Emily was stunned that Ricky would even think such a thing, let alone say it out loud. “I never—”
“You talk to other guys all the time,” Ricky said. “You and your broken toys. You went to band camp with Melody two summers in a row. Debate club. Art shows. You disappeared all day yesterday. You could be screwing half the town for all I know. I saw you with Cheese this morning and he ran off like a scared rat.”
“You think Cheese and I—”
“You act all high and mighty but who knows what you’ve been doing when we’re not around?”
“Nothing,” Emily whispered. “I haven’t done anything.”
Ricky got up and started pacing the room, working herself up more and more with each step. “You think you can make Nardo or Blake take the fall for this? Or Clay? God knows you’d love that, wouldn’t you? Clay’s ignored you for ten years and now you’ve figured out a way to trap him.”
“Stop saying I’m trying to trap someone.” Emily stood up, too. “You know that’s not true.”
“I’m not going to lie for you,” Ricky said. “If your plan is to drag Clay down with you, then you’re on your own. And the boys won’t support you, either.”
“I don’t—” Emily had to stop to swallow. “I don’t want to marry Clay. That’s not why—”
“Bitch,” Ricky spat out the word. And then something like recognition flashed in her eyes. She’d thought she’d figured it out. “You’re going after Nardo, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“You always take the easy path, Emily. You don’t give a shit who gets hurt so long as it’s easy.”
“What?”
“I said you’re fucking easy!” Ricky was so mad that spit came out of her mouth. “I bet your dad’s already worked out a deal with them. Rich people always bail each other out. How much money changed hands, Emily? Or was it entrée into DC society? Maybe your mom will throw a case his way? What kind of bribe did your dad give to ruin Nardo’s life?”
Emily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “That’s not—no. That’s not going to happen. My parents wouldn’t—”
“You’re such a fucking Pollyanna! Of course they would! You just float along through life with fucking bluebirds on your shoulder, completely oblivious to all the people your parents screw over to keep everything nice and easy for their precious, good little girl!” Ricky looked maniacal. “What’d they say when they found out you’re not their virginal angel anymore?”
Emily opened her mouth to answer, but Ricky beat her to it.
“Let me guess. Daddy glowered and grumbled and Mommy came up with a plan.”
Emily felt the sting of betrayal. Ricky’s guess was only accurate because Emily had shared with her the many times it had happened before.
“You can’t get rid of it, right? Not with your mom on Reagan’s shortlist. That’d give the game away, wouldn’t it?” Ricky gave a bitter laugh. “They’ll probably use you as an example, right? Like some poor, pregnant black girl in the projects should follow the Vaughns’ righteous lead because their spoiled whore of a daughter is in the exact same situation.”
The words stung because they were so close to the truth.
“Brave Emily is pro-life.” Ricky was using the tone they used to mock Franklin’s country club friends. “That’s easy to say when your life comes with a nanny in a million-dollar estate two miles from the beach.”
Emily found her voice. “That’s not fair.”
“You think what’s happening to me and Blake is fair? And now you come along with even worse news?” Ricky demanded. “I’ve got the solution, Emily. This will fix everything! Just find an internship in go fuck yourself!”
The last words echoed in Emily’s ears like a siren. She had seen Ricky furious before. She knew how cold her friend could be. Ricky cut people out of her life like a cancer. And she was doing the same thing to Emily now.
“You stupid bitch,” Ricky muttered. “You’ve destroyed everything.”
“Ricky …” Emily tried, but she could feel the finality of her words. It was over. The clique was gone. Emily’s best friend was gone. She had no one. Nothing.
Except for this thing that was growing inside of her.
“Get out.” Ricky pointed to the door. “Get the fuck out of my house, you stupid slut.”
Emily touched her cheek. She expected to feel tears, but what she felt instead was the heat of shame. She had done this to herself. Ricky was right. She had ruined all of their lives. The clique was over. All she could do now was try not to drag them down alongside her.
“Go!” Ricky screamed.
Emily ran toward the door. She stumbled down the steep stairs. And then she stopped.
Blake was sitting on the bottom stair. He held a cigarette between his fingers. He glanced back at Emily. “I’ll marry you.”
Emily didn’t know what to say.
“It won’t be so bad, right?” He stood up and looked at her. “We’ve always gotten along.”
Emily couldn’t read his expression. Was he joking? Was he making an admission?
Blake read her mind. “It wasn’t me, Emmie. Not if it happened at The Party. Or any time else. I think I’d remember where my dick has been. I’m really quite attached to it.”
She watched a bird land in one of the trees across the driveway. This was what she had lost with her chastity. Before, no one directed rough language at her. Now, everyone seemed to.
“Anyway, I was completely wasted at The Party,” Blake said. “I zonked out in the upstairs bathroom. Nardo had to break the lock to get to me. I’d pissed myself like a baby. Can’t for the life of me remember why. The john was right there.”
Emily pursed her lips. She thought about her Columbo Investigation. Mr. Wexler had said that Blake and Nardo were still inside the house when he’d arrived. Blake was saying the same thing. If their stories matched, then they were likely telling the truth.
Which meant that Clay was the only boy left alone with Emily.
“Come on.” Blake dropped his cigarette into a coffee can. He nodded toward the garage. Emily felt powerless to do anything but follow him inside. Rock posters hung on the unfinished walls. There was a ping-pong table and an old couch and a giant hi-fi system that had belonged to Blake and Ricky’s parents. The clique had spent countless hours in the garage smoking and drinking and listening to music and talking about how they were going to change the world.
Now, Emily was going to be trapped in Longbill Beach forever. Thanks to Al, Blake and Ricky weren’t even going to college. Nardo wouldn’t last a year at Penn. Only Clay would get away from this claustrophobic town. Which seemed as predestined as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
She told Blake, “I can’t marry you. We’re not in love. And if you’re not the—”
“I’m not.” He sat down on the couch. “You know I’ve never thought about you that way.”
Emily knew the opposite to be true. He had kissed her two years ago in the alley downtown. She still caught him looking at her sometimes in a way that made her uncomfortable.