Her mom said, “Jane is your friend. What’s
wrong with a little white lie?”
They smiled at each other.
I was listening behind the wall.
I felt something weird.
I’d never felt that way before.
Too soon, the party was over, and Arthur and
Olivia wanted answers.
10
Olivia said, “No matter what happened, you
almost ruined the party. Jane, I’m
disappointed.”
<
I said, “I know, and I’m sorry. I won’t do it
again.”
Arthur wasn’t letting David off the hook either.
“David, Summer said you saw everything. Why
didn’t you back her up? Your sister
embarrassed the whole family.”
David took a sip of ginger tea, but his face was pale. He said, “So what? At least our family reputation can be propped up by two kind- hearted souls who adopted an orphan.”
Slap!
The sound echoed in the silence.
A red mark appeared on David’s cheek.
His hand was shaking, but he didn’t say anything.
Olivia nut her hand down and glared at ma
78
Olivia put her hand down and glared at me. “Jane, don’t be like your brother, okay? But you
need to learn a lesson too. Go spend the night in the attic.”
The attic was at the top of the house.
It was simple, and the light was dim, but there
was a bed.
Good enough.
If only there were a window.
Whatever, I wasn’t scared.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
I sat up. “Who is it?”
“Come out.” It was David.
<
I went to the door.
David said, “Olivia wants you to practice piano,
then go to your room.”
Looks like I was getting a pardon early.
I nodded.
But when David turned to leave, I stopped him.
“Did you really not see Tammy jump in?”
David asked, “Does it matter who did what?
The mood was ruined. Now that you’ve made a
mess, are you still going to hang around here?”
I slammed the door. “Yep.”
A minute later, I opened the door again.
I walked past David toward the music room.
I practiced piano until really late
<
I practiced piano until really late.
David stood outside the music room, waiting for
- me. It was already past midnight.
11
I woke up late, so I was late to school.
I got to my desk and saw someone had spilled
milk all over it.
I used my breakfast from the Chiangs as a
trade and found out who did it.
During break, someone had plugged the sink in
the bathroom and filled it with water.
Tammy’s face was being held in the water.
She struggled.
Lasked “You like being underwater so much?
<
I asked, “You like being underwater so much?
Think you’ll jump in the pool again?”
I got a gurgle in response.
When Tammy realized she couldn’t talk, she
tried to nod.
I let her go.
Tammy gasped for air.
“Jane,” she said, “I’m going to tell my mom, and
get you kicked out!”
“Jane’s not going anywhere,” someone said. It
was Summer. “My dad won’t expel my best
friend.”
Tammy remembered that the school principal
was a Peterson.
“How could you-”
<
I cut her off. “Eye for an eye. I’m just reminding you that being underwater is dangerous. If you
don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with you.”
I was about to leave with Summer when Tammy yelled, “David will never accept you! As long as he has Amy’s diary, he’ll never accept another
sister!”
I didn’t know about any diary, but I was clear
about what I said. “Who wants to be David’s
sister more, me or you?”
Tammy’s face turned red, probably from lack of
oxygen.
Even I could see why Tammy was being such a
pain.
She liked David.
Teenage girls…
<
I didn’t want to waste any more time.
“What’s the diary?” I asked Summer.
“I have no idea. I was too scared to touch
anything. I was terrified of the Chiangs back
then.”
“Okay, then I don’t care.”
Summer said, “She mentioned David’s sister.
Amy’s anniversary is coming up, so be extra
careful.”
“Why?”
