Mia read Jake’s text message. She hit play on the video he sent and listened to Mrs. Heigl. Grudging respect flooded her. Some of the kids made fun of the old woman hanging onto her glory days. But the whole crowd listened to her.
From the few interactions Mia had with the teacher, she hadn’t know what to expect. She was smart and funny. She dressed smart, acted smart, read well, and spoke well. She was demanding of good behavior, precise work, and minding your future as if it were precious.
She cared about the people around her, too – which was pretty much everyone in town.
Guilt flooded her. The teacher was right. She’d done the wrong thing for the right reasons. Only it didn’t add up. She coughed again, annoyed at the lingering sickness.
Considering her options, she had no good choices. If she could get dressed and get herself to the police station, she would confess.
She had to tell Jake and Daniel her plan. Because Jake had kissed her, and Daniel had stuck with them both, speaking truth when they needed to hear it. They might both hate her later, but Sergeant Applegate had trusted her and she’d used him. That was plain wrong.
She started a text to their group chat, then stopped. She should tell them in person. Thatwasthe right thing to do. She erased what she’d typed and slowly began again.
Come to my house.
Why?
I need to talk to you both.
Party is still going on. It’s rocking.
Mia sighed. She should have known it wouldn’t be this easy. The boys were highly distractable.
I’m going to see Sergeant Applegate and tell him the truth. I won’t say anything about the two of you.
NO! Wait. We’ll be right over.
She would be dressed and ready to go. She should call her Mom and read her into the plan. But she would have to wait because it was going to be hard to get dressed. She refused to arrive at the police station in her pink candy cane pjs. Shaky and coughing, she moved slowly to her dresser and eased out a pair of black leggings.
Her chest hurt, but she couldn’t stop now. She stripped while balancing on the dresser and struggled into the pants then a white undershirt without stopping. A wheeze escaped followed by lightheaded swaying.
Whoa.
She found a white mustang t-shirt and her leopard print slippers and shuffled to the bed, sitting on the edge. Arms in the sleeves, she had to sit a minute before forcing the shirt over her head. This would have to do.
The knock on the door startled her. Gads, they were fast.
She’d yell down, but she had no voice left. She texted and told them to come in.
She heard Jake climb the stairs two at a time. Daniel plodded behind. He was always slower.
Jake came to the doorway as she collapsed back on the bed. “You don’t look like you’re going anywhere.”
“I have to,” she rasped. “Mrs. Heigl was right.”
Jake came to the bed and stood over her. Daniel appeared in the doorway. “I told you if one of us confesses, they’re going to figure out it was all three of us pretty dang quick.”
“I won’t tell.”
Jake sighed. “Doesn’t matter. Mia’s right. Besides, she can’t get to the police station by herself.”
“Don’t have to. I can call and ask Sergeant Applegate to come over and he will. I broke trust. Looking him in the eye and telling the truth is the least of what I should do.”
“Great,” Dan muttered. “What about us?”
“If you want nothing to do with it, leave. Maybe you can dodge it all.”
“Doubtful.” He sighed, pushing back his black jacket and propping his hands on his hips. “My dad’s out of town, but telling my grandpa will be worse than telling the cops.”
