Scarlett sipped. Pretty good, actually. And way better than the salad bar. She’d work out Peacock’s butchering of millennia-old cultural and religious traditions after standardized tests were done. “Yum, thanks.”
Peacock passed the rest out, but Rosa waved hers off. “You used almond milk. I’m allergic to nuts.”
“Oh no!” Peacock said. “My bad. I’ll make it with soy next time. Can you have soy?”
Rosa nodded. And just like that, Scarlett now knew one hundred percent more about the new girl.
She was woefully behind. There had been a time, back in the glory days, during which all newcomers to Blackbrook would be subjected to Scarlett for orientation. It was a great opportunity for everyone involved: The new kid would have a chance to learn from Scarlett, the student body president, all about the school and its culture, and Scarlett would get an opportunity to size up the competition.
But Dr. Brown hadn’t even told her about Rosa, and the new girl kept so much to herself that she’d been in the house two full days before Scarlett even knew of her existence.
Maybe she could make up for the delay now. They sat down to drink their smoothies, crowding around the tiny table.
“So, Rosa,” Scarlett asked, “how are you liking Blackbrook?”
“It’s fine.”
“Where did you transfer from?”
“Overseas.”
This girl was giving her very little to work with. “What’s the name of your old school?”
“I had . . . tutors. School is kind of a new thing for me.”
A perfect opening! “If that’s the case, then you should let me show you around. I don’t know if Dr. Brown mentioned it, but I’m the student body president. I take it upon myself to orient all the newcomers to Blackbrook.”
Rosa glanced from Scarlett to Orchid and back again. “Is it required?”
“No, not as such, but—”
“Then no thank you.”
Scarlett’s fingers tightened so hard around the smoothie glass, she was shocked it didn’t crack.
“Peacock!” Orchid said at once. “How’s training going?”
“Okay,” she replied. “Especially since Dr. Brown talked Coach Lungelo out of quitting. But the team has basically fallen apart. We’ve got no chance for team placement this season, and I don’t have a decent practice partner to—”
“Why didn’t you transfer?” Rosa asked abruptly.
“She wouldn’t do that,” Scarlett said. “Blackbrook loves her.”
Peacock took a long drink of her smoothie, saying nothing. Weird.
“Well, actually, I did try to transfer,” she said at last. “But there were some complications. They wouldn’t let me play for a year, and—”
“You tried to transfer?” Scarlett asked. She felt . . . personally hurt. Mostly because she’d had no idea.
“They wanted to redshirt you?” asked Rosa.
“Yes,” Peacock said to Rosa.
“Sucks,” the new girl replied.
Scarlett wasn’t sure how some homeschooled kid from overseas was down with all the sports lingo. “So, Rosa, do you play tennis?” The new girl was tall. Maybe she’d be a ringer, or at least help Peacock round out the team.
“I’m not joining the team, if that’s what you’re asking.”
But Scarlett was not to be deterred. “What activities do you want to get involved with here at Blackbrook?”
“Oh,” she drawled, “so we’re doing the new-student orientation after all?”
Orchid giggled into her smoothie.
“I’ll tell you the truth, Scarlett,” said Rosa. “I’ve been here for a week now, and all I see are problems. The campus is a disaster area, security is practically nonexistent, especially given the school’s recent history, and there’s a total leadership vacuum. It is beyond me why any of you came back here. It’s like you have a death wish.”
Orchid looked at her lap.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes. “There aren’t going to be any more deaths here. The killer is in jail.”
“Oh, that’s how it works?” Rosa replied. “There are people who are killers and people who aren’t, and now you’ve sorted it all out?”
“Well, what do you suggest?” Scarlett said. “We just go ahead and advance-imprison anyone who we suspect has sociopathic tendencies?”
“No,” Rosa said. “I’m just saying that anyone can kill, given the appropriate motivation.”
“That’s not true!” Scarlett exclaimed. She looked at Orchid. “You don’t support this, do you?”
Orchid pursed her lips. “I think a lot of people could be driven to taking a life. Or . . . trained into it. Like soldiers.”
“That’s different than Mrs. White knifing the headmaster in the middle of the night over an argument.”
Peacock, who had been drinking her smoothie in silence, piped up. “I think she got angry and lost control. It’s not so different than what happened to me, right? I was so angry at Mustard, I punched him. And then he cracked his head on the tile. He could have died. I could have killed him without meaning to.” She shuddered. “After what happened, I knew I had to make a change. I don’t want to be the kind of person who could kill anyone or . . . hurt anyone. And I definitely don’t want to be the kind of person someone thinks is capable of killing. It hurt so much to think that anyone might call me a killer, like what happened last term.”
Scarlett frowned. That had mostly been Vaughn’s doing. And then he’d convinced Mustard, who hadn’t known any of them enough to judge properly.
“I didn’t realize I had all this latent anger in me,” Peacock continued. “That’s why my parents and I hired the life coach. Ash is helping me channel my anger into tennis and release it through—”
“Please do not say ‘chakra’ again,” Scarlett mumbled.
“Meditation,” Peacock finished. “And diet. I don’t necessarily understand it all, but Ash does. He’s trained.” She finished her smoothie. “I want to be a better person. Not just a better tennis player. Isn’t that what we all want?”
Was it? Right now, Scarlett would settle for a better test score.
“I love Blackbrook,” Orchid said. “I found a home here. I don’t want to give up on it just because something bad happened here. I did that once already. I can’t spend my whole life running.”
Rosa seemed satisfied with this answer.
“What she said,” added Scarlett. “Some of us have invested a lot in this school, though I can understand how that would be hard for a new person to understand.”
“I understand,” Rosa said, “even if I don’t agree.”
“Then what are you doing here, if it’s murder central?” Scarlett snapped.
The new girl just smiled. “Relax, Scarlett. I’m here to learn, like everyone else. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
After she left, Scarlett could not shake her annoyance. “I don’t like that girl.”
“You don’t like anyone,” Orchid pointed out.