After lunch, Megan split off from her friends, heading to her locker. Normally, she’d have walked with Karen to their English class, but Karen had reminded Megan they were starting a new book today. And since Megan had forgotten about that, she had to make a quick stop to go and get it. She turned the corner and was almost immediately pulled aside by Tara.
“Hey – Megan,” Tara said. “I really need to talk to you.”
“Yeah? Why?” Megan asked.
She didn’t really want to talk to Tara for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, she and the rest of their friends had been talking behind Tara’s back pretty much the whole time at lunch, and that was only a few minutes ago. Megan felt kind of weird suddenly acting like nothing was going on.
Second of all, Tara had stolen that bottle out of Megan’s room. And that might have happened a little more than a month ago, but Megan had only realized it yesterday. She felt she needed a little more time to get used to that fact. And the third reason was that Megan was worried her pathetic lying skills might let Tara know about the first and second reasons.
“I just – I made a huge mistake,” Tara told her.
“Yeah? Like what?” Megan asked, trying to look nonchalant.
She wondered what, exactly, Tara thought her mistake might have been. Was it breaking into Megan’s room? Or stealing something? Or was it just the fact that she’d been stupid enough to lose that bottle herself after having stolen it?
Tara sighed, suddenly looking incredibly defeated. Megan peered at her a little closer. She could see that Tara seemed to have bags under her eyes, and the ponytail she’d pulled her hair into was noticeably messier than Tara would normally have deemed acceptable. She was even wearing her black leather boots with jeans – something she’d always insisted to Megan made her legs look too short.
“I just – I think Stacey thinks I made her boyfriend break up with her.”
“Why would she think that?” Megan asked. Of course, Megan knew that Stacey did think that – and why.
“I don’t know – like, that I started a rumor or something,” Tara said. “But I didn’t – trust me.”
“You didn’t?” Jen asked, coming up to them.
“Oh… hey, Jen,” Tara said. “I was just talking to Megan real quick.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jen told her. “I saw you come up to her. So, I thought I’d come see how you were. We didn’t see you at lunch.”
Megan listened to Jen, suddenly glad that her friend was there. It took some of the pressure off of Megan at least. And Megan didn’t even mind that Jen was using that tone of hers – the too-sweet one she’d used on Jake at the movies when she started grilling him just a few months ago.
“Well, I think Stacey thinks–” Tara started.
“A rumor, I know,” Jen told her. “So that’s why you seem so upset?”
“Well… yeah…” Tara said.
“Really?” Jen raised her eyebrows, acting overly surprised. “I mean, you’re always saying stuff like about Heath – to Stacey, to us, to whoever’ll listen.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t serious,” Tara insisted.
“Stacey thinks you were,” Jen pointed out.
“She does?” Tara asked. Her eyes went wide, and she looked even more stressed.
“Why do you even care? I’d have thought you’d be glad,” Jen told her. “I mean, you say those kinds of things a lot for someone who says they aren’t serious.”
Tara didn’t say anything. But Megan noticed that in addition to looking stressed, she was also starting to look annoyed. It was an interesting combination, especially since Megan didn’t really think Tara had the right to be annoyed with anyone right now – not after what she’d done. And Tara had to know that someone knew what she’d done.
“So that’s it then?” Jen asked. “Nothing else going on in your life that’s got you worried?”
Tara seemed to freeze. Then, she narrowed her eyes at Jen, clearly suspicious. But she recovered quickly.
“What do you mean?” she asked. She pulled her ponytail tighter, making it even messier.
Megan looked around, noticing that the hallway was pretty empty by now. They really should get going if they were going to make it to their classes on time. But Jen wasn’t finished.
“So, you’re really not going to tell me about all the new things going on in your life?”
“What new things?” Tara asked, distractedly. “I mean – new since yesterday? How much could really happen?”
Megan turned back to Tara, fighting the urge to point out that apparently a lot could change in that amount of time.
“No new trips? Nothing?” Jen asked, smiling coldly. Megan just stared at her.
She was a little surprised that Jen would actually say something like that to Tara. But, really, what was the harm? Tara couldn’t take control of that bottle – or Jake – again. And Megan was pretty sure that Tara didn’t actually know where Jen lived. Besides, Megan really wanted to see Tara’s reaction.
The bell rang, but none of them moved. Tara stared at Jen for what seemed like forever. When she did speak up, she sounded almost dazed.
“My dad just got transferred up north – they need someone to train a few new crews,” she said. “We’re leaving on Saturday.”
“Really?” Megan asked. That was four days away. It looked like Jake really had made sure to get rid of her. But Megan was still a little surprised at the timing. She would have thought he would have done it so she left almost the instant Jen made her wish.
“Yeah – tomorrow’s my last day at school,” Tara told them numbly. “Then I have to pack up everything.”
Suddenly, Megan felt bad for Tara. Maybe they were being too hard on her. After all, they did manage to get Jake back. Maybe they didn’t really need to send Tara super far away after all.
“Where are you moving to?” Jen asked, looking almost sincere. “Alaska?”
Megan looked at Jen. Obviously, Megan was the only one of them who was feeling even a little bit bad about this.
“Yeah,” Tara nodded. Then, she stopped. She looked very closely at Jen, eyes narrowing. “Wait… how did you know that?”
“Lucky guess.” Jen smiled sweetly.
“You just guessed? Or did you…?” Tara asked, slowly. Megan saw her eyes widen. “You.”
“Me?” Jen asked innocently. “What do you mean? What about me?”
Tara looked over at Megan. She could see that Tara was trying to decide whether or not to tell her something. Megan tried not to glance at her phone. She might be feeling bad for Tara, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be late for class. After everything that had happened, her sympathy only went so far.
“Jen has it,” Tara said finally.
“What?” Megan asked. She wasn’t sure what she’d thought Tara was going to say, but it sure wasn’t that.
“You know – the thing,” Tara insisted. She must have been really desperate if she thought it was a good idea to actually try telling Megan that.
“But… how would you know that?” Megan asked. Of course, Megan knew the answer. But she wasn’t sure what Tara’s excuse could possibly be.
“Because I figured out about Jake – kind of a while ago,” Tara said, gaining confidence. She was starting to look more like the old, friendly Tara that Megan used to know. But of course, Megan wasn’t buying it.
“I didn’t say anything ’cause, well, it’s Jake, right? I wouldn’t want to hurt him.”
“No… of course not…” Megan said. She wouldn’t have believed Tara could say something like that if she wasn’t currently standing there, listening to it. And to think Megan had actually started to feel sorry for Tara!
“Seriously?” Jen asked, narrowing her eyes at Tara. “How would you have even figured something like that out on your own?”
“Because I realized that Megan had made a wish to be popular,” Tara said. This time, she turned to face Jen directly.
Megan’s jaw dropped – it was the first thing Tara had said that Megan actually believed. So, it was her wish that had gotten him stolen after all. At least that meant it hadn’t technically been Megan’s fault; Jake had been responsible for how that had all played out. But it still wasn’t much comfort.
Tara must have misinterpreted Megan’s shock, because she added, “I think Jen made a wish about Stacey and Heath, and then one about me.”
“Now I know you’re not serious,” Jen said. She sounded furious.
“I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?” Tara said, looking back at Megan.
“No, it doesn’t,” Jen told her, not even waiting for Megan to respond. “Why would I do that?”
“How should I know?” Tara shot back. “Maybe you’re just one of those girls who–”
“Tara, stop,” Megan told her. She’d heard enough. She didn’t see why she should have to be late to class in order to hear lies about her best friend. “I know it was you – we both do.”
“Well… at least that first one you mentioned – the one about getting Stacey and Heath to break up,” Jen said, grinning wildly. “But the second one? Yeah – that was me. And I’m glad I did it – especially if you’re going to blame me for all of the stuff you did!”
Megan nodded. Now that Tara had revealed her true colors, Megan was actually starting to feel pretty glad that Jen had done it, too. Then, she looked over at Jen.
“We have to get to class,” Megan said.
“Yeah – enough of this,” Jen agreed.
The two of them hurried off to their respective classes, leaving Tara alone in the hall.
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and then Add to home screen.