He nods a moment before pulling over into a gas station. Then he hands me his phone.
“Dial the last number that called.”
Then he leaves the car, heading inside.
I hesitate before doing as he asks. I don’t recognize the number, but as soon as I hear her voice, I feel a weight lifted.
“Hails?”
“Willow. What are you doing? You know this is dangerous.”
“No one knows. It’s a one-time thing, so don’t call this number again. Jacob will delete it when you’re done.”
“How did you get Jacob to do this, anyway?”
“I asked nicely. Anyway, we don’t have much time. What have you found out?”
“I think a teacher is in on it. I should have told you that in the bathroom, but you surprised me. I don’t know which one, but I recognized his voice. Or maybe it’s the guidance counselor, Mr. Roscoe. Either way, I haven’t seen him meet with Tiffany since the first time, but it was shady. He kept asking her for better results. The cheer team has more to do with this than we thought. Tiffany’s the leader, but I feel like she doesn’t really want to be in on this. I can’t say for sure, but I think Shannon was involved. Whenever I ask about her, everyone clams up. Almost like they don’t want to discuss her or her death. My gut says her death might be more than we thought. I know it’s not a lot. They have been keeping on the outside. I haven’t even been invited to a party with them yet.”
“It’s more than we had before. Thank you, Hailee. What you’re doing means a lot. We won’t forget this.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m happy to help you.”
I have been feeling pretty down recently, but hearing her reaffirm that what I am doing is important helps put my mind back in the right place. I only hope that at the end of this, I’m still welcome in their lives.
“I’ll have Chase look into the teachers again,” she murmurs, almost to herself. “We didn’t find anything before, but we might be missing something.”
“Did you tell Nate?” I ask, my heart clenching.
Part of me knows she didn’t. He would have confronted me by now. The other part hopes she did. It hopes that maybe if he knew I was doing this for him, the hatred in his eyes would fade.
“No. You were right when you told me not to tell him. He lost his shit, thinking you joined on your own. I don’t want to see his reaction when he finds out you did it for us.”
“He won’t care.” I sigh. “I fucked up, Willow. He well and truly hates me now. You should see the way he treats me at school.”
My throat grows tight as I choke back the tears threatening to make an appearance. Anytime I think of the way Nate treats me now, my heart bleeds. I ruined us.
He will never forgive me for this, but it doesn’t matter. I will never forgive myself for the pain in his eyes.
She chuckles. “There’s a fine line between love and hate. That boy might pretend to hate you, but he hates himself more.”
“What? Why?” I sit up straighter in the seat, needing something, anything from her.
Hope blooms in my chest. Could he get past this hate?
I glance up, seeing Jacob coming out.
Then a beep on the phone.
“Shit. Time’s up. Stay safe. Love you, Hails.”
“Love you too, Willow,” I call to her quickly, not wanting her to miss my words.
Then the phone disconnects.
When Jacob slides back into the car, he hands me a chocolate milk and a bag of spicy cheese puffs.
“You get what you needed?” he asks.
