Charlotte gasps. “What if it’s something else?”
“Like what?” I stuff the rest of my sandwich in the bag, no longer hungry.
Charlotte gets up and comes around the table to me, sitting beside me and whispering, “What if it’s drugs?”
“Parker wouldn’t have drugs at school. He’d be kicked off the team if anyone found it on him.”
“And you’d get suspended.”
Shit. Is that what he’s doing? Is Briggs trying to get me suspended? I’d get in a lot more trouble than that if the school found drugs on me. I could get charged with possession. Forget being valedictorian. This could keep me from getting into college.
“I have to go.” I grab my backpack and race out of the cafeteria and down to the girls’ bathroom. Aubrey’s there, checking her makeup.
She sees me and laughs. “What the hell are you wearing? Is that a t-shirt?”
It’s not a t-shirt — it’s a dress that just looks like a t-shirt. It’s comfortable, and I like it. I don’t bother trying to wear the right clothes to fit in. The girls here can afford to wear a different outfit every day, and everything they wear is designer. There’s no way I could compete with that, so I don’t. I just wear what I want and don’t care what people think.
“Yeah, it’s a t-shirt,” I lie. “I got it at a thrift store so God only knows what’s living in it. You should probably leave before you catch something.”
She huffs. “You’re so disgusting.”
I go into a stall and shut the door, hearing Aubrey’s sandals click on the floor as she leaves. I yank open all the zippered pouches on my backpack and search for any powders, pills, or joints. I’ve been offered drugs before, but I always turned them down. Charlotte smokes weed now and then, claiming it calms her nerves, but I’ve never tried it and never wanted to. I want to be in full control of my mind, which is a struggle right now as I frantically search my bag.
Where the hell did he put it? There’s nowhere else it could be but my backpack. But when did he do it? I don’t have class with Parker. But I have several classes with Briggs.
Briggs must’ve done it, then ordered his minion to come tell me.
What the hell is wrong with that guy? Why is he so obsessed with being valedictorian? He’s seriously willing to ruin my life to get on stage and give a stupid speech? The guy has everything, and it’s still not enough.
There’s nothing in my bag. I’ve searched every part of it twice. Maybe Parker was just trying to scare me, or maybe he was talking about something else. Maybe he hid his dick pics in my locker as some kind of stupid joke. It seems more like something Finn would do, but I could see Parker doing it too.
My locker. Shit! Maybe that’s where he put the drugs. But how would he get into my locker?
I fling open the stall door and run out of the bathroom, flying past Scarlett and her friends. I hear Scarlett laughing as I go down the hall. Is she laughing because I’m running or because she’s in on this little prank?
When I get to my locker, I fumble with the lock, my hands too shaky to put in the combination. After three tries, I finally get it open.
And there it is. A bag of white powder.
I was thinking it might be a joint, maybe some prescription stimulants, stuff that could get me in trouble, but not arrested. This looks like cocaine, which any of the Three A’s could easily afford. Finn probably has stashes of it in his room. He’s the only one of the three who doesn’t play sports, so he can do all the drugs he wants.
I grab the bag and shove it into my backpack.
“Ms. Quinn,” a man says from behind me.
I turn around and see Principal Perkins standing there, wearing his usual white shirt, ugly tie, and brown tweed blazer.
“Could I get a look before you close it?” he asks.
My heart’s pounding, and my throat’s so dry I can barely swallow. “You want to look in my locker?”
“Please.” He gives me a tense smile.
“Can I ask why?”
He clears his throat. “We received some information and would like to either confirm or deny it.”
“What information?”
