the parking lot I’d invited my three friends over. I’d been encouraging Remy to spend more time with Jeff. I told her I loved her company but I was too old to need a babysitter. She had agreed to spend the evening with him so I knew I’d have the house to myself. Olivia had declined because Henry was coming over to vacuum out her car. She admitted it was buried in a summer’s worth of beach sand and according to her, he wanted to do it. Hailey couldn’t come because she had cheerleading practice right after school.
That left Phoebe. I hadn’t gotten to know her too well yet. I wasn’t sure if she’d agree to come over or not but she seemed happy with the invitation. As soon as school got out we’d gone straight to my house. And then straight to the cookie jar where Remy always stuffed the package of Nutter Butters.
We sat outside on the deck, sprawled out on lounge chairs. We were soaking up what little was left of the late September sun.
I had just dipped my last cookie in my milk and I was trying to decide the best way to bring up Ben without sounding contrived but Phoebe beat me to it.
“I heard you have Ben for a Lit partner,” she told me.
“Yes.” I used her opening to jump right in. “Will you please tell me what is going on with him and Alec? Everyone is so hush-hush about it but you must know.” I had asked both Olivia and Hailey. Both refused to talk about it. I wasn’t sure if Phoebe would tell me but she was my last hope for information.
She nodded, frowning. “Yeah. I know. Or at least I guess I know as much as anyone.” She let out a sigh of resignation. “Do you know about Katie Harmon?” she asked.
I told her I did. She was the girl that had been dating Ben. In other words, she was the girl who was murdered.
“Alec’s Katie’s brother,” she told me. I nodded, having managed to figure out that much on my own. “He never wanted them to date in the first place and now he hates Ben. He blames him for everything.”
“But Ben was cleared,” I argued.
“Yeah, but Alec believes that if they’d never been together, nothing would have happened. And honestly, he’s probably right. At the end of last year Alec told Ben he didn’t want him coming back to school. He told him to just get his GED or something, anything. He just wanted him gone. But Ben came back. Alec is furious about it.”
“It’s a public school! Ben has every right to be there!” I exclaimed.
“I know,” Phoebe agreed. “But you asked, so I’m telling you. I think a lot of people think Alec has the right to ask him to leave. Some people think it’s disrespectful of Ben to show up every day. Like it’s rubbing Alec’s face in what happened. Especially since a lot of people think Ben is, in some way, guilty. They feel like he’s taunting Alec by coming to school. The other half just don’t want to get involved because Alec isn’t known for being the nicest guy. No one wants to cross him. He’s been hard on Ben and he’s been hard on anyone who disagrees with him over it. In truth, that hasn’t been very many people. Maybe just a few guys that were friends with Ben before everything happened.”
“So Alec just thinks he has the right to decide whether or not Ben gets an education. And everyone is okay with that.” I shook my head. The warped notion was just too much for me to comprehend.
Phoebe shrugged. “Obviously it’s a whole lot more complicated than that. I’m not saying I agree with Alec but considering the circumstances, I don’t understand why Ben doesn’t just drop out. School has to be miserable for him.” She caught the look I gave her and quickly added, “I’m not saying he should drop out because he did anything wrong. But for his own sanity.”
“Maybe he feels like he’d be admitting guilt if he did.” I had no idea. I was reaching. I hated to agree with Phoebe but she had a point.
“Why didn’t Alec want Ben dating Katie? Had Ben done something to her?” I
That left Phoebe. I hadn’t gotten to know her too well yet. I wasn’t sure if she’d agree to come over or not but she seemed happy with the invitation. As soon as school got out we’d gone straight to my house. And then straight to the cookie jar where Remy always stuffed the package of Nutter Butters.
We sat outside on the deck, sprawled out on lounge chairs. We were soaking up what little was left of the late September sun.
I had just dipped my last cookie in my milk and I was trying to decide the best way to bring up Ben without sounding contrived but Phoebe beat me to it.
“I heard you have Ben for a Lit partner,” she told me.
“Yes.” I used her opening to jump right in. “Will you please tell me what is going on with him and Alec? Everyone is so hush-hush about it but you must know.” I had asked both Olivia and Hailey. Both refused to talk about it. I wasn’t sure if Phoebe would tell me but she was my last hope for information.
She nodded, frowning. “Yeah. I know. Or at least I guess I know as much as anyone.” She let out a sigh of resignation. “Do you know about Katie Harmon?” she asked.
I told her I did. She was the girl that had been dating Ben. In other words, she was the girl who was murdered.
“Alec’s Katie’s brother,” she told me. I nodded, having managed to figure out that much on my own. “He never wanted them to date in the first place and now he hates Ben. He blames him for everything.”
“But Ben was cleared,” I argued.
“Yeah, but Alec believes that if they’d never been together, nothing would have happened. And honestly, he’s probably right. At the end of last year Alec told Ben he didn’t want him coming back to school. He told him to just get his GED or something, anything. He just wanted him gone. But Ben came back. Alec is furious about it.”
“It’s a public school! Ben has every right to be there!” I exclaimed.
“I know,” Phoebe agreed. “But you asked, so I’m telling you. I think a lot of people think Alec has the right to ask him to leave. Some people think it’s disrespectful of Ben to show up every day. Like it’s rubbing Alec’s face in what happened. Especially since a lot of people think Ben is, in some way, guilty. They feel like he’s taunting Alec by coming to school. The other half just don’t want to get involved because Alec isn’t known for being the nicest guy. No one wants to cross him. He’s been hard on Ben and he’s been hard on anyone who disagrees with him over it. In truth, that hasn’t been very many people. Maybe just a few guys that were friends with Ben before everything happened.”
“So Alec just thinks he has the right to decide whether or not Ben gets an education. And everyone is okay with that.” I shook my head. The warped notion was just too much for me to comprehend.
Phoebe shrugged. “Obviously it’s a whole lot more complicated than that. I’m not saying I agree with Alec but considering the circumstances, I don’t understand why Ben doesn’t just drop out. School has to be miserable for him.” She caught the look I gave her and quickly added, “I’m not saying he should drop out because he did anything wrong. But for his own sanity.”
“Maybe he feels like he’d be admitting guilt if he did.” I had no idea. I was reaching. I hated to agree with Phoebe but she had a point.
“Why didn’t Alec want Ben dating Katie? Had Ben done something to her?” I
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