Page 34 of I'm Gonna Get You Back
“Maybe not,” Clara hedges. “But what if that’s whatIwant to do? Obviously not in a way that would compromise your scholarships—”
Mitchell sits up ramrod straight. “Wait. Are you saying you want to make atakedownof the Legacy Program?”
“Why did you just say that like Nicolas Cage wanting to steal the Declaration of Independence?” Kenji asks.
He grins. “Because I, too, am a national treasure.”
Kenji sways into Mitchell as he laughs.
“I had always planned on finishing the doc I started last year, but then…” Clara trails off because we all know why she stopped working on it. When she got unfairly disqualified in front of everyone at the assembly because of that video, she told me that she was done.
With everything.
Just as the silence extends past comfortable, Mitchell pipes up. “And theeeen your smart and good-looking friend Mitchell reminded you to finish it this weekend and you’ve realized what a genius he is?”
Friend. I take a deeper breath.
Clara rolls her eyes but laughs a little. “More or less. But technically, it was always my plan.”
“Details. I deserve a producer credit at least.”
Kenji nods. “Sounds reasonable.”
The rest of us laugh. Except Delaney, who’s studying the sky as she says, “I don’t know… I’ve gotten a lot out of Legacy.”
Clara tenses. “Okay… you could talk about that, too,” she starts,“but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t also sucked for a lot of us. Or did you forget about last year the way you’veforgottento text me back?”
Kenji’s playing falters at the same time Mitchell sucks a breath in through his teeth. This is my fault. All my fault. Though I see Mitch elbows Clara, she barely seems to notice as she stares at Delaney.
Delaney’s voice shakes a little. “Of course I haven’t forgotten about what happened to you. You know I hate that Legacy didn’t work out for you, Clara—”
Her scoff is high-pitched, her tone sardonic. “Didn’t ‘work out’?”
I rip out a clump of grass, the fury from last year building all over again.
Delaney shakes her head, looking miserable. “No—I know. I hate whoever did that to you—it was so cruel. But doing an exposé for revenge—”
“I’m not holding some petty grudge, Delaney. Someonesabotagedme—compromised my future. And I still don’t know who did it or why.”
The silence that follows is filled with hurt.
I know it’s taking every ounce of Mitchell’s and Kenji’s self-control not to say a smart-ass comment to break the tension the same way it’s taking every ounce of mine not to rub a hand down Clara’s back to comfort her.
After a moment, Delaney’s voice cuts through the soft cricket song around us. “You’re right. I’m sorry—I get it. It’s a good idea.”
“Yeah?” Clara meets my gaze for a brief moment. “It’s not crazy?”
I’m not sure if it’s a rhetorical question or if she’s asking me.
Talking about last year on camera with Clara is probably the last thing I want to do. But I get why she wants to do this.
Needs to do this.
Though I’m not sure I can. I have too much I need to contain. Too much I don’t want anyone—especially her—to see.
But what she said to me in the house runs through my head again.
The story isn’t over.
