The Boy I Hate

Twenty Three.

My life in Sugar Port was like walking on a tightrope, arms out trying to maintain balance. I endured school days with Margie and Richard; watching baseball practice and rehearsing for the debutante ball. Meanwhile, my late nights and weekend mornings were spent prancing about the west side with Bobby, Lily, and Charles Turner.

It was easy to become two different people while I led two separate lives.

It wasn't like it was before, either. I mean, I didn't force myself to do it on account of being a double agent. I couldn't even say I would quit hanging around my new friends if Rich asked me to. He didn't need to know that, though.

It surprised me that he even wanted me to continue the mole act. After all we'd been through I thought we learned it wreaked nothing but havoc on our relationship. Yet, he persisted telling me it was absolutely necessary. I clenched my teeth and hid my resentment every time. It was as if nothing was changing.

There was still a nagging at the back of my brain - that if I could find the original mole, I could end it all. If I discovered the girl giving the east's secrets to the west I could stop being the girl giving the west's secrets to the east. That was the whole reason I'd been recruited, after all.

So when I saw Elizabeth take a left leaving cheer practice, knowing well that she lived to the right, I followed her. It was crazy, I knew, but when I had asked her what she was doing that afternoon she complained about being grounded at home. Maybe it made me a bit of a stalker. I just had to know. Because really, out of anyone, it must have been her.

Elizabeth Eaton always had a flare for the dramatic. I wouldn't have been surprised if she got involved in the prank war just to say she did. To whisper it to her friends in the hallway. So they could giggle, knowing nobody understood why they were. 

I followed her strides far enough away that she wouldn't hear my feet patter behind her. She wore a ponytail, similar to the infamous one my mother always wore, and it flipped back and forth with her steps. I felt stupid; she could have been going to a friends house, or literally anywhere unrelated to the rivalry. 

Yet, maybe my suspicion wasn't completely useless, because with every turn she took we were getting closer to West High. I waited for her to side-step towards a house, or make a stop at grocery store, but Elizabeth only ever quickened her pace to where I thought she may be going. She glanced behind herself a couple times, meaning I had to jump behind a number of bushes to stay hidden, but I grew more curious as we approached our rival school.

I tip-toed behind a tree and watched from a distance as she met with a guy I knew very well from my excursions with the west side. He was the boy who hacked East Port Academy's security when Charlie and I started the fire. I'd caught her red handed... or so I thought.

The truth was made clear when she handed him a wad of cash in exchange for a paper bag. I would have had to be an idiot not to understand what that meant. I hoped it was only weed, but knowing Elizabeth there was a good chance a hardcore drug was in that bag.

I thought it would be best if I got out of there before she saw me, so I started backing up, only for my back to collide with someone else. Before I could apologize I realized who it was. "Charlie!" I hit his chest. "How long have you been standing there?"

He scoffed, "I don't know if you're in any position to lecture me about spying right now." I huffed, and he continued, "she's come here every week or so for the last month."

"Do you know what she's getting?"

"No," he shrugged. "I stay out of that stuff."

I knew Elizabeth's life was none of my business, but I made a mental note to watch her for strange behavior. I must've had a concerned expression because Charlie noticed, "I didn't think you two were close."

"We're not that close," I hugged myself, "but I'd want to know if something was really wrong."

He gave my forearm a gentle squeeze. "I'll ask around about her, okay?"

"Thank you."

Next thing I knew Lily and Bobby had arrived and were buzzing about some hilarious thing that happened at lunch. Bobby rustled my hair with his fist, and Lily sent me a little salute. I giggled, "I should probably get going. My mom will hang me if she finds out I didn't go straight home after cheer practice."

They all nodded, and Charlie added, "but stop by tonight. Everyones coming over."

Bobby and Lily coughed and nudged him, making his eyes widen a little like he'd made a mistake. "Oh yeah. That's actually tomorrow," he chuckled. I squinted at him with suspicion, but he just forced a smile.

So they were hiding something.

What else was new?