“What were you talking about earlier when you mentioned some notes?” he asks quietly.
I wave him off. “It’s no big deal. Isabel and Jessica have been playing some pranks—weird, not-cool pranks but mostly just petty, mean girl shit. That wasn’t a wild animal that got in through the bathroom window. I think it was them—leaving me creepy flowers and notes.”
“That sounds kind of like a big deal, Summer.”
“Well, I thought so too, but then I found out they sent Shay some crazy non-sensical postcards after she refused to listen to their gossip and I don’t know. I think they’re just being dumb.”
“Huh, they’ve always been gossipy but pretty harmless. I do think they’ve had a hard time adjusting to you being here.” He bumps me with his shoulder. “They’ve had crushes on Justin and Whit for a long time. Now that they’re almost eighteen, they figured they had a chance.”
I stop in front of the trailer. “Too bad they don’t.”
“Nope,” he kisses me softly. “Not in the slightest.”
I unlock the door and turn on the light. The camper is quiet—just like I left it all those hours ago. I give him another kiss and say goodnight. He vanishes into the dark, between the campers and back to Justin’s car.
I walk into my bedroom and kick off my shoes, turning on the lamp next to my bed. That’s when I see the small edge of paper sticking out from under my pillow. My stomach drops but I reach for it, knowing I probably just missed it earlier that day. The lettering is the same, but the words send a chill down my spine.
The Party’s Over. Time To Rewrite History.
I hear the footstep behind me and before I turn, I know in my heart it’s not Pete. Not Isabel, but someone else. Someone worse.
50
Nick
The slamof the door and crunch of the Jeep’s wheels on gravel wakes me up and I rub my face. “You drop Summer off?”
Whit shifts next to me, spreading out now that it’s just the two of us in the back of the car.
“Yeah, I walked her to the camper.” Pete looks back at me from the front seat. “She told me a crazy story right before I left.”
“What kind of story?” Justin asks, turning down the main road toward my house.
“A few weeks ago, I went in her place and found a mess of flowers on her bed. The screen was ripped in her bathroom and the window open. I figured some kind of animal got in—raccoon or something—you know how they are, but tonight she asked me about it and got weird. I just mentioned it again and she said Isabel and Jessica had been pranking her by leaving notes and the flowers at her trailer.”
“Those two?” Justin asks, glancing at Pete. “They don’t seem the vengeful type.”
Whit rubs his neck. “I don’t know. Isabel was putting the hard press on me tonight. I finally had to bail.”
“And sneak off with Summer to her mom’s office.” Pete says. Whit looks surprised. “What? You think we didn’t notice?”
“We all noticed, dude,” I add. “Including Isabel. Right after you went back there, she dragged Jessica down the hall.”
“Why were you watching them so closely?” Whit glares at me accusingly.
“I wasn’t watching them. Lilah came up to ask me where they went and pointed it out. They were leaving together and my sister was ready to go.”
Justin pulls into my driveway. His headlights arc over the vehicles parked in front of the garage. One is a red Honda. I nod toward the car. “If you want to find out, we can go ask. That’s Isabel’s car.”
“It’s five in the morning,” Pete complains.
I’m about to agree when Whit leans forward. “When Summer and I were in the office, you know after we uh, were finished, something really freaked her out.”
“What was it?”
“I wasn’t sure at the time, but you mentioned those yellow flowers.” He looks at Pete. “There was a vase of them on her mom’s desk.”
“Someone’s definitely fucking with her,” Justin says. He reaches for the door. “Come on, let’s go wake up those girls and see what’s really going on.”
