My eyes fell on the name, but it took a second for my brain to catch up. When it did, my breath
caught in my throat.
"Dustin Carmichael? As in..."
"Amberly's dad," we said in unison.
"Ew!" Ivy proclaimed, stepping back. Her face scrunched up with disgust. "The guy's, like, forty!"
I felt bile rise up in my throat and swallowed it back, trying to focus. I stared at the dates next to
his name. They covered the two weeks right before school had started. For two weeks, apparently,
Cheyenne had somehow conducted a fling with Amberly's father.
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"I mean, I know he's like one of the top five wealthiest men in the world, but still," Ivy was saying.
"Do you think the two of them--"
"Ivy, shut up a second," I said, my mind racing as I turned sideways in my seat.
"Pardon me?" she replied, annoyed.
"Forget about how gross it is and focus," I said, staring up at her. "Cheyenne had an affair with
Amberly's dad. Right before school started. Like, three or four weeks before Cheyenne was killed."
Realization lit Ivy's face. "You don't think that little tartlet could have--"
"Why not? It's a motive," I said, standing up. "Maybe she found out about it and went into a rage.
Plus, as we all know, Cheyenne's death left an opening for Noelle to come back, which Amberly
definitely wanted. She always made a point of telling everyone that she and Noelle were old
friends. Maybe she figured that if Noelle came back and took over Billings, she had a shot at
getting in."
"Which is exactly what's happened," Ivy said, her eyes wide.
I felt a jolt of electricity between us. "I knew it! I knew there was something off about that girl.
This is why she wanted the disc so badly! She was worried I might find out about her dad and
Cheyenne! She was only trying to protect herself."
"Wait. What do you mean she wanted the disc?" Ivy asked.
"I told Noelle I had a copy of this, just to scare her," I said, gesturing at the computer. "Amberly
overheard and demanded I give it to her, and when I didn't, she totally trashed my room looking
for it."
"Oh my God," Ivy said, paling. "She is a psycho. Although she's
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not the only person I know who's been breaking into other people's rooms," she added with a
knowing glance.
"You're hilarious," I said sarcastically.
Ivy smirked. "But wait," she said, snatching my suspect list off my desk. "You had Amberly on here
but crossed her out. Why?"
I blinked at the list. Amberly's name had been hastily added after I noticed her Ariana-esque
transformation, then slashed after I had talked to her friends. "Right. Because her roommates gave
her an alibi."
"Was it solid?" Ivy asked, gripping the page in both hands.
I tried to recall every detail of my bathroom tete-a-tete with Lara and Kirsten. How Kirsten had
thought Amberly had returned to their room at the "ass crack of dawn," and how Lara had quickly
corrected her, saying it was still dark out.
"No. That girl Lara was definitely covering something up. Dammit!" I said, my foot stomping of its
own accord. "I knew it. I knew I should have pressed her."
I closed my eyes tightly and brought my hand to my head. I had been onto Amberly days ago and I
had just let it go based on the crap ass story of some conniving frosh. She could have easily been
lying about the timing of Amberly's return to their room that night. And if she was, it all added up.
It all made sense.
"Do you think she's our stalker, too?" Ivy asked.
I had to blink a few times for her to come into focus again. For a moment I had entirely spaced on
the stalker aspect of this whole thing. "I don't know."
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"Think about it. She kills Cheyenne, then tries to drive you crazy over it, blaming it all on you and
leaving all those sadistic little gifties."
I had related all the details of my stalking to Ivy the night before, after we had made our pact. She
had been, much to my satisfaction, appropriately appalled by all of it. Apparently the girl had a
human side after all.
"Maybe she thought you wouldn't be able to handle it and would move out of Billings," Ivy
theorized. "Once Noelle was back, she was trying to create a place for herself in the dorm. Which
she also succeeded in doing."
"Plus, by getting rid of me, she could move in as Noelle's new best friend," I said slowly. "And I'm
sure her new best friend told her what all the Billings Girls made me do for initiation last year. I
can't believe this."
was living in my room, sleeping in my bed, using my private bathroom.
Oh my God. All this time Sabine had been rooming with a psycho.
"But what about the X'd-out photo in your room?" I asked Ivy.
"Obviously she planted it there, trying to pin the whole thing on me," Ivy said, lifting a hand as she
paced my tiny room. "Which also worked for a few hours. Damn, this girl is good."
All the pieces of this massively distorted puzzle were finally fitting together.
"I can't believe I didn't see this before," I mused.
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"It doesn't matter. What matters is, we see it now," Ivy said. "So what are we going to do about
it?"
"We need proof," I said firmly. "Something concrete we can take to Hauer. After what happened
yesterday he's never going to believe us on our word alone."
Ivy smirked. "Well, lucky for us the entire dorm will be deserted tonight."
I blinked at her, my skin tingling with realization. "Kiran's pre-party."
"Exactly," Ivy said, sitting on my desk chair and slapping her hands down on her legs. "All we have
to do is find a way to get in there and we can check out her room. See what we can find."
"Luckily, I still have some friends on the inside," I said, my pulse racing. I grabbed my iPhone off my
desk and speed-dialed Sabine's cell. It went right to voice mail. I wasn't going to get what I wanted
from her, but at least I could leave her a message. I waited for the beep and spoke quickly.
"Sabine, it's Reed. This is going to sound insane, but I just wanted to warn you... I think Amberly
might have been my stalker all along, so just... watch your back," I said. "Call me when you get
this."
I ended the call and tried Constance next.
"Hey, Reed!" she said brightly, picking up on the first ring. "What's up?"
"Constance, I need your Billings keycard," I said.
"What for?" she asked.
"I have to... get back in my old room. I left something in there
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that I need," I improvised, glancing at Ivy. She nodded her approval at my story.
"Oh, well, I can get it for you," Constance offered.
I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my free hand. Sometimes Constance's helpful side was
really unhelpful. "Actually, it's kind of hidden and it would be too hard to explain where it is. I was
thinking I'd just go in there tonight after Amberly and Sabine go out and get it."
There was a short pause before Constance said, "Okay. That's fine."
I looked at Ivy and flashed a quick thumbs-up. "Oh, and Constance, don't tell anyone about this,
okay? I'm sure they would all freak out if they knew I was getting back in, even for five minutes."
"I totally understand. My lips are sealed," Constance said. "I'll slip you the card at lunch and just
get someone to let me in after."
"Constance, what would I do without you?" I asked.
I could practically feel the heat of her blush through the phone. "Reed! It's no big deal. I'll see you
later."
"Later."
I signed off the phone and held it in both hands to stop the nervous quaking. With a grim smile I
looked up at Ivy.
"We're in."
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* * *
Stepping over the threshold of Billings was like walking into my old middle school after I'd
graduated. I should have felt at home there, but the sites felt weirdly unfamiliar. Like the place
had moved on. Like the very walls knew I should no longer be there. I felt a skitter of apprehension
as Ivy grabbed the banister and mounted the stairs. The first step creaked in the silence.
"Reed!" she hissed. "Let's go!"
She was dressed in head-to-toe black like a cat burglar from a cartoon. I was wearing my gold
minidress and my long wool coat, fully planning on still making the party bus to Kiran's party when
we were done here.
"I'm coming," I replied through my teeth.
Together we raced up the stairs to the top floor, where my old room was located. I pointed out
the door to Ivy. My heart pounded like I'd
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just sucked down eight cups of espresso. This was way too weird. Way too weird.
But when Ivy opened the door, it just got weirder.
My side of the room had been completely taken over by the Care Bear brigade. Everything was
done in pastels. Pink bedspread, fluffy light blue and yellow pillows, an eyelet bed skirt. Amberly
had even had a ribbon tent suspended from the ceiling over her bed, draping down over the
mattress like she was some kind of Disney princess. On the walls were framed photos of her and a
girl who could only be her little sister, grinning in front of various wonders of the world. The Taj
Mahal. The Great Wall of China. The Pyramids. I would have been impressed if the photos weren't
so oddly stiff. Like she had Photo-Shopped the two of them into magazine cutouts or something.
"This girl needs professional help," Ivy said, indicating a collection of porcelain dolls set up along
the top shelf above my old desk. Their eyes stared out at us blankly from beneath perfectly placed
ringlets.
"Let's just get this over with," I said.
"I'm down," Ivy replied.
She turned on Amberly's desk lamp so that we could see without the help of the light from the
hallway, and I closed the door quietly behind us. I immediately attacked the desk drawers while Ivy
dropped to the floor and pulled a few boxes out from under the bed. All I found was a massive
collection of Hello Kitty office supplies. Ivy uncovered a box full of crafting materials and a
collection of poetry books.
"Anything?" I asked as Ivy flipped through some of the books, hoping something incriminating
might fall out.
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"Nothing," she said.
"I got the closet," I told her.
"I'll get the dresser," Ivy offered.
My pulse pounded as I dug through the shoe boxes on the floor and the stacks of books and
clothes on the shelves above. Ivy slammed each drawer as she finished with it, and with each slam
my heart jumped a bit higher in my throat.
"Would you stop doing that?" I whispered.
"There's nothing here!" Ivy replied without apology. Clearly she was already growing frustrated.
"Maybe the bathroom."
She turned around and slammed right into the end of Sabine's bed. The mattress lurched and
knocked into the bedside table, causing a candle and frame to topple to the floor with the
unmistakable sound of cracking glass.
"Shit," Ivy said under her breath.
"I got it," I told her, walking over to pick up Sabine's things.
I placed the candle down and checked the frame over. Sure enough, there was a crack right
through the center of the glass. Crap. Looked like I owed Sabine a new frame. I was about to pop it
open to remove the shards, when I saw something odd in the photo, right beneath the crack.
I had never really looked at the photo of Sabine and her mother before, except in passing it on my
way to the bathroom, but now I saw that there was an extra hand in the picture. A creamy white
female's hand. Someone had their arm slung across Sabine's shoulder from the other side.
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"That's weird," I said.
"What?"
Ivy came up next to me to check it out.
"Look. She cut someone out of the picture," I said, pointing at the hand.
"Or folded it," Ivy said. She grabbed the frame from me. She started to undo the clasps at the
back.
"Ivy! What are you doing?" I hissed, trying to snatch back the frame. "Leave Sabine's stuff alone!"
"We need to throw away the broken glass," Ivy said matter-of-factly.
Ivy finally freed the photo and the glass shards tumbled onto Sabine's perfectly made bed. Sure
enough, the photo was folded. I snagged what was left of the frame back from Ivy as she opened
the picture in front of her. Her face went pale so fast it made my heart drop.
"Oh. My. God."
"What?" I said. "What's wrong?"
She turned the picture around, holding it up in front of her chest. The room around me blurred as I
focused in on the photo. Focused in on the smiling face of a pretty blond girl with icy blue eyes.
On the face of Ariana Osgood.
My hands shook as I reached for the photo. Every single inch of me shook. On Ariana's other side
was an older man with white hair and blue eyes, who appeared to be laughing as the picture was
being shot. Ariana's dad. It had to be. He looked just like her.
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I knew what I was seeing, but I couldn't make sense of it. My brain refused to take it in. Mr.
Osgood laughing with his arm around Ariana. Ariana smiling with her arm around Sabine. Sabine
holding her mother close to her side. They looked like a big, happy family.
"I don't understand," I said, sitting down shakily on the edge of Sabine's bed. My breath started to
come fast and shallow, my chest heaving up and down. "I don't understand."
"Did she ever tell you that she knew Ariana?" Ivy asked, sitting down next to me.
"Never. She never said a word," I replied, my mind racing as my skin started to burn. "She's
supposed to be my best friend, but all semester she's been keeping this from me. She knows the
girl who tried to murder me. She even looks like she's... friends with her."
"You don't think that she's... I mean, that Sabine is..." Ivy trailed off, as if it was impossible for her
to say what she was thinking. I was right there with her. It was impossible for me to process it.
That Sabine could be our stalker. That sweet, innocuous Sabine could be Cheyenne's murderer.
Suddenly, I found myself on my feet, still clutching the photo. "I have to go," I said, half blind with
rage and confusion.
"Go where?" Ivy asked, standing as well.
"All those months I lived with her. All those months I trusted her with everything. And all that time
she was lying to my face," I spat. "If she could keep this from me, what else has she been lying
about?" I added, holding up the picture.
"Reed, you ca
n't just confront her. We have to call the police,"
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Ivy said firmly, stepping in front of me as if to block my route to the door.
"So call the police," I told her. "I'm going."
She reached out and grabbed my wrist. "But the girl could be seriously dangerous."
"I don't care. There are a hundred people at that party," I said. "What's she going to do to me in
front of a hundred people?"
"Reed, I can't let you--"
"You can either let go of me, or I can make you," I told her, staring into her coal-black eyes. "Your
choice."
Just like that, Ivy released me. And just like that, I was on my way across campus to finally confront
the girl who called herself my best friend.
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* * *
The music was pounding when we reached the solarium, Ivy trying desperately to explain
everything into her cell phone--to make the officer on the other end understand. Red and pink
lights flashed, bathing all the faces and distorting them into demonesque masks. Everywhere I
looked people were laughing and sipping punch and dancing. Everyone I knew, obliviously
prepping for a night of revelry.
But Sabine. Where was Sabine?
"Reed! I'm so glad you're here." Noelle appeared out of nowhere and slipped her warm hand into
mine. "I think it's about time we talk."
"No," I heard myself say. "Not now."
A look of consternation crossed Noelle's face, but I didn't have time to explain. I slipped away from
her and dove into the crowd. Behind me I could hear her blocking Ivy's entrance, telling her she
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wasn't invited and she had to go. If only Noelle knew what Ivy had done for me just now. If only
she knew how everything had so suddenly and fundamentally changed. But she would find out
soon enough.
"Reed! Hey."
It was Josh. Adorable, innocent, kissable Josh in his suit with its open-collared shirt, looking oh so
perfectly handsome. He stepped up close to me and lowered his lips toward my ear.
"I got your present. Thank you so much. The paintbrushes... the letter... it was amazing," he said.
"Can we maybe go somewhere and talk?"
I barely even registered the words. Felt nothing at his closeness. I could feel nothing but my rage.
And then I saw her. Dancing near the edge of the crowd with Astrid and Constance and Trey and
Gage. My friends. She had no right to be anywhere near my friends.
"Later," I told Josh.
I stormed away from him, shoving aside Billings Girls and Ketlar boys as I went. I walked right past
Astrid and Constance. Sabine noted my approach, and her entire face lit up.
"Reed! There you are! We were wondering when you--"
Shaking from head to toe, I unfolded the eight-by-ten photo and held it up right in front of her
face. Sabine stopped dancing.
"What. The hell. Is this?" I demanded.
Around us, Astrid, Constance, Trey, and Gage slowly stopped moving and looked at one another
warily. They couldn't see the photo, but they obviously sensed the tension. Sabine's smile faltered,
but only for the briefest of moments.
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