Get Even (Don’t Get Mad)

BY THE NEXT MORNING, BREE’S FIGHT WITH REX WAS FRONT-PAGE news. Olivia wished she’d been there to see the look on Rex’s face when a girl kicked his ass.

It was hard to hide. Even sporting a pair of Ray-Bans, Rex’s left eye was a disturbing mix of purples and reds, and the swelling hadn’t completely gone down yet.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t spend too much time fantasizing about Rex’s humiliation. Olivia had other problems to deal with. Like the mysterious envelopes. A cheating scandal and a photo of Kitty with some random chick—what did they have to do with her? Absolutely nothing, as far as Olivia could tell.

But after the blowup at the DGM meeting the other night, Olivia realized just how vulnerable she was. One of the girls could turn on her at any moment. Maybe whoever had sent her the clues was trying to warn her? He or she clearly thought the information was important, but Olivia had no idea why.

Thankfully, she knew someone with a talent for ferreting out information.

She found Ed the Head at lunch, lurking in the courtyard outside the boys’ gym.

“Olivia,” he said with an exaggerated frown. “I’m all out of Ding Dongs today.”

Olivia shook her head. “I’m not here for a fix.”

Ed the Head arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

“I need some of your, um, other services.”

A wide grin swept across his face, crinkling his eyes into thin slits. “Olivia, baby doll. So word of the Head’s love machine has finally reached your ears?”

“Huh?”

Ed the Head placed his hand over his heart. “I’m honored, truly. A fox like you coming after me? It’s the chance of a lifetime.”

“Have you lost your—”

He held up his hand for silence. “Wait! I want to savor this moment.” Ed the Head closed his eyes and bobbed his chin back and forth as if dancing to an imaginary techno track.

Olivia cocked her head. “Really?”

Ed the Head opened his eyes and sighed. “That was magical. However, I’m sorry to disappoint, but the Head’s heart is already engaged. I wouldn’t want to lead you on.”

“Stop!” Olivia cried. “You’re making my stomach hurt.”

“I’ve got some Tums in here somewhere. I’ll sell them to you retail.”

Why could he never engage in a normal conversation? Olivia shook her head and tried to refocus. “I need your help.”

Ed opened his mouth to respond, but his attention was caught by something behind her. His face instantly lit up. “Margot!” he cried. “Hey, why are you running away?”

Olivia turned slowly. Margot had stopped in her tracks, hesitating between fight and flight.

“I’ve been looking for you all day,” Ed said.

Margot reluctantly walked toward them. “I’ve been around.” She studiously avoided Olivia’s eyes.

“Do you know Olivia?”

“I know who she is,” Margot said.

Ed the Head laughed. “Right. Who doesn’t? Anyway, I just wanted to confirm that we’re still on for Sunday night. I can pick you up around seven? Your parents might want to meet the future son-in-law.”

Margot’s eyes grew wider and wider during Ed’s speech, until Olivia was afraid they were going to pop right out of her head. “I can’t go Sunday night.”

“What? But we had a deal!”

Margot winced. “I know. I’m sorry. I can do any other night but Sunday.”

Ed the Head eyed her. “Fine,” he said reluctantly. “Maybe we could—”

But Margot had already turned on her heel and was scurrying down the hall as fast as her legs could carry her.

So Ed the Head asked Margot on a date? How freaking adorable was that?

“Okay,” Ed said, staring after Margot. “What can I do for you, Olivia? Apparently, I’m free Sunday night if you need a date.”

“Not a chance,” she said clearly, leaving no room for innuendo. “I need your detective skills. I have a photo and I need help figuring out—”

“A photo?” he asked. “You too?”

“What do you mean, me too?”

Ed the Head shrugged. “You’re the second person who’s asked me to help them with a mysterious photo.”

The second person?

“You got it on you?” he asked.

Olivia slipped the manila envelope out of her bag and placed the photo in his hand.

Ed the Head immediately flipped the photo over and examined the back side. “Weird.”

“Um, the image is on the front.”

Ed the Head ignored her. “Same photo paper.”

“Same as?”

He turned back to the image on the front and held it close to his face, studying it intently. “Interesting.”

Olivia’s patience was wearing thin. “Look, can you help me or not?”

Ed the Head smiled. “You haven’t told me what you want.”

That’s because I don’t know. “I need to know who it is,” she said.

“Kitty Wei, our student body vice president.”

“I know that,” Olivia snapped.

“And Barbara Ann Vreeland,” he continued. “Former captain of the junior varsity girls’ volleyball team, kicked out of Bishop DuMaine as part of the grade-fixing scandal two years ago.”

As soon as Ed the Head recited her bio, Olivia realized where she knew her from. The barista at the Coffee Clash.

Ed the Head beamed at her. “Anything else?”

“I wonder what it means?” Olivia mused more to herself than to him.

“It means you owe me ten bucks,” he said.

Olivia sighed. “I need more information.”

“Like what?”

“Like . . .” Olivia’s mind raced. “Like how Kitty might be connected to the grade fixing,” she heard herself say. It was the only reason someone would have sent her both the article and the photo.

Ed the Head nodded. “Twenty bucks. Unless you have another form of payment in mind?”

Olivia was starting to think asking for Ed the Head’s help was a bad idea. “You know what? Never mind.” She snatched the photo out of his hand. “I’ll take this to someone else.”

“Really? Who?”

She blurted out the first person who popped into her head. “Margot Mejia.”

Ed the Head’s eyes grew wide. “That would be interesting.”

“Why?”

“Because that other photo I told you about? It came from her.”