Page 110 of The Haunting Plot

“By Parent Trapping us into falling for each other?”

“Well, yeah.”

I drag a hand down my face when something hits me. “The guy in the window with the Michael Myers mask…that was you.”

He reaches under the back of his shirt and pulls out the mask.

“Where did you get that?”

“The trash can in your office. Sorry. It was all in good fun. And it worked, right? She ran right into your arms.”

I grab the mask and hide it behind my back, worried Raven will see it.

“What worked?” Raven’s voice says from the stairs behind me.

CHAPTER 27

RAVEN

Everything is not fine. My body feels hot. Sweat is collecting at the small of my back. And Sawyer is holding a mask he told me he threw away weeks ago.

“I thought you got rid of that?” I try to keep my voice calm, but I can feel the heat rising in my body.

Sawyer turns, trying to hide the mask I can clearly see. “I did.”

“Then what is it doing in your hand?”

The twinkle in his eyes is gone, replaced with panic. I recognize all the tells on his face. He really does have a terrible poker face. And I’ve written enough third-act conflicts to know when a character is caught in a lie.

“It’s not what you think.”

I will not make a scene.

“Is that so? Because it looks like you’re holding the mask you told me you threw away. The mask you convinced me you had nothing to do with.” My eyes cut to RJ, and guilt is plastered all over his face too. “Oh my God. It was you. You were the guy in the window.”

RJ winces. “Raven, I⁠—”

“Save it,” I say, cutting him off as I push past them.

My face is hot, but I swallow the bile rising in my throat as I stomp toward the kitchen.

A hand grabs my wrist, tugging me back, and I swing around to Sawyer’s panic-stricken face. “We should talk about this. Please. I can explain.” His voice is low, but I worry everyone is watching us.

He tugs me toward the basement door, and I stiffen as I try to pull my hand back. “I hate the basement.”

“It’s the only place we can talk privately right now.”

I feel like I’m going to crawl out of my skin. I don’t want to go down there with him. I don’t want to talk to him about this. I want to be alone so I can process all the scary, big emotions in my head.

“Fine,” I relent.

He motions for me to go first, and I descend the steps, keeping my head down.

“I swear I didn’t know,” he says as I adjust to the darkness.

My gaze swings to his. My eyes narrow so much I’m practically squinting. “You lied to me. It was you pranking me this whole time. I knew it. I mean, I thought it could be, but you were so convincing that it wasn’t you. And all the stupid ghost talk. I should’ve figured it out sooner, but you distracted me. That was your plan this whole time, wasn’t it?”

“Raven, please. I⁠—”