Inertia (Gravity Series, 3.5) (The Gravity Series) Page 6

  She knew her friend was smarter than she looked and hid it on purpose. That she dumbed down herself—even getting C’s when she could have accomplished A’s—because she didn’t want to be seen as a brain.

  Still, she tried to play it off. “You know what? This is why I don’t get high with you anymore. You’re always so deep. I just want Oreos.”

  She started to slide off the bed, but Madison stopped her, putting her hand firmly on her shoulder.

  “I’m serious,” Madison said, and her eyes didn’t look affected at all anymore. She looked sharp, like the pieces in her mind that had been floating around had finally settled into place. “I’ve got this feeling that Warwick definitely didn’t act alone. And if he put her in the water by your house, was he trying to set you up? Because of Jenna and Ambrose?”

  “There was no Jenna and Ambrose,” Lainey said through gritted teeth, crashing down hard. “They were just being stupid and drunk.”

  “I saw them kiss,” Madison said softly, playing with the golden coverlet on Lainey’s bed.

  “What?” Lainey nearly shouted, jumping up to her feet and nearly stumbling over. The loose pot that had been on her notebook was knocked to the floor along with her glass piece, which shattered into a million shards. “When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

  “I’m sorry, I just didn’t know how. I knew you’d spazz out and not be able to deal with it.”

  Ever since that day, she’d felt like her world was topsy-turvy. Had she grieved for a murderer? Of course, she had suspected that Ambrose and Jenna had maybe been messing around. But to have it confirmed was too much, especially since Henry had rejected her.

  Was Ambrose really involved in her death?

  ###

  Too fat. Skinny legs, huge hips. What is wrong with her face? In her mind ran a constant ticker, pointing out the negative traits of those around her. As she went down the hall with Harlow, she judged the others up against herself and determined herself to pretty much be the fairest of them all. Any girls getting close must have had work done. All was right with the universe.

  Harlow was chatting, telling her about her life before she moved to Hell. Her confidence impressed Lainey a lot, and she wasn’t easily impressed by anything. Although she appeared put together to everyone else, she was constantly feeling like she wasn’t good enough. She felt like the cracks in her facade showed.

  They went into the restroom to freshen up. Lainey was in the middle of fixing her hair when Madison rushed in. The smile fell off of Lainey’s face, her good mood evaporating, replaced by anxiety.

  “There you are,” Madison said. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Did you think more about what we talked about?”

  Harlow remained silent, but she watched Madison carefully, her dark eyes narrowed. Lainey felt embarrassed that Madison would bring it up, right in front of the one person she most wanted to impress.

  “Can we not talk about that here?” she hissed. She set her flat iron down on the counter and yanked the cord out of the wall.

  “I’m not waiting anymore,” Madison said eagerly. She was barely wearing any makeup and it looked like she’d just thrown her outfit together. Not normal. “I think I’m going to go talk to the police.”

  “Police? What happened?” Harlow asked, in her usual tone that suggested she didn’t really care.

  “Nothing,” Lainey assured her, then glared at Madison. “You have nothing to go to the police with.”

  “Nothing but a theory, but that might be something,” she insisted.

  “You need to drop it, Madison. You’re just going on a hunch and you could get a lot of people into trouble over an idea.”

  She stormed out of the bathroom, forgetting that she’d only half-finished her hair, hoping her rejection of Maddie’s idea would be enough to kill it. She almost fell into that artist friend of Ariel’s, the twin that she’d so swiftly replaced Jenna with. The one she’d tripped at the mall back when life was simple. Idiot.

  Madison followed her, right behind her heels.

  “Why can’t you just leave it alone?” Lainey said, almost pleading. “I don’t know why you’re suddenly so worried.”

  “I don’t know why you suddenly quite caring.”

  She was shocked by her friend’s suddenly strong tone, like she’d developed a new voice. She wasn’t backing down. This new-found bravery scared the crap out of Lainey. How was she supposed to respond to it?

  “You’ve changed so much,” Madison said. “You’re like a different person. Even on the outside, you’re colder.”

  So she had noticed. Lainey had seen it herself, ever since the meeting with the flash-bang that made her forget. The more time she spent at Thornhill functions, the more she felt like a robot. When she looked in the mirror, she had a hard time recognizing her face as her own.

  “I haven’t changed at all,” she lied, not meeting Madison’s eyes. “You’re just jealous that I’m having so much success with Thornhill. I knew this day would come.”

  “I’m not jealous, at all. I have a right to ask questions.”

  Lainey suddenly noticed the crowd of girls standing around them. They watched with mocking eyes, laughing about her right in front of her face. Her eyes widened in surprise and anger. All of these pathetic girls, all of them lesser and imperfect, laughing at her? It wasn’t possible. Yet there they were.

  She felt like she was losing her grip on her whole image, the persona that she had lovingly crafted. That it would fall away and she’d be a crying girl in the closet again, after another of daddy’s late night visits that mommy knew nothing about.

  Horrified, she realized that she was blushing. “Stop Maddie,” she muttered.

  “Ever since your family hooked up with Thornhill, we’ve been pulled apart. I get that Ambrose’s death was hard on you…”

  “You have no idea.” If she did, she never would have brought up the dead past with Ambrose and Jenna kissing. Despite Henry, she had still very much cared about Ambrose and he had rejected her on numerous occasions.

  Just like her father.

  Madison was still babbling about being her best friend. Lainey couldn’t even understand her words anymore.

  “Enough!”

  “I’ve been keeping this inside for months, Lain,” Maddie pleaded, on a roll and unable to slow down. “There’s—”

  Lainey couldn’t control herself. She reached forward and slapped her hand over Madison’s mouth to shut her up. Whatever the truth was, the possibility of it coming out terrified her.

  “I said enough!” she screamed, losing all control, shaking Madison’s head. “I don’t want you to speak to me again. I should have listened to my parents. They told me you’d never be loyal. Born from rats, stay a rat.”

  She let go of Madison, who tumbled dramatically on the ground. As she looked around at the mocking faces, the room began to spin. Bright red bled over her vision, and images from the meetings tumbled through her mind. Blood dripping onto a seal, cutting, chanting…

  She scrambled to regain control, smoothing out her messy hair. Had she said too much?

  Standing over Madison, she glowered down at her. Her fists were scrunched tightly together, and she wanted to hit Madison for the first time in her life. “We’re not friends anymore. We never should have been.”

  She turned and took off with Harlow. As soon as she’d made it a few yards away, the adrenaline melted off. She realized what had just happened.

  “What did I do?”

  “Just keep walking,” Harlow instructed quietly. “Don’t let them see you stop.”

  ###

  “You need to discredit her,” Harlow told her later when they were over at her house. It was even bigger than Lainey’s, complete with an indoor swimming pool in the arboretum and a full sized theater downstairs. All of it seemed like it wasn’t even a big deal to Harlow.

  “She was my best friend almost since birth.” Lainey said firmly, drying her tears off with a
tissue. “Didn’t you ever had a best friend?”

  Harlow looked different for a second. Like she felt something, that the ice princess was thawing a bit. “My mom.”

  “You never told me how she died.”

  Harlow stared vacantly off into the distance. “Accident. Not a big deal.” She shook off the emotion and grinned at Lainey. “I have a good way for you to stop moping.”

  “What?”

  “How about we go out tonight?”

  She produced two id cards from her pocket and handed them to Lainey. One girl was blonde, one was African-American, but that was where the similarities to them ended. Both girls pictured were both in their mid-twenties.

  “Seriously? These don’t look anything like us. Who would let us in with these?”

  “We put on a pound of makeup and show off cleavage and they’ll never care. There’s a club in Ypsi I’ve gotten into several times with that id. If they don’t take them at face value, just let the bouncers feel you up a little.”

  Lainey threw a pillow at her.

  They got dressed hurriedly and scooted out to the car. Harlow had some whiskey in her glove compartment to get them started. It didn’t take long to arrive at the club. Lainey was sweating when she showed off the id, but the bouncer barely even glanced at it. He was more interested in her ass as he licked his lips.

  On the floor, Harlow and Lainey danced until their feet felt numb, shifting partners who kept bringing them shots. Soon the room was spinning pleasantly, and Lainey had forgotten all about her troubles and her ex-friend.

  An older boy with a scruffy beard started grinding on her, rubbing his hands on her hips. It was probably just the beer goggles making him hot, but it didn’t matter. When he started kissing her neck, whispering things in her ear, she surrendered to the sensation. The strobe lights blinked and flashed, and she shut her eyes.

  They wound up in the bathroom, his mouth hungrily devouring hers. He pressed her back into one of the stalls, gripping her hips so tightly she thought he’d leave bruises. His tongue was rough and wandering, and he tugged her short skirt up.

  She slammed the stall door open, pulling him inside as the music throbbed in her ears. He wanted her and that was all that mattered.

  ###

  The holiday party had been kind of a bore: the champagne was cheap, the decorations were boring, and she felt like she’d gained five pounds on the appetizers alone.

  Plus, Ariel Donovan and her mother had been invited. At first, when she’d caught sight of Ariel trying to be attractive in a red dress (and succeeding, she would admit to no one but her secret thoughts), she figured that she was back to her party-crashing ways.

  But as she asked around, she found out they had legitimate invitations. She knew Claire had been trying to pledge Thornhill, but she never thought the woman would get far. She tried too hard. Her mother, Deana had told her—gossiping like they were friends instead of mother and daughter—that Claire and Phillip had been in love and had a falling out back at the time of the old ritual.

  Harlow and Lainey ended up in the powder room, sitting on a divan and doing coke out of a jeweled ring on Harlow’s finger. Lainey felt heavy and forlorn, sagging down into her itchy dress. Ariel and her wacky mother had made a sad, dramatic exit, but the party continued, with new members celebrating their acceptance.

  “Your old boyfriend is back with his fresh squeeze,” Harlow said suddenly.

  Of course he was. Like her life didn’t suck enough. “How do you know that?” Lainey asked numbly.

  “Dad told me he saw them together, locked in a tongue duel.” Harlow snickered at her own bad joke, but the sound was humorless.

  Lainey stood up, not sure where her legs were taking her.

  “Where are you going?” Harlow asked.

  “Away.”

  Most of the guests were still in the main reception room, so the coat check closet was empty. She went to get her lavender coat and slung it over her shoulders. She just wanted to go home. Too bad her house hadn’t felt that way for a while.

  “Did you enjoy yourself?” Phillip asked. Lainey turned sharply and saw him standing in the doorway.

  “It was fine.”

  “You thought it was a bore,” he declared, stepping inside. He grinned and her heart beat faster. He was an old guy, her father’s age, yet he was very attractive. She’d noticed it the first time they met. He looked remarkably like Henry.

  “Yeah, kind of.”

  “Too bad you and my son didn’t work out. He has bad taste.”

  He was close enough now for her to make out the thin lines around his brown eyes, to smell the faint scent of cigars and leather clinging to his skin.

  “Tell me about it. So you know about him and Ariel? Back together again?”

  He scoffed. “I’m not too concerned about that gutter trash anymore. She’s a passing phase. Useless.”

  That filled her with a delighted, warm blush. He pulled a lock of hair back from her forehead, tucking it gently back in place. “A woman of quality is always something to be worked for and treasured. The easy girls don’t last. He’ll realize that some day. He might just need some persuasion.”

  Lainey could almost feel his lips on hers. “Nothing will happen with Ariel in the way.”

  “You’re too important to let go.” The way he looked at her now, the passion in his eyes…he never looked at me that way. She let her guard down, and his eyes, a clone of Henry’s, were hypnotizing her. “I just need your help to get rid of her.”

  ###

  Phillip’s words and how he’d acted towards her had made her feel special and important like no other man ever had. She’d always worked her hardest, only to be discarded. Not by him. He saw how important she was. He had given her a special mission to prove it.

  Ariel and Henry were walking up ahead, caught in the crowd of a late school day. They were trying like hell not to look at each other, but kept casting glances at one another like they just couldn’t help it. Irritation flared, making her teeth clench, but she pushed it away. Their immature flirting didn’t matter. He reached out and caressed her hand before they split off their separate ways.

  She forced her mounting anger to be soothed again. Ariel wouldn’t be a problem for too much longer. She only had to bide her time before she struck.

  It would hurt much worse a broken nose. She’d make certain of it.

  6. DR. BRIGGS

  PHILLIP’S OFFICE WAS a garish eyesore, much like Dr. Milton Briggs had expected. Hideous, pus-yellow curtains, overpriced leather furniture, and a big screen painted with poppies that separated Phillip from the rest of the room—ugly and clashing, but had no doubt cost a pretty penny. If Briggs’ wife was still alive, she would have ripped everything down and told him to start fresh.

  Maybe the cancer had advanced far enough to affect Phillip’s judgment of aesthetics.

  One could only hope.

  Phillip noticed his physician had arrived and waved everyone else out of the room. He’d been keeping his disease a secret from his disciples this entire time, but there was only so long and how much he could hide before it was obvious that there was something wrong with him to the others.

  Briggs stepped just inside the doorway as the secretary introduced him. A short, stout man lumbered past him, a tuft of black, curly chest hair displayed by his open shirt collar. He’d been introduced to Cliff Ford before, and it had not left a favorable impression. The man was a pig, and the way he watched both his own daughter and her friends was suspect. He wouldn’t trust Harlow alone in Ford’s house, no matter how smart his daughter was.

  He clutched his medical bag and went behind the screen.

  “Right on time,” Phillip said. Briggs adjusted his glasses. Despite the thin silver frames, the lenses were quite strong. Without them, he couldn’t make out a word in front of his face. With them he could see just fine. And he had been trained to see too much.

  Phillip was starting to look very bad. His skin had a gree
nish pallor to it that wasn’t due to the poor lighting. A vein in the middle of his forehead stuck out, pulsating gently. Shadows were beginning to settle in beneath his brown eyes. Like a man on death row, waiting for the final walk.

  “I don’t like to keep my patients waiting,” Briggs said lightly, pulling out his stethoscope to capture a heartbeat. The man’s ticker was running pretty fast and he could hear a faint murmur. He said nothing about it, just moved on to the lungs. “Most doctors overbook for the insurance. I try not to.”

  The blood pressure cuff went on next. Just as Briggs expected, it was a little high. Not too many signs yet—Rhodes could be a man who just exercised or had an extra shot of espresso in his coffee. But they were coming, and they would hit him hard.

  “You have to be very careful about any strenuous activity,” Briggs said, tucking the stethoscope away. He knew that a man like Rhodes would never rest unless strapped down.

  Phillip scoffed, exactly like Briggs expected. “You need to, or else,” Briggs said. “Rest as much as you can. Take all your medication every day. And if the headaches get worse…”

  “The headaches are excruciating as it is,” Phillip said, even though he was talking pretty well for a man who claimed that. “But I only have to live with them for a little while longer. Until the transformation.”

  We’ll see about that, Briggs thought as they wrapped things up. The man wasn’t going to make it to the last ritual. And it would be the golden opportunity for Briggs to step in. And if he was a little impatient…

  “We could try exploratory surgery,” Doctor Briggs suggested.

  “I’m not letting you cut into my brain. Tumor or not.” Phillip eyed him warily and Briggs backed off. He knew he’d gained the man’s trust when few would, and he didn’t want to jeopardize his standing by being too eager.

  “Suit yourself. You might be singing a different tune when the cancer spreads.”

  He whistled on his way out of the office, smiling at the attractive secretaries as he went out to restart his day. Espresso sounded good.