I rolled my eyes. “What? He went out? He convinced me to stay home. What’s going on with him? And why is she always hanging on him? I’m so over this.” I crawled past them and climbed out of bed so I could pace the room.
“That’s not it, Addy. He thought we’d left, but I forgot my keys and ran back inside. I saw him go upstairs into a bedroom with Karina and shut the door.” Maura pushed to her feet and faced me, placing a hand on each shoulder.
“What? You’re kidding me right now.” Nausea stirred, and bile rose up in my throat. “Are you sure?”
Now Coco was on her feet. “Maura came out to tell us, so of course, I stormed the freaking castle. I marched upstairs and banged on the door. He never answered and they didn’t make a peep. He knows we know.”
I shook my head. This was not who Alec was, was it? I couldn’t believe that this was even happening. He was thoughtful and kind. He wasn’t a liar. Would he really do this to me?
“I need to call him.” I reached for my phone on the nightstand.
“Just feel him out. Put him on speakerphone,” Ivy insisted.
I was torn about how to handle this, but they’d seen him go into a room with a girl he’d slept with before. The only girl he’d ever slept with. What was I supposed to think? I dropped back on the mattress and dialed his number, pushing the button for speakerphone.
“Hey, baby,” he answered on the first ring. His voice was raw and gravelly, making it clear he’d had a lot to drink last night. My stomach churned.
“Hi. Are you up yet?” I tried to act natural, but my heart was racing, and my hands started to sweat. I set the phone on the mattress and rubbed my palms on my thighs, trying to pull myself together.
“Yeah. Still waking up. How’d you sleep?”
“Fine. Did you go to bed early too?” I asked because I wanted to see if he’d tell me the truth.
“No. I got home after hanging out with you, and Ty came over and insisted I go to that party with him for a little bit. He knows I’ve been down about the last game and I think he wanted to cheer me up.”
Ivy shrugged and I pressed further. “Yeah? Did you have fun?”
“It was all right. Nothing special. You’re spending the day with the girls today, right?”
“Yep. We’re going to the diner for breakfast and then hanging out over here after. Did you see them last night?” I asked. He’d be stupid to lie about it as he knew they’d tell me.
“Yeah. I talked to them for a little bit and then they took off. I ended up helping Karina out with a little family problem. She was upset, so I talked to her for a little bit.” His voice got a little higher and I could tell he was nervous.
I licked my lips as my mouth went dry. “You talked to her at the party?”
“Yeah, yeah. We went up and talked in Britney’s room for a little bit. Her parents are going through something and she was pretty upset. She needed a friend, and I just listened.”
Coco shook her head with disgust, and Maura rolled her eyes. Ivy and Gigi listened intently.
“You were up in a room with her? Really?” Anger coursed through my veins as I pushed to my feet again, holding the phone in my hand.
“Come on, Addy. You don’t think anything went on, do you? I barely talk to the chick. Her parents might be divorcing, and she needed a friend. That’s all it was. I would never cheat on you. You know that,” he said adamantly.
Did I know that?
I nodded. “Okay. I don’t understand why she’s always coming to you. It’s hard enough that you two had your little fling, and it bothers me that you hang out with her.”
“Okay. You’ve never told me that before. I knew you didn’t care for her, but I didn’t know that if she came to me and was crying that you would want me to turn her away. If that’s how you feel, I will cut her off completely.”
Maura flipped him the bird with both hands, and everyone else shook their heads in disbelief.
“Don’t turn this on me, Alec. You wouldn’t like it if the tables were turned.”
“I definitely wouldn’t like it, baby. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking hungover right now. My dad has a list of chores for me to do today and I’m just in a bad mood. I’m sorry for talking to her. I won’t let it happen again. I love you so much, you know that, right?”
“Sure. Let’s talk later. I need to get in the shower.” I wanted to end this conversation. Everyone was listening, and he sounded awfully guilty, and I needed to process what was happening.
“Okay. I love you, Addy.”
“Yep,” I said before ending the call and dropping back down to sit on the bed.
“That fucker is guilty. Tell me you aren’t going to fall for his bullshit,” Coco hissed.
“I don’t know what to believe. I mean, you didn’t actually see anything. How the hell am I supposed to know what’s going on? He’s acting so off lately. I don’t know what the truth is.” A tear ran down my cheek and I swiped it away. I’d felt like something was up for a while. Alec had been ice cold after the whole homecoming king/queen debacle. He was pissed about that. Pissed about football. His grades were dropping. And I tried to talk to him so many times, but he always brushed it off.
“It’s okay. We’ll get to the bottom of it.” Maura pushed to her feet and paced the room.
“How are we going to do that?” I asked.
“I have PE last block with Karina.” Gigi looked up at the ceiling as if she were deep in thought.
“Okay?”
“You guys meet me in the locker room, and we’ll ask her. That girl can’t keep a secret, especially if we all question her. If she hooked up with him, she’ll be dying to tell us.” Gigi was on her feet now.
“And how will we know if she’s lying?” I asked.
“Oh, we’ll know. Karina James is not clever enough to lie. She’s all bark and no bite,” Ivy said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Come on. Jump in the shower. Let’s go get breakfast, and then we can bundle up and hang out by the lake today and take your mind off things. Tomorrow we’ll know if he’s telling the truth.” Coco walked to my closet and grabbed my robe and handed it to me. “We’ll watch a few episodes of Gossip Girl. You get ready.”
I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water, and a sick feeling settled in my stomach. Almost like a warning that the rug was about to be ripped out from under my feet.
Monday morning, I drove to school with the girls. For whatever reason, I rarely drove my car, as I usually caught a ride with Alec or Coco. Clem always got dropped off early by my dad because she had cross-country practice before school. Today, all five of us piled into Coco’s car, and my nerves were frazzled. I managed to avoid Alec most of the day. I told him I was meeting with Mrs. Cunningham during lunch, which was sort of true. She had an open-door policy and I asked her if I could sit in her classroom and do some work. I didn’t want to see him, because for the first time in my life—I didn’t know if I could trust Alec Taulson. The thought made me sick to my stomach. He was my best friend, my boyfriend, a part of my family, really. But my gut told me to talk to Karina. I couldn’t stand her, and I knew she would enjoy the doubt and insecurity that I was feeling.