Never Have I Ever

Emma and Laurel sifted through Madonna cone-boob corsets, French maid outfits, and a rack of pink tutus Emma would’ve begged Becky to buy for her when she was four years old. A few minutes into their search, Laurel pul ed out a leopard’s costume and shook her head as she examined it. “This isn’t right either. It needs to be perfect.”

“It’s just a dance,” Emma murmured. “What’s the big deal?”

There was a screech of metal as Laurel moved a cluster of hangers to the left. “Caleb real y likes Hal oween. And I want everything to be just right.” She bit her lip. Emma couldn’t help but smile. “Do you like him?”

Embarrassment flickered across Laurel’s face. “I know he tel s real y dorky jokes. And I know it’s not so great that he’s only on JV tennis. But he’s so nice. We have fun together.”

It took Emma a few moments to realize that Laurel was seeking her approval, apologizing for choosing a guy who might not be up to their clique’s standards. “If you guys have fun together, that’s what’s important,” she said, shooting Laurel a genuine smile. “I think he’s supercute.”

Laurel brightened. “Real y?”

Emma nodded. “Really.”

The corners of Laurel’s lips twitched into a relieved smile. I could tel how much Emma’s words meant to her. It was the kind of encouragement I’d clearly never given her when I was around.

The next rack of costumes contained bikini tops, angel wings, hot pants, and thigh-high boots. “So, does Caleb like you back?” Emma asked.

Laurel flicked a feather on the brim of a flapper headband. “According to Gabby and Lili, he’s interested.”

Emma tried to keep her face neutral. She didn’t want Laurel to see her flinch at the mention of the Twins’ names. Then Laurel let out a wary laugh. “Hopeful y they’re not lying to me as revenge for attempting to get them on-stage in thongs.”

At least they didn’t try to drop a giant light on your head.

“Do you think they’ve forgiven us for the prank?” Emma asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Laurel held a blood-spattered wedding dress to her torso and nodded. “After the party kicked into gear, they said they thought the prank was real y funny. I can’t believe they knew we were up to something. I thought we covered our bases. Maybe we’ve underestimated them.”

That’s an understatement, I thought.

Emma ran her finger over a sequined bowler hat. “So were Gabby and Lili in the auditorium the whole time I was in the nurse’s office?” The shuffling noises in the hal zipped through her mind. Those bits of glass on the floor. The eerie sense someone had been there listening, watching.

“Yeah . . .” Laurel squinted at her. “Why?”

Emma kept her gaze glued on a stack of food-themed costumes: a phal ic orange carrot, a round donut with leechlike felt pink sprinkles, and a Hershey’s Kiss. “I thought I saw Gabby in the hal , that’s al .”

Laurel grinned. “Maybe it was a ghost!” she said in a teasing, ghoulish voice, pointing to a Ghostface mask from Scream.

I wanted to burst out laughing; little did Laurel know the truth. But the ghost Emma heard in that hal was definitely not me.

Laurel assessed the bloody wedding dress once more and draped it over her arm. “This could work. So are you taking a date? Maybe someone named Al lex, perhaps?”

She stretched out the name and playful y punched Emma on the arm.

“Alex is just a friend,” Emma said quickly, turning away.

“Yeah, right!”

“Seriously. Like I said, she’s from tennis camp. And she’s a girl. Short for Alexandra.”

Laurel cocked her head and gave Emma a dubious look.

“A girl who’s thinking of you and can’t wait to talk?” she asked, reciting the lines from Alex’s text.

The bel s to the store jingled, and a man in a pin-striped suit with two smal blond boys entered. The kids ran for the rack of army uniforms and started shooting each other with the plastic machine guns. Emma watched them snake around the racks, ful y aware that Laurel’s expectant gaze hadn’t left her face. Emma knew if she didn’t give her gossip soon, she’d continue to pester her relentlessly. The more questions she asked, the more specifics Emma fabricated, the more opportunity Laurel had to catch Emma in a lie.

Emma took a deep breath and turned around. “Okay. There is a guy I’ve been hanging around with.”

Laurel’s eyes lit up. “Who?”

“Ethan.”

“Ethan . . . who?”

“Landry.” It felt strange and nerve-racking to say his name out loud.

The smile on Laurel’s face was uncertain, slightly amused. “Seriously?”

Emma stiffened, feeling vulnerable. It felt like she’d whipped off the Sutton mask and Laurel was suddenly looking at her. “We’re just friends,” she said as casual y as she could. “We hang out sometimes.”

“But Ethan Landry isn’t friends with people.” Laurel stil sounded incredulous. “He’s Mr. I-Vant-to-Be-Alone.”

The little boys raced around the Hal oween shop as though it were a war zone. Their father slapped an Amex on the counter and gave an apologetic look to the girl in the leather bustier. “Wel , I guess he’s changed,” Emma said.

“I suppose you’d be the perfect person to change him, Sutton.” Laurel got in line to pay for the wedding dress. “You should tel everyone you’re into him! It would do wonders for his popularity!”

“I don’t think Ethan cares about that,” Emma pointed out. But Laurel didn’t seem to hear her. “You should invite him to Homecoming!”

The earnestness in Laurel’s voice tugged at Emma’s heart. If she’d asked Ethan just days before, maybe they’d be going together.

“Ethan has a date already,” Emma said flatly.

“So make him break it off with her!” Laurel handed a credit card to Dracu-Dork. He slipped the dress into a yel ow plastic bag without taking his eyes off Laurel. “You’ve done it before!” Laurel went on. “Look, Sutton, I’ve seen him staring at you at school. And when he showed up to your party with those flowers . . . it’s obvious he’s got it bad for you.”

“You think?” Emma toyed with a loose thread at the hem of her shirt.

“I do,” Laurel said firmly.

Emma reached out and took Laurel’s hand, suddenly feeling a flood of warmth and protectiveness for her. Gabby and Lili, two girls Laurel was close friends with, might have kil ed Laurel’s sister. Was it right to keep that from her?

Laurel looked down at Emma’s fingers holding hers.

“What’s that for?” she asked softly.

“Laurel, I . . .” Emma started. Maybe she should tel her. Maybe Laurel deserved to know.

Sutton’s sister grabbed the bloody wedding dress from the counter. “Yeah?”

There was a trusting smile on her face. Her big blue eyes blinked slowly. The words wel ed in Emma’s throat, ready to spil forth, but then Sutton’s iPhone beeped, breaking the silence. Emma peeked at the screen. It was another text from Alex. GOING FOR A CHICKEN MOLE BURRITO! JEALOUS? she wrote. Attached was a photo of Alex standing in front of Loco Mexico, a dive restaurant she and Emma had been obsessed with—they made the best guacamole in town. Emma was about to slip it back into her bag when a rusty sign next to Loco Mexico caught her eye. RAPID TOW

IMPOUND SERVICES. A bunch of cars lurked behind a chainlink fence. Alarms blared in Emma’s head. The impound lot. Sutton’s car was there. It was somewhere Emma hadn’t yet looked—what if there was something in it, something specific that linked the Twitter Twins to Sutton’s murder?

“Laurel,” Emma said again, turning back to Sutton’s sister as they made their way out of the store. “Can you take me to the impound? I think it’s time to get my car.”

Laurel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, as though she hadn’t expected this. But then she shook her head and glanced at her watch. “I can’t today. My calc study group starts in twenty minutes. Maybe tomorrow?”

“No need,” said a voice behind Emma. “We’ll take you right now.”

Emma spun around, and her jaw dropped. There, standing on the curb in the blinding Tucson sunset, were the Twitter Twins.

Grinning at Emma, I thought, like a pair of lionesses that had just cornered their prey.

Chapter 21

Service with a Snicker

“Hey, guys!” Laurel said brightly, beaming at Gabby and Lili. “That would be awesome.”

“No problem!” Gabby’s eyes flickered, snakelike, to Emma, then back to Laurel. There was a hint of a smile on her lips, as though she were trying to hold in a laugh. “We al know how badly Sutton needs her car back.”

“Yeah, so she can stal it again,” Lili added under her breath.

An eerie shiver passed through me.

Lili steered Emma to their white SUV, which was parked in the lot. “C’mon. A little birdie told me the impound closes at six.”

“But . . .” Emma protested, planting her feet. “I don’t have to go today. . . .”

“Nonsense,” Lili said hurriedly. “We don’t mind. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“You guys are the best!” Laurel reached into her purse for her car keys. “Have fun reuniting with Floyd, Sutton!”

Emma glanced over her shoulder at Laurel, sure that helplessness and fear were written al over her face, but Laurel just waved obliviously. She flung the yel ow plastic Scare-O-Rama bag over her shoulder and skipped toward her Jetta.

Lili opened the backseat of the SUV with a flourish.

“Ladies first,” she said sweetly, pointing Emma to one of the black seats inside. Emma hesitated, wondering how far she could get if she took off in a sprint.

“What’s wrong, Sutton?” Gabby teased, noticing Emma’s reluctance. “You al freaked out from being inside the Hal oween store? Afraid another light was going to fal on your head?”

Emma swal owed hard, the words cutting her like knives. Her heart had never pounded so fast or so hard. But she told herself that the Twins couldn’t do anything to her today

—not when Laurel knew she was with them. Straightening her shoulders, Emma brushed her dark hair over her shoulder and cal ed upon her deepest Sutton reserves. “No, I’m freaked out by your wardrobe choices,” she snapped, eyeing Lili’s mismatched polka-dot blouse and plaid skirt.

“Did someone dress while under the influence this morning?”

Lili sniffed. “This month’s Vogue says mixing patterns is in.”

“I would’ve thought you’d know something that basic,”

Gabby scoffed.

“What’s with the attitude today, ladies?” Emma tried to sound exasperated. “Are you two stil not over that prank during your court party?”

“Please, Sutton.” Lili opened the front passenger door.