“I always thought you were nice,” I say, bending the truth a bit.
Kaila laughs. “You were afraid of your own shadow, and definitely of mine. It’s okay. I know what I was like. But Haven Ridge changed my life. I loved it.”
“You loved reform school?” Ethan remains riveted.
“I had to deal with my shit. Spent a lot of time alone and in my thoughts. It was good for me. So, I guess I can thank Emma for that.”
I almost forgot why we’re here. Time to dive in. “You don’t blame her for what happened?”
Kaila takes a measured sip of coffee. “What exactly is it that you think happened? And why are you asking me? You think I killed her?” She rolls her eyes, not exactly the reaction I was expecting. “I was at Wheatford, fully alibied, thanks. And I don’t give a shit about what Emma did anymore, though yes, I do blame her. She took me down. Ruthless, she was.”
“You know it was Avery, right?” I have to correct her. “I mean, you were expelled and she got your ASB spot.”
“It’s cute that you think that. What happened to me went way beyond the student council. Emma wanted me out, and she took me out.”
“Took you out?” I snort. “Why would she do that?”
“I was her roommate, I’m not an idiot, and, well, I was dating Tyler.”
Now I’m rolling my eyes. “You think she got you expelled for Tyler? That catty-girl bullshit wasn’t Emma’s style.”
Kaila narrows her eyes. “Why did you text me?”
The question catches me off guard. I stumble into my answer. “I heard from someone. A rumor. They said that Avery got you expelled. I wanted to know the truth from you….”
“Well, now you know I didn’t kill Emma, so are you good?” Despite the finality of the statement, she doesn’t move to leave. Kaila’s eyes twinkle with something. Like she wants me to ask her more questions, but they have to be the right ones.
“How did she do it?”
“I’ve thought about that a lot.” Kaila tears off a cube of zucchini bread and tosses it into her mouth. “She must have jacked my SIM card and cloned it, and then she used a duplicate phone to call in the bomb threat the morning of exams.”
“That sounds like something from a spy movie. Emma wasn’t a computer genius.”
“No, but Sierra is. Emma was my roommate, so she had easy access to swipe my stuff. I Googled it. It’s not that hard to do.”
Kaila’s mention of the roommate connection sends a chill of unease through me. “So, what, they traced the call back to you, and that was it? Why didn’t you defend yourself?”
“Surely your family brought in a fancy lawyer or something to appeal?” Ethan chimes in. “I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve heard guys say they have a family lawyer on retainer to come down to the school for even the most minor infraction.”
“I wasn’t exactly myself,” Kaila says. She fusses with the short hair at her temple, urging it to lie flat against her forehead. “I could never prove it, but…” Her brown eyes lock on mine. “Did Emma ever make you drinks? In that pitcher she keeps in the minifridge?”
“Sometimes,” I say, trepidation behind the response. Unsure of her point. “Arnold—”
“Palmers,” she cuts me off, finishing my thought. “Well, I hope she didn’t lace yours with Adderall. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to me. I drank those things like a fish leading up to exams. By the time I was framed for the bomb threat, I felt like I was vibrating out of my skin. Not myself. Admin thought I was crazy. Unstable. That’s the word they used with my parents.”
“That’s a pretty massive accusation.” Ethan leans forward; I see his journalistic instincts roar to life. An urge to fact-check. But this isn’t a story to me. It’s my friend. I lay a hand on his forearm, urging him to back off.
“And Emma didn’t take Adderall,” I say.
Kaila smirks. “Avery Montfort’s family runs one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and you’re questioning where Emma could have gotten some spare drugs?”
Heat creeps up the back of my neck. “It’s just so extreme.”
Kaila quirks her brows and tilts her head, as if agreeing. “I was pretty shocked to find myself on the receiving end. I thought they were my friends. What surprises me is that you didn’t know about any of this.”
“Well, it turns out the Ivies did a lot of things I didn’t know about,” I mutter into my soy latte.
“I wondered if they ever warmed up to you after I left. Guess not.” Kaila’s eyes are shrewd but kind. “What other things have you found out about?”
“Why do you want to know?” Ethan squares his shoulders, cracks his knuckles.
“See, he’s your heavy,” Kaila teases, then shrugs. “I’m just curious. They must be bad enough that you reached out to me. I want to know what my former friends have been up to.”
The set of Ethan’s jaw tells me he disagrees, but he doesn’t actively stop me from pulling up our list on my phone and handing it over to Kaila.
Slowly but surely, Kaila’s brow disappears into her bangs. “I see drink sabotage is a theme. Though it’s weird that Emma was taking the ACT in February last year.”
“Shit!” Ethan exclaims, trying to save his coffee cup but failing. Caramel macchiato slides across the table, and Kaila has to skid her chair back to avoid a lap full of coffee. I grab for the few napkins on the table and throw them on top, but it’s not enough.
“I’ll get more.” Ethan rushes to the sidebar and grabs a thick handful of napkins. As he returns and mops up the mess, Kaila hands back my phone. It’s dry, thankfully.
“Well, I feel better knowing I’m not the only victim of Emma’s vengeance. How are you feeling?”
Pre– versus post–Haven Ridge Kaila jumps out at me again. I think I’ve made more eye contact with her in this ten-minute conversation than I did in an entire year at Claflin. Her concern seems genuine.
“I’m okay,” I say, finding it difficult to articulate my swirl of emotions, especially to a near stranger. “I’m not even sure what to say to them, knowing all this now.”
“Watch your ass. That’s my best advice. Keep your head down, graduate, and never look back. I wish I’d stayed out of their way.”
“Avery?” the barista calls out, and I nearly jump out of my skin. Scanning the room frantically, I look for her familiar blond head moving toward the pickup bar. But it’s a short brunette who grabs the proffered drink. False alarm. It strikes me how annoyed Avery would be to have a name twin out in the wild. She prides herself on being singular.