were visiting. You live here now, and the stuff that made you leave California won't work here. Never forget that. I'm not about to go there with you. Not now, not ever."

"Nice speech, but tell me, who's asking you to dance now? Huh?"

"Leave me alone and don't call me again."

"I didn't call you. You called me." I had no idea if her group of idiots heard my last remark. I clicked the phone off and hurled it into the trashcan. How in the world could everything turn out so wrong?

I scratched my French-tips across my scalp. Faster and faster my fingers moved and my hair fluttered around my head. The more disheveled my hairdo the more ideas I dislodged and it slowed the panic inside. This was all Daniel’s fault. I put my hands over my mouth suppressing a scream. Shaking my head back and forth as hard as I could to release the emotional frenzy. I pressed my palms against my cheeks.

Don't freak-out.

Bailey reacted to the crowd, she would calm down.

I had to wait. The handful of people at the mall who witnessed the situation said it was an accident. Everyone had run to help Nicole, including me. I hadn't wanted to hurt the girl, not in that way. The police had been very nice to me. They told me not to feel bad. Accidents happen, they said. Unfortunately, I now needed a way to rescue my life, with or without my fickle cousin.

I studied my reflection in the mirror and told myself to get a grip. Thank goodness, I wasn't in Virginia. Bailey and Kylie and Daniel and Nicole, none of them could ruin my time with Uncle John. I'd find a way to get back on top. I'd survive their stupid games. I wiped my face and practiced my smile. 

In the other room, Uncle John had paused the show. He watched the news as I walked passed him into the kitchen. I grabbed a soda from the fridge. Then like the voice of an angel the news anchor gave me an idea. As if answer to a prayer, the perfect plan came to me.

"Hey," I leaned against the door frame. "How'd that guy get access to so much Oxycondone?"

Uncle John looked over his shoulder at me. "You mean this Riker's Island doctor?" He lowered the volume and pointed at the screen.

"Yeah."

"Based on the reports, he used false names and prescriptions."

"That seems hard to do."

"Not as hard as we in Congress would like. Currently, people can order those hard drugs online."

"Really, how?"

He looked at me with mocked suspicion. "Why?"

"Very funny." The soda can spit at me as it gasped open. I didn't need to ask him anymore questions. I would find out for myself. Everyone my age knew Oxycodone was a heavy duty pain-killer. I had a couple pains I needed to kill. While Uncle John flipped from the news back to his streaming device. Thunder chased lightening across the sky. He unpaused the show. Laugh tracks filled the room and I smiled. With a little help from the Internet, I'd create a sitcom of my own.