Courtney grinned. “I ordered it for you.”
My mouth fell open. Even though I knew Courtney’s family was rich, it was so different from my own reality that sometimes it still shocked me.
Gigi gaped at Courtney. “Youdid?”
Courtney nodded.
“Wow.” Gigi placed a hand over her heart. “I don’t even know what to say. Thank you.” Gigi smiled, but it looked strained.
I glanced at Beth. She and I had both wondered how Gigi could be so quick to believe Courtney wasn’t responsible for the topless photos in the school hallways. But seeing Gigi’s reaction now made me suspect Gigi hadn’t given Courtney a pass after all.
“You’re welcome.” Courtney swiped her hand through the air. “But that’s not my exciting news.” She straightened, swiveling in her seat to face Beth, Emma, and me across the table. “Okay, so I know we’re still a few months away from graduation, but I read in a magazine how senior trips can be a great bonding experience and how friends who take them are more likely to stay close when they get older. And since I was our team captain, I thought I should be the one to plan the trip.”
Emma’s eyes darkened when Courtney mentioned the position she’d taken over after Emma had broken her ankle, despite the volleyball season being over.
“So, since Palmer’s mom won’t let her go to Mexico like I wanted for spring break”—Courtney rolled her eyes—“I thought of another trip we can take that will be really bonding, and something we’ll remember forever.”
“What?” Beth asked before popping a Dorito into her mouth.
Courtney’s eyes widened with excitement. “A rafting trip. On Memorial Day weekend. Down the Sol Duc River. We’ll hike in, camp overnight—”
Gigi choked on her Diet Coke. “Camp?”
Courtney nodded enthusiastically. “I already bought all the supplies at Swain’s.”
Beth set her empty chip bag on the table. “Isn’t that dangerous?” She shot me a sideways glance, tucking a frizzy, dark wave of hair behind her ear.
Courtney shrugged. “We can totally handle it. My brother did it with some friends a few years ago when he was training for the Marines.” Her green-eyed gaze fell to Beth’s bag of chips. “It might also help you lose a few pounds. You’ll have to work it off somehow if you keep eating like that.”
My head jerked toward Beth to gauge her reaction.Why does Courtney have to be so mean sometimes?Beth had always been pudgy, even in kindergarten. But she wasn’t fat—she just wasn’t built with the same lean frame as some of the rest of us. Okay, all of us.
Beth stuck another Dorito into her mouth, and I was relieved to see that she looked unfazed by Courtney’s snide remark.
Gigi stared at Courtney. “We’re not Marines.”
Courtney batted her eyes, turning to meet Gigi’s skeptical gaze. “We’re athletes.”
“I don’t know,” I said, doubting my mom would allow me to go.
Courtney slapped her palm on the table. “You guys. It’s going to be amazing. A wild adventure. We need this. If we can raft the Sol Duc, we can do anything.” She gestured to me. “Like go to medical school.” Then to Beth. “Or become president of a university.” She motioned to Emma. “Or—”
“You two aren’t gonna get away with this.”
Our heads turned toward Jake scowling at Courtney and me from the end of our table. He turned to Emma. “Your mom should be suingthem.” With a clenched jaw, he pointed his finger at Courtney, then me. “They’re lying.”
My blood ran cold as I studied Courtney.
“Bryson and I had nothing to do with that dish soap in the locker room,” Jake said, “and you all know it.” His long pointer finger traveled around our table. “Or maybe you did it yourself?” He cocked his head toward Emma. “For attention. And now what? You’re hoping to get rich by ruining Bryson’s and my lives?”
“Screw you, Jake.” Courtney shot him a sharp, menacing glare.
Gigi scrunched up her face, looking at Emma across the table. “What’s he talking about? You’re not suing them, right?”
Emma flushed, looking uncomfortable. “My mom is suing the school over my medical bills. But not Bryson and Jake. Our insurance didn’t cover as much of my hospital bills as she’d hoped. She didn’t know what else to do.”
As Jake braced himself on the back of the empty chair across from Emma, a harsh glint lingered in his narrowed eyes, revealing the fury he was trying to contain. “And now the school’s coming afterus,” Jake seethed.
Jake looked straight at Courtney, then to me. The accusation in his hazel eyes sent my heart into overdrive.
