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But for the first time in weeks, I relaxed. Emma was safe
—for now. Gabby and Lili just wanted to be in our clique. My kil er was stil out there, but the five girls who stood staring at Emma—thinking she was me—weren’t kil ers. They were my friends.
Final y, Emma straightened up and took a deep breath.
“You definitely got me,” she admitted. “It was a good prank.”
“It was an awesome prank,” Charlotte agreed. “How did you think of it? Did you guys have help?”
“Believe it or not, the idea came out of our tiny brains,”
Lili pointed just above her ear. “We’ve told you a mil ion times, we have tons of ideas for pranks. But you snobs didn’t listen, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.”
Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest. She glanced at Emma. “I think this might’ve been the best prank ever.”
“Much better than the train tracks,” Madeline piped up.
“Better than the snuff film, too,” Laurel added. “And even better than what Sutton did to . . .” She peeked at Madeline and shut her mouth.
Gabby and Lili turned to Emma. They looked so hopeful and eager, two puppies desperate to impress the alpha dog. Al at once, Emma felt for Gabby, for al she’d been through.
I felt badly for Gabby, too. But more than that, I felt embarrassed. I’d cal ously brushed off her seizure. I’d insisted, over and over, that no one dare tel what I’d done, like I was the most important person in the room. Was it possible I’d treated my murderer cruel y like this, too? Had I crossed the wrong person, someone who’d sought revenge with more than just a prank? Someone who’d paid me back by taking my life?
Final y, Emma cleared her throat. “I know I said there was only room in the Lying Game for four people, but I think we can make an exception.”
“Maybe even two exceptions,” Charlotte added. Laurel nodded.
The Twitter Twins clasped hands and jumped up and down as if they’d just won American Idol. “We knew it! We knew you’d let us in!”
“I suppose we have an induction ceremony to perform,”
Charlotte announced. “Your official entrée into the Lying Game.”
“You’l get to pick executive titles,” Madeline said. “I’m Empress of Style. Sutton’s Executive President and Diva.”
“I want to be Mistress of Awesomeness,” Gabby piped up immediately, as if she’d been thinking about this for a while.
“I’l be High Princess,” Lili chimed in.
“There are a bunch of rules, too,” Charlotte said. “Which includes no lying during games like Never Have I Ever and Two Truths and a Lie.” She fake-coughed out the name Gabby into her palm.
“I didn’t lie!” Gabby protested. “I told two truths! The false one was the dead body. I would never touch something dead.” She shuddered.
Madeline shifted onto one hip. “So you cheated to get on the Homecoming Court?”
Lili made a smal , embarrassed eep, but Gabby shrugged. “Guilty as charged. We hacked into the site and voted for ourselves hundreds of times. Told you guys we’re smarter than you think.”
“I guess you are.” Emma hiked her backpack higher on her shoulder. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough camping for one night. I think the hot springs can wait for another day.”
“Let’s get the hel off this freaky mountain.” Madeline grabbed Gabby’s flashlight and shone it on the trail. “You know the way back, right?”
“But of course!” Gabby tril ed.
As they started up the ridge, another thought popped into Emma’s mind. She pul ed Gabby aside. “It was an awesome prank. But, um, next time? Maybe don’t cut a light fixture quite so close to my head.”
Gabby stopped. Even in the blue-black darkness, Emma could see consternation wash over her face. “You mean that light in the auditorium? We didn’t do that! God, Sutton!
We’re not insane!”
Then she moved ahead of Emma, her long ponytail swishing. Emma stood stil a moment, a cold realization vibrating al the way down to her fingertips. Of course Lili and Gabby hadn’t cut that light to fal on her. Someone else had.
My kil er.
Chapter 32
The Moment We’ve Been
Waiting For
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Emma opened her eyes and looked around. She was lying on a sleeping bag on the floor of the Mercers’ family den. The blue light of the muted TV flickered across the room, bags and containers of Thai takeout lay abandoned on the coffee table, and several dog-eared copies of Us Weekly and Life & Style were facedown on the carpet. The time on the cable box said 2:46 A.M. Charlotte, Madeline, and Laurel slept beside her, and Gabby and Lili were curled up near the fireplace, their brand-new Lying Game membership cards stil clutched in their hands. Bzzz.
Sutton’s phone glowed next to Emma’s pil ow. The screen said ETHAN LANDRY. Emma was immediately alert. Emma slid out of the sleeping bag and padded into the hal . The house was eerily stil and dark, the only sound the rhythmic ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer.
“Hel o?” she whispered into the phone.
“There you are!” Ethan cried on the other end. “I’ve been cal ing al night!”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you get my messages?” Ethan sounded out of breath, as if he’d been running. “I need to talk to you!”
Oh, now you want to talk to me, Emma thought, glancing out the window. A familiar red car sat at the curb. She dropped the curtain and pul ed her T-shirt down so that it covered her stomach. “A-are you outside Sutton’s house?”
