The Amanda Project: Book One

The Amanda Project: Chapter Twenty-Six

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Heidi's house is one of about fifty identical McMansions in The Acres, a development that's been there practically as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure the only thing my mom hated more than racism, homophobia, light pollution, and The Rivera was The Acres. Whenever I hung out at Heidi's, I tried to have my dad pick me up or one of the Braggs drop me off because I swear, something happened to my mom the minute she had to drive in there. She became practically possessed, and for at least half the ride home, I had to hear about how horrible ten-thousand-square-foot houses are for the environment, and how anyone who would want to live in such a soulless community must also be soulless, and how if one of the people who lived in one of the houses accidentally walked into the wrong one some night (which wouldn't have surprised her, since they all looked exactly the same), he probably wouldn't even notice since the families inside the houses were as identical and one-dimensional as the buildings themselves.

As I rode my bike along the perfectly paved roads of The Acres, I got an inkling of what my mother had felt, as if the sprinklers dousing the emerald green lawns were spraying out not water, but blood.

Heidi had paid a price for living her parents' dream in somewhere as protected and perfect as The Acres, and that price was nothing less than her very soul.

I rode past Heidi's block and turned onto the next street, Magnolia Way, where I stopped in front of a random house that, sure enough, looked very much like Heidi's. I checked my watch-right on time; Heidi's dad should be leaving the house with Heidi and Evan in the next minute or two, while her mom wouldn't leave for the studio for at least another hour. Just to be on the safe side, I rode around for about ten minutes, steering clear of Laurel Lane until I was sure everyone would be gone besides her mom. Then I circled back to Heidi's, coasting into her driveway and leaning my bike against the garage door.

The doorbell at Heidi's chimes out the first few bars of a song called Pachelbel's Canon, which I'd always thought was really pretty but that made my mom roll her eyes. I listened to the chimes echo in the vast interior for what felt like a long time, and then I started to get nervous. My plan had seemed so perfect, but what if I'd gotten my timing wrong? I hadn't been spending all that much time at Heidi's lately-could her mom's schedule have changed?

This was completely insane. What was I doing here? Last night it had all seemed so obvious-Mr. Bragg was the chief of police, and a conversation with him would need to be all about witnesses and proof. My word against Heidi's wasn't going to cut it with Chief Bragg, and the slight possibility that he'd believe me only made Nia's words echo in my head. You're an accomplice, Callie.

That was the main reason I'd decided to tell Brittney Bragg, but it wasn't the only one. Brittney knew her daughter, and the more I'd thought about it, the more I'd been convinced that anyone who knew Heidi, really knew her, would know the story I was telling was true. It might take her a little while, but if I could get her alone and explain everything to her carefully, Brittney was sure to believe my story. Thus this early morning ambush.

Only now my perfect plan wasn't feeling so perfect. Why wouldn't the wife of the police chief realize I was an accomplice just as surely as her husband would? There had to be a better way. An anonymous note? Better yet, a note from Amanda! I mean, this had been kind of her idea.

If the door hadn't opened right at that moment, I'm not sure what I would have done, but it did, and I found myself face-to-face with Brittney Bragg, Heidi's mom.