Sara Shepard - Never Have I Ever

Laurel smiled sheepishly. “We found out at the dance.”

Emma gaped. She turned to Lili, who was climbing out of the cave, then back to Gabby. She tried to settle her nerves with a deep breath, but it caught in her throat. “How long had you been planning this?” she sputtered.

The Twitter Twins exchanged a glance. “Lili and I scoped this place out a couple of weeks ago on a camping trip with our dad,” Gabby admitted. “And then when you invited us to go camping, we put everything into action.”

Lili grabbed Gabby’s flashlight and shone it up the ridge. “There’s a ledge just below where Gabs fell. She jumped there after you pushed her.” She put pushed in air quotes. “I made lots of noise down here to make it sound like she’d had a bad fall.”

“So you were here the whole time?” Emma asked.

“Yup. I only pretended to call a cab,” Lili said. “I hid my car in the back of the Super Stop earlier today.”

“Oh, and we weren’t really fighting about Kevin, by the way,” Gabby said with a grin. “Lili isn’t into him.”

Lili made a face. “He smells like smoked salmon.”

“He does not!” Gabby’s plump lips pursed.

Lili shrugged and turned back to Emma and the others. “When you guys left, I drove here and hid at the bottom of the ravine—there’s another parking lot nearby that got me here much faster. Once I knew Gabby pretended to fall, I climbed into the cave”—Lili pointed at the rocks—“which we actually made. Wait ’til you see it in the daytime. It looks so fake and cheesy.”

“Lili waited for you guys,” Gabby went on, proudly rocking back and forth on her heels. “And then, when Sutton climbed in, I came out from my hiding place and walled you in together.” She wiggled her hands in front of her face as if to say Spooky .

“You should have heard Sutton!” Lili’s eyes gleamed. “She was begging for her life! It was priceless!” Lili shone her flashlight on her iPhone. “I got a recording of it. We can all hear Sutton. ‘ Please! Don’t hurt me, please! Can’t we talk about this? ’”

Gabby grinned at Emma. “You’ve been freaked for weeks, waiting for us to prank you. I swear you were going to pee your pants when we drove you to the impound the other day.”

Lili wagged her finger at Emma. “I told you we were going to get you back for that car-stalled-on-the-tracks prank.”

“Speaking of which, did you like our little choo-choo charm?” Gabby flicked Lili’s charm bracelet and it jingled. She turned to the others. “We sent Sutton a little present at the country club a couple of weeks ago. A little reminder that we weren’t even yet.”

“So it was you,” Emma said, more of a statement than a question.

“Of course it was us.” Lili grinned. “Who else would have?”

Gabby giggled. “Who knew the unflappable Sutton Mercer could get so frightened?”

Everyone turned and looked at Emma, waiting for her response. Her heart was still thrumming fast. Her blood coursed with adrenaline. Just moments ago, she’d believed this was the end. She could have sworn Gabby and Lili were Sutton’s killers and the case was solved. But now, everything felt turned upside down. This was all just a prank? There was no malice, no murderous revenge? Her relief mingled with the sinking realization that once again, she had no idea who had killed Sutton.

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 killer was still out there, but the five girls who stood staring at Emma—thinking she was me—weren’t killers. They were my friends.

Finally, 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 million 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. All at once, Emma felt for Gabby, for all she’d been through.

I felt badly for Gabby, too. But more than that, I felt embarrassed. I’d callously brushed off her seizure. I’d insisted, over and over, that no one dare tell what I’d done, like I was the most important person in the room. Was it possible I’d treated my murderer cruelly 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?

Finally, 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’ll 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’ll 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 small, 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 hell 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 trilled.

As they started up the ridge, another thought popped into Emma’s mind. She pulled 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 still a moment, a cold realization vibrating all the way down to her fingertips. Of course Lili and Gabby hadn’t cut that light to fall on her. Someone else had.

My killer.

Bzzz. Bzzz.