A police officer waved for Elise to come to the counter. I went along too. Before Elise could say anything, I started in on my explanation. “This is all a big mistake. I’m not supposed to be here.”

The officer peered at me over the rims of his glasses. “I hope you remember that, young lady. This is a big mistake, and none of you should be here. You should be home doing school work like responsible teenagers.”

“No, I mean I wasn’t actually at this party. I mean, I was there, but only to drive my friend home.”

“Uh-huh. Your name, please?”

Elise blurted out, “We won’t tell you our names, Coppo Swine.”

Without thinking I said, “Elise!”

She hit me. “Thanks a lot, Natasha. Is there any other information you’d like to supply the enemy with?”

The officer typed her name into his computer. “What’s your last name, Elise?”

“Just Elise. I’m like one of those famous singers who don’t have last names. Although my good friends call me Buttercup.” She turned to me, “You’re obviously not one of my good friends.”

The officer was patient. “Elise, you’re not making this any easier.”

“Good,” she said. “I don’t want this to be easy. I want this to be as hard as I can make it.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “And don’t you dare tell them anything else about me, Natasha, or I’ll never speak to you again.”

The officer tapped his fingers on the counter. “If you want to add hindering an investigation to your charges, fine. Spend some time here. Spend days here. I don’t care. Your parents will look for you sooner or later.”

“No they won’t,” she slurred out. “They don’t care about me. They’ve got five replacement children at home. They won’t notice I’m gone—at least not until they need a babysitter. When they both need to go to their stupid store, then they’ll wonder what happened to Elise.” She folded her arms. “Who knows, a jail cell might be the closest I ever get to having my own room. I don’t want to see my parents. Why shouldn’t I spend time here?”

“All right.” The man turned and yelled to an officer standing behind him. “Hey, Wozniak, can you come and take Buttercup here to the detox room? She wants to take advantage of our deluxe accommodations.”

He came and led Elise away. She sang “Jailhouse Rock” while she walked away. I could hear it all the way down the hall. Some of the less-sober people in the room joined in.

“So, Natasha,” the police officer said, “do you want to help your friend and give us some information about her? We need to call her parents.”

“Can I make a phone call first, please?”

“Going to talk to your lawyer?” He looked exasperated but let me use my cell phone. I dialed Josh’s number, hoping he hadn’t turned off his phone and gone to bed.

He answered. “Cassidy?”

I kept my voice quiet. “I’m down at the police station and I need your help.”

“You’re where?” he asked, sounding like he was still waking up.

“At the police station. I’m with Elise.”

“You’re with Elise?”

“We were busted at a party.”

“You were busted!” The incredulity in his voice rose with each statement, and it made me feel even worse that he kept repeating everything I said.

“I wasn’t drinking. I was just there to pick Elise up, and now she won’t tell the police anything except that her name is Buttercup, and they put her in detox, and she says she’ll never speak to me again if I give them any information about her. She says she doesn’t want to see your parents, but I can’t just leave her here.”

He let out a low breath. “What do you want me to do?”

He didn’t say it sarcastically. I knew he was actually trying to find out what I wanted from him. But what I wanted was for him to somehow magically make this all better. I wanted him to deal with Elise and take care of everything so I would no longer be responsible.

With the phone still pressed to my face, I realized that it wasn’t possible to fix something like that with a simple phone call. It wasn’t possible because I wasn’t responsible for Elise in the first place. Only Elise was responsible for her situation, and right now she was obliviously singing prison ditties in detox. It didn’t matter what Josh or I did. Things wouldn’t get better for Elise until Elise made them better.

I was silent for so long that Josh said, “Cassidy?”

“You know, maybe we should let Elise handle this on her own.”

“What?”

“Maybe what she needs is for someone not to come rescue her this time.”

“Cassidy, she’s at the police station.”

“I know, Josh. I know because I’m here with her. I went running to rescue her from her latest mistake, and now I’ll probably get a lovely mug shot to commemorate the occasion.”

Josh let out a tired sigh. “You only want to leave her there because you’re mad.”

“No, I’m only trying to figure out what’s best for her because I care.” I ignored the impatient look the police officer gave me and went on. “I just spent the evening trying to help Elise. I’ve been hit on, mocked, detained, and sandwiched between two drunks in the back of a police car. My parents will go ballistic over this. I’ll never be let out of the house again, and none of it matters to Elise.”

I thought he’d protest further, but he didn’t. The line was silent. Finally he said, “I have to let my parents know she’s all right. They’ll worry when she doesn’t show up here soon. But I’ll think about what you said.”

He hung up without saying goodbye.

I put my phone away and turned back to the police officer. “I let Elise’s family know where she is.”

He smiled at me patronizingly. “I’m glad to hear that. Now why don’t you give us some information about yourself, Natasha.”

Chapter 15

After I told the police every last minute detail about myself, I was able to call my dad. I explained what had happened. He didn’t say much. It was a bad sign.

My Mom barely looked at me when she came to the station to pick me up. She talked to the officers, signed forms, and didn’t defend herself when they lectured her about a parent’s moral and legal responsibility to make sure their children obey the laws.

They pointedly let me know I was getting off easy because I hadn’t been involved in the underage consumption of alcohol. All the other teenage criminals got a court date.

This didn’t alleviate Mom’s anger, however. She walked briskly to the doors. “Come-on-Cassidy-we’re-going-home.”

It was a very bad sign.

She strode to her car fast paced. “I don’t believe this. You are permanently grounded. You won’t go anywhere ever again. Do you understand?” She got in the car and slammed the door.

I got in the other side.

She turned on the car, wrenched it into reverse, and pulled out of the parking lot. “Of all the things we ever expected from you, I never thought I’d be picking you up from the police station.”

I didn’t answer. It hadn’t been on my list of expectations either.

“How could you let yourself get mixed up in this?” she went on. “Do you know what this will do to your reputation? Do you?”

I listened quietly while she told me how my respectable image was shattered and how hard it would be for me to live a life of dignity in high school from here on.

I was really glad when we reached home.

The lecture didn’t end, however, it just moved into the living room. “Your days of hanging around Elise are over,” Mom said. “Do you understand? No more Elise.”

While I put my coat away, Mom stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door shut.

Dad came out of the kitchen. He stood there quietly for a minute, his hands in the pockets of his robe. “Have you learned anything tonight?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I can’t solve Elise’s problems for her. But having learned that, I think I should still be allowed to be her friend—”