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And what about what Hanna had said about Naomi? Was it possible that she could be A? Even if she wasn’t, she had a lot of reasons to be angry at them—especially if A told her what they’d done to her cousin. Last night, after Hanna had gotten that message, Spencer had lain in bed, thinking about the car accident on Reeds Lane. She couldn’t believe she’d nearly forgotten about it.
As they’d driven away from that horrible scene, she’d turned to Hanna nervously. “What if the girl wakes up and realizes who you are?”
“Well, I told her my name was Olivia and that I was from Yarmouth,” Hanna mumbled.
“But what if she sees a picture of you in an old People?”
Hanna turned her head sharply and stared out the window. “Well, let’s hope she doesn’t.”
Judging by the fact that no cops had knocked on Spencer’s door, asking questions, or that the news didn’t even report on the story, Madison didn’t seem to remember. Spencer had hoped it was because Madison had been too drunk, but there had always been a little voice inside her, whispering that it could have been because of something else. The first rule of lifesaving class said never to move someone who’d been in an accident. And then there had been that horrible crack of bone when Spencer had dropped Madison, a sound that now rang in Spencer’s ears as though on autorepeat. She was the worst person in the world.
She felt Naomi’s eyes on her and shuddered. Then she felt Reefer staring at her, too. She rolled back her shoulders and started toward the drive truck. Reefer broke away from Naomi and followed behind. “I looked for you by the aquarium this morning,” he said.
“Um-hmm,” Spencer murmured, biting down hard on the inside of her lip.
“I thought that was going to be our regular meeting spot.”
“I decided to get an early start,” she said in a clipped voice, not making eye contact.
“Spencer.” Reefer caught her arm, but Spencer wrenched it away and kept going, not bothering to stop for a swim mask that slipped from her fingers and rolled across the pavement. Reefer scooped it up and ran after her. “Spencer. Stop.”
Spencer rolled her eyes and paused. Reefer stared at her plaintively. “Are you mad about something?”
Of course I’m mad! Spencer wanted to scream. But she plucked the dive mask from Reefer’s fingers and smiled tightly. “Nope.”
Reefer glanced over his shoulder at Naomi, who was now talking to Tim. “We’re just buddies, you know. We met at a Princeton party. She was touring the campus.”
Spencer frowned. Naomi wanted to go to Princeton? She hadn’t known that.
“She sort of hijacked me last night,” Reefer whispered. “I wanted to have dinner with you, but she dragged me to the arcade and talked about some family stuff she was going through.”
Spencer felt a prickle. “Family stuff? Like what?” A cousin’s death? A driver fleeing the scene? What if A had already told Naomi what had happened?
“Just like, a family fight or whatever, I don’t know.” Reefer shrugged. “I didn’t want to just ditch her. Okay, to be honest, we did hook up in Princeton. But it’s in the past. I’m into someone else now.”
He stared into Spencer’s eyes meaningfully. Even though Spencer wanted to remain hard-hearted, she couldn’t help but melt a little.
Tim slammed the door of the van open and gestured everyone closer. Spencer looked everywhere but at Reefer, not wanting to forgive him too easily. Then Naomi sidled up next to him and placed her arm on his shoulder. “I had such a great time with you last night, Raif. It’s so good to reconnect.”
Spencer really hated how Naomi called him Raif, like they had some sort of special understanding. Reefer opened his mouth, about to answer, when Tim clapped his hands. “Okay, everyone! Before we head to the first dive, I want everyone to pair off. You and your partner will look out for each other when we’re in the water. You’ll make sure you’re always safe.”
When Spencer turned to Reefer, Naomi had already touched his arm possessively. Spencer stepped away—So much for that. But suddenly, she felt a hand on her back. “No way. You’re with me.”
Reefer was grinning at her hopefully. Naomi stood behind him, looking shocked. A second later, she shrugged and huffily stalked off across the group.
“If that’s okay, that is,” Reefer added in a lower voice. “Do you want to be my partner?”
Spencer pretended to think about it. “I suppose. But you owe me for ditching out on dinner last night.”
“How about I take you out to dinner?” Reefer asked, looping his arm in her elbow. “Somewhere on an island. I don’t know about you, but I’m already getting sick of those organic sweet-potato fries and all the garlic they put in the veggie burger.”
A brief flurry of guilt washed over Spencer—it seemed crazy to want to go on a date when A was so close to telling on them. But maybe she should enjoy these last few moments of freedom. She’d probably never get to do this again. “Sounds good,” she answered.
They climbed into the van together and took seats next to each other in the middle row, while Naomi was relegated to a back seat by the equipment. As they pulled out of the parking lot, the sun came out from behind a cloud. The warmth felt delicious on Spencer’s skin. And for the first time in weeks, at least for a minute, she felt at peace.
11
ARIA’S PYGMALION
That morning, Aria stood with Graham on a street corner of the French section of the island of St. Martin. Rickety-looking buses whizzed past at alarming speeds. Old, sun-weathered men sat at an outdoor café, drinking cappuccino. The surf pounded in the distance, and there were about a hundred seagulls in a nearby parking lot, fighting over an open bag of potato chips.
