Sixteen
Beth glanced over the contents in their shopping cart—Scotch tape, large black garbage bags, boxes of Rice Krispies cereal, marshmallows, butter, pushpins, black and orange crepe streamers, balloons, and strings of Halloween mini-lights. Nick, to her surprise, was actually looking forward to the annual Halloween hall decorating contest. With his trial postponed and the r**e no longer a secret, she knew he was under a lot less pressure, and he had been more like his old self, but just this morning, he’d admitted to feeling guilty for it because the reaction to Trey’s arrest and suspension from both school and the football team had been decidedly in Trey’s favor—from disbelief that he was capable of such an act to accusations that Beth was making it up.
So far, she was holding up w
