Stealing Bradford

16

TWO CARS LEFT THE CARTER HOUSE for school on Monday morning. Four girls rode with Eliza. But Taylor was DJ’s only passenger. And she had a strong feeling that wasn’t a coincidence. It seemed like everyone was punishing Taylor now. Well, except for DJ. Not that she wasn’t still aggravated at Taylor, especially for Rhiannon’s sake, but that earlier sense of outrage had pretty much evaporated.

“They’re freezing me out,” said Taylor as DJ drove them to school.

“I don’t know.”

“You do too know.” Taylor reached for her bag, taking out her cigarettes.

“Not in my car,” warned DJ.

“I’ll open the window.”

“No.” DJ turned and gave her a look to show she meant it.

“Fine. Whatever.” Taylor scowled darkly now.

“Why do you smoke anyway?” asked DJ.

“Why not?”

“Don’t you care about your lungs?”

“My lungs are fine.”

“Right, now…maybe…but what about later? What if you were going to have a singing career like your mom, but you couldn’t because of smoking?”

“My mom used to smoke.”

DJ considered this. “Used to…so she had the sense to quit, right?”

“Yeah.”

“My point.”

“Look, DJ. I’m sure you mean well, but you are getting on my nerves, and that just makes me want to smoke.” So DJ attempted to change the subject, asking about whether Taylor had a specific role she wanted to try out for in drama.

“Probably.”

“Which one?”

“I’d say Nellie, but I have a feeling Eliza will bag that one.”

“Eliza does seem like a Nellie,” agreed DJ.

“You mean all that perky, blue-eyed blonde stuff? Well, don’t kid yourself, I could wear a wig and makeup.”

“You really think you can pull off cheerful and happy?”

“It’s called acting.”

“So, you’re trying out for Nellie then?”

“No. I’m not stupid.”

“What?”

“Probably Liat. That seems the obvious choice.”

DJ nodded. “Well, you’d be a good Liat. You could even pass for Polynesian. And you wouldn’t need a wig or anything.”

“And she’s got some good songs.”

“And you’ve got a nice voice.”

“How do you know?” Taylor asked.

“I heard you in the shower the other day. You were good.”

“Thanks.”

DJ barely had the car in park before Taylor jumped out and lit a cigarette. So much for DJ’s distraction tactics.

“I’m going to class,” DJ said. “Enjoy the fresh air.”

“Thanks.” Taylor rolled her eyes as she blew out a long puff of smoke.

DJ looked for Eliza and the other girls, spotting them just as she reached the entrance. “Hey, wait,” she called, hurrying to join them.

“Sorry you got stuck with her,” said Eliza as they gathered at the top of the steps.

“That’s okay.”

“She’s such a witch,” said Casey. “I don’t know how you can stand her, DJ. I mean you not only room with her, you get stuck driving her too. Why didn’t you make her walk or take her Vespa?”

DJ just shrugged.

“I’m glad you’re being nice to her,” said Rhiannon.

“Really?” DJ felt relieved.

“Of course. That’s the right thing to do.”

“That’s nuts,” said Casey.

“Hey, I really appreciate that you guys care about me,” said Rhiannon. “But I’m ready to move on, okay?”

“That seems wise,” said Kriti. She smiled at Rhiannon. “What’s that saying? There are a lot of fish in the ocean?”

Rhiannon nodded. “Definitely.”

“So that’s it?” said Casey. She looked disappointed. “Taylor wins?”

“She’s not winning,” said Rhiannon.

“Yes, she is,” said Casey. “You act like her doormat, and she gets away with being a selfish witch and then ends up with Bradford too?”

“That’s not winning,” said Rhiannon.

“I don’t get that,” said Casey.

“I think Rhiannon is saying that it’s not over until it’s over,” said Eliza.

“Here she comes now,” warned Kriti.

Suddenly, they were all scattering and only DJ remained.

“They are so immature,” said Taylor. “Can’t they just get over it?”

“I’m sure they will,” said DJ as they went into the building. “In time.”

“Hey, Taylor,” called Bradford, waving as he approached them.

“Hey,” said Taylor. Her previous scowl amazingly turned into a brilliant smile as he slipped an arm around her waist.

“What’s up, Babe?” He looked at her like she was a goddess, and she literally beamed. DJ wanted to hurl.

“See you guys,” DJ said, eager to escape this embarrassing display of stupidity. She wasn’t totally opposed to expressing affection in public, but she was one of those girls who thought less was more. Fortunately, Conner seemed to be of a similar mind. But maybe they should discuss this before long, just in case it ever became an issue.

As usual, Monday morning dragged. And as DJ was heading for fourth period, all she could think about was lunch.

“Hey, DJ,” called Conner as he jogged to catch up with her. He had a hard-to-read expression on his face—something like concern mixed with amusement. “Have you seen it yet?”

“Seen what?” she asked.

“The photos on MySpace dot com.”

“Huh?”

“Taylor.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t go into the details now, but get ahold of a laptop and check this out.” He handed her a slip of paper with a website address. “I gotta run. I’m late already.”

DJ shoved the paper into her pocket and headed for US History. Eliza was just sitting down, and DJ took the seat beside her.

“What’s up?” asked Eliza.

DJ shrugged. “Not much, although Conner just told me I need to check out some website.” She stood up and dug in her pocket to remove the slip of paper. “Something about Taylor.”

Eliza leaned over to look at the paper. “Oh, that’s just her MySpace site. What’s the big deal? I mean, besides being tacky.”

Taylor walked into class just then, frowned at Eliza and DJ, and sat down, carefully crossing one long leg over the other as if to remind them that even if everyone hated her, she was still gorgeous. Not that DJ hated her; she didn’t. But being with Eliza probably sent the message that she did.

Mr. Myers handed out a printout and briefly explained that they would be doing research projects this week. They were to choose a partner and pick a subject from the printout. The first three days of the week would be used for research time, and the paper would be due on Friday.

“Be my partner,” said Eliza with a big smile.

“Sure,” said DJ, relieved that she wouldn’t be stuck with Taylor, but then guilty for being relieved.

“Let’s go to the computer lab,” said Eliza. Mr. Myers signed a pass and they left.

Once they were settled at a computer, Eliza immediately punched in the MySpace address, and a rather provocative and somewhat skanky-looking photo of Taylor popped up.

“Well now,” said Eliza. “What exactly is Taylor up to? Training to become a porn queen?”

DJ quickly read the text, which was supposedly written by Taylor, but somehow didn’t ring quite true to DJ’s ears. For one thing, there were dumb typos and bad grammar mistakes, and it just sounded plain stupid, which everyone knew Taylor was not.

Eliza clicked on the spot that said “see more,” and suddenly there was a photo of Taylor and a girl with short blonde hair in a tight embrace and kissing each other on the lips.

“Eew,” said Eliza. “That is seriously twisted!” She turned and stared at DJ now. “Is Taylor gay?”

“Of course not.” But even as DJ said this, she had no idea.

“Okay, bisexual. Is she bi?”

“I don’t know.”

Then Eliza clicked onto more photos, which were even more explicit and nauseating. All featured Taylor as the star—and all with other girls.

“This is so sick,” said DJ.

“Totally messed up,” said Eliza as she clicked onto another.

“Turn it off,” said DJ as she stared with a mixture of shocked fascination, horror, and disgust.

“I can’t believe you’re sharing a room with that pervert.”

“What is that?” demanded Taylor from behind them.

DJ tried to cover up the screen with her hands, but Taylor leaned over and pushed her aside.

“I’m sure you’ve seen it before,” said Eliza. “We should be asking you what it is.” Taylor’s dark eyes got huge as she stared at the horrid photos. And, as if wanting to give her the whole virtual tour, Eliza clicked onto each of them again, including the kissing scene. By now there was a small crowd watching over their shoulders, and some of the guys began hooting and whistling and making crude remarks.

“That’s enough,” said DJ, reaching over and turning the screen off. The boys made disappointed moans.

“I’ve got the website address,” said one, as he headed over to another computer, trailed by a group.

DJ turned and looked at Taylor now, curious as to how she would explain this. But she couldn’t have been more surprised when she saw tears streaming down Taylor’s cheeks. DJ had never seen her cry.

“Those are not of me,” said Taylor.

“They sure looked like you,” said Eliza in a skeptical tone. “And your name is all over the site.”

“That’s not me!” She wiped the tears off of her cheeks. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to set this up.” She stared at Eliza and DJ now, looking from one to the other. “Did you guys do this?”

“No way,” said DJ. “This is disgusting.”

“Eliza?” demanded Taylor. “I know you hate me. Is this how you take your revenge?”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Eliza looked offended. “This is totally slimy. I would never be caught dead doing—”

“But you could’ve hired someone to do it for you,” said Taylor quickly. “We all know you could afford it and you—”

“I had absolutely nothing to do with this,” said Eliza. She stood now and looked Taylor right in the eyes. “I swear I didn’t. This is really low-down and skanky, and I would never—”

“Fine,” snapped Taylor. “I actually believe you. And I’m pretty sure DJ didn’t do it either.”

Laughter came from where the boys were now ogling the computer screen on the other side of the room, followed by more hoots and lewd remarks.

“What am I going to do?” whispered Taylor. This was the first time DJ had seen Taylor on the defense and actually looking scared.

“Get it taken down,” said DJ.

“Sue someone,” added Eliza. Then she shook her head. “Although it’s your own stupid fault, Taylor. You never should’ve allowed those photos to be taken.”

“I said they’re not of me!” yelled Taylor.

“Yeah, right,” called a guy from the other computer. “But, hey, we think you’re hot.”

“Totally hot,” said another guy.

Taylor’s eyes filled with tears again and then without saying another word, she turned and ran from the room. DJ considered going after her, but wasn’t sure what she could say or do to make this any less painful.

“So Taylor gets to find out how it feels to be hurt for a change,” said Eliza smugly.

“Did you have this done?” demanded DJ, suddenly suspicious.

“No.” Eliza sighed. “Like I already said, this is way below me. I would never stoop to something as nasty and creepy as this.”

“Well, I honestly don’t believe that’s Taylor’s site.”

“No, of course not.”

“Who did it then?”

“Rhiannon would be suspect,” said Eliza. “Except that I’m pretty sure she’s next in line for sainthood.”

“Rhiannon would never do something like that.”

“Unless she has another side.” Eliza smiled. “Some religious people are like that. They act all holy and good, and then when no one is looking they—”

“Shut up,” said DJ.

“Well.” Eliza looked truly offended now.

“Sorry,” said DJ. “But Rhiannon is not like that.”

Eliza shrugged. “People are full of surprises, DJ. The sooner you figure that out, the smarter you’ll be.”

“Whatever.” DJ pulled out their assignment sheet and tried to act like she was researching—anything to keep her mind off the nasty business with Taylor. Who had done it? An enemy from California? And how did Conner find out about it? Furthermore, and perhaps more worrisome, did he look at those photos too? What was wrong with people? DJ wondered as she scanned the image of an old newspaper. Why would someone go to such lengths to hurt someone else?