She ignored me and retrieved my phone. “Here. That’s what you came for, right?”
“Thanks.” I grabbed my phone and watched Darla shift awkwardly on her feet, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She was in silk jammies and her hair was tied in a ponytail. “When did you get glasses?”
She gave me a bewildered look. Fair enough. I was asking her about her optical accessories when I should be asking her a million other questions. “Over the summer. I usually wear contacts, but since I’m home…”
“Ah.” I pocketed my phone. “Well, they suit you.”
Darla’s shoulders sagged with a drawn-out sigh. “Why are you here, Ella?”
I needed to sit down if we were going to have this conversation. I parked my ass on her bed and said, “As you may already know, I was in jail this weekend.”
“Yeah.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I heard from my mother. Are you…okay?”
Darla acted indifferent with me these past few months, yet whenever I was in distress—like Josh’s party and now—her caring side shone through. I knew my ex-best friend like the back of my hand. She may walk around with a tough exterior, but she was a softie on the inside. Moreso where I was concerned.
I hoped, with every fiber of my being, that our time in each other’s lives wasn’t over.
“I’m fine, but I’ve had one helluva twenty-four hours.” I rubbed my forehead. “I think I’m still wrapping my head around everything that happened on Initiation Night.”
“I tried contacting Shaun, but he hasn’t answered yet. He was supposed to return me the keys to the school this morning.”
“Um, about that.” I cleared my throat. “Shaun is currently indisposed.”
She blinked. “Pardon me?”
I winced. “I might have smacked his head with a baseball bat.”
“Ella!” She screeched, momentarily forgetting that we weren’t on speaking terms and sounding so much like her old self. “What. Are. You. Talking. About?”
“I swear I didn’t mean to, okay?” I wailed.
A case of word-vomit possessed me and I proceeded to recount everything that happened, from Shaun chasing us in the hallway, to us terrified and hiding in the confessional booth, to me whacking him across the head accidentally. And how the only thing that woke Shaun up was the thought of Hera potentially marrying somebody else.
Darla expelled a huge breath and took a seat next to me. “This is a mess. I thought for sure he’d get you both out sans getting caught.”
“On the bright side, Shaun is alive. Before I came here, I stopped by the hospital to check on him. He’s going home soon. Although I’m probably going to be sending him a fruit basket as an apology every month until the day I die.” Then I added as a joke, “The only silver lining in this situation is that I look really cute in my mugshot. Oh, and technically, I won Initiation Night twice and created history.”
“Well, I’m glad everyone is all right.” Darla smiled. “And that you won Initiation Night.”
Seeing her smile at me after months was a rare sight. It incited my own. We watched each other quietly, before I decided to say, “There’s something I need to tell you.”
She frowned at my somber tone. “What is it?”
“Shaun mentioned that you think an Initiator is responsible for calling the cops.”
“Yes, and once we find out who did it—”
“I know who did it,” I rushed out. “Or at least I think I do.”
Darla arched her brow. “Who?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Callie.”
Darla reared back like she’d been slapped. “What?”
“When we got arrested, I saw her and a masked guy standing by St. Victoria’s woods, watching us get taken away.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Darla stood up and startedpacing. “I know Callie is a bitch, but I don’t get why—” My ex-best friend stopped herself short. “Never mind.”
