“I don’t… I don’t really know,” I admitted. “Cheryl…makes me uncomfortable.”
“She wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Rachel countered.
“She gave me the drugged water.” That fact had been swirling around in my head since I woke up in the hospital.Cherylgave me that water. Not Mitch. Not some random guy. Not some stranger I didn’t know.Cheryl. “She gave it to me when I was talking to you and Skylar.”
Rachel’s expression tightened.
“I haven’t even asked you about Skylar. Sorry.”
“Sky’s fine,” Rachel assured me. “Seriously. She’s great. And…yes, she gave you the water, but Mitch gave it to her.” The care with which she made that statement had me studying her this time. There was a marked hesitation there.
“Why would he need to drug his own girlfriend?” The thought made my stomach lurch and just killed what was left of my appetite. The couple of times this had come up with the guys, there’d been a near killing rage in Jake’s eyes, and even Coop had vibrated with hostility. They were even more adamant that she stay away from me than I was.
“I don’t know,” Rachel admitted. “I have no idea why he would or if he has in the past.”
Or if he was the one who drugged Maria. “Did Maria talk to you?”
“About what happened to her?” Rachel nodded once. “It came up. She got really trashed after Homecoming and after what went down. Skylar and I made sure she got home. She confessed a lot of stuff.”
Chills skated over my skin. “Does she think it was Mitch?”
“She doesn’t know. I think that’s probably what freaks her out even more. Fuck.” She exhaled the last word with the same kind of vehemence rolling through me. “Maria said she tried to warn you—that she thought it might have been your guys for a while, but after the thing with Mitch…”
“It was never my guys.” The possessiveness that surged through me had me glaring. “Never.”
“I know.” Reaching across the table, Rachel took my hand. “I’m on your side. Which—even if it makes me throw up in my mouth a little—means I’m on their side, too.”
Tears burned in my eyes a little as a laugh escaped. “Don’t make yourself sick.”
“Oh I’m made of stronger stuff than that,” she teased. “I might even say one whole nice thing to them next week.”
“Not tonight?” After all, Rachel had picked me up at my apartment to go out to eat. Jake and Ian weren’t there because they had to get ready for the game. Archie had to go back to his place right after school, and I’d told Coop if Archie wasn’t back by the time Rachel and I were done, I was going to ask her to take me over there.
Something had been distracting Archie all week. They might be looking after me, but it was up to me to look after them, too.
She made a face. “Do I have to say something nice tonight?”
“Maybe. To one of them?”
“To one of them? Hmm…do I get to pick which one?”
“Nope.” I reached for my soda.
“Fine,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll say something nice tooneof them. Your choice.”
“Thank you, Rachel.”
“You’re welcome.” She sobered, then nudged my plate. “You need to eat.”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“See, now I know something is wrong. You always eat.”
My appetite had its ups and downs.
“Talk to me?” Rachel said. “Or I can… you know, give you all the gossip. Tell you dirty stories. Ooo. I know, we can mock that truly hideous fucking dress the troll was wearing today. Though I’m pretty sure that Peppermint Patty was really trying to top her.”
Had I even seen Sharon today? “I must have missed it.”