by Laurel Veil
“Hey,” he called after me. “Don’t I at least get to see it?”
“Later!”
“I’m back,” I yelled when I entered the house.
I could hear Grandma shuffling about in her room. “OK. I’ll be out in a bit.”
I went to my room to grab my sweats before heading to the shower. I pulled the picture out from under my shirt and tossed it face-down on my bed. I rummaged through my drawers and grabbed what I needed. Just before heading out, I reached for the picture, and as I went to place it on my nightstand, I froze. It wasn’t the picture of Dani and me. I couldn’t believe it. I had been in such a hurry; I’d never even looked. I hadn’t even realized there were more photos in the trash other than the one of Dani and me. I’d just assumed I had the right one.
I stared at it. Who was it anyway? I soon realized it was a much younger version of Dani’s mom with dark brown hair. And the little girl with her—she couldn’t have been more than five—was that Dani? I studied her eyes and smile. It was her! The red hair had thrown me off. I had no idea Dani had bleached her hair. I had always thought she was a natural blonde.
The longer I looked at the picture, I found myself on the verge of tears. How could her mom throw this away? My mind began to swirl with a theory about Dani’s murder. Maybe the man I’d given the cake to, was her mom’s boyfriend—and the murderer! Maybe Ms. Moretti knows, but she doesn’t want to leave him, and now, because of guilt, she can’t bear to look at Dani’s pictures anymore.
Grandma startled me when she knocked on my door. Thank God I’d closed it. I quickly put the picture in my nightstand drawer. “Come in.”
“I just wanted to say good night.”
“Already? It’s a little early?”
“I’m pooped.” Grandma did look tired. She looked . . . old, and somehow, smaller. She was the strongest person I knew, but she suddenly seemed frail.
“Well, you should go to bed then and get lots of rest. I think I’m going to go to bed too,” I said, already knowing I wasn’t. I hugged her a little longer and a little tighter that night.
Grandma’s early bedtime was very helpful because I planned on sneaking out and going back to Dani’s, and now I could go much sooner. I waited what I thought was long enough for her to fall asleep, double-checked that my bedroom door was locked, then slowly raised my window and slipped out into the darkness.
13.
I walked stealthily down Dani’s driveway once again and made a beeline for the trash. I found the picture surprisingly fast. This time I made sure I had the right one before turning to go.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
I was so startled; I almost dropped the picture. It was Dani’s mom. What was she doing out here? My mouth felt dry. I didn’t think I was going to be able to speak but then I couldn’t stop or even slow down. “I-I saw it in the box when I dropped off the cake. It was on top. I didn’t dig through your stuff. I promise.” I quickly turned the picture where she could see it. “It’s Dani and me. I figured since you were tossing it, you wouldn’t mind if I took it.” I was babbling. I wasn’t even sure if she was comprehending everything I was saying.
She gave a weak smile and I felt a little better. “It’s fine. I don’t mind.” She placed a cigarette between her lips and lit it. The tip burned red in the darkness when she took a long drag. She blew a trail of smoke from her mouth. “So . . . you’re the one who left the cake with Jim?”
“Yeah. I guess I never mentioned who I was.”
“We had a bite. It was delicious. Did you bake it?”
“Yeah—uh, yes ma’am.”
“You did a great job. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” We were silent for a moment, and it made me feel self-conscious. “I know it wasn’t much. I just wanted to do something for you. I’m so sorry about everything.”
She nodded. “You must think I’m terrible.”
“What? No. Why?”
She motioned with a quick nod. “Her things. They’re—,” her voice caught, “hard to look at.” She brushed the corner of her eye. “I’m going to be moving soon. I can’t stand to be here anymore without her. I won’t have a lot of room, so I’m only taking very special mementos from her childhood with me. It’s lucky for me all my photos are digital.”
Of course. Her photos are digital, duh. I suddenly felt stupid and guilty for being suspicious of her and Jim. I wasn’t exactly sure how I should respond so I simply said, “That makes sense.” And it did make sense even though I didn’t think that was how I would’ve handled things. “Well, I better get going.” I wanted to hurry up and leave before she had the chance to start preaching about how dangerous it was to be out alone at night. It would only scare me more, and I didn’t want her to offer me a ride, or worse, offer to have that Jim guy give me a ride. Surprisingly, she did none of that and merely nodded.
I was glad to be on my way home. I clutched the picture tightly in my hands. I’d done it. I’d gotten the picture. I was so preoccupied feeling pleased with myself that I hadn’t noticed the lights coming up behind me until the vehicle was almost beside me. It was a truck, and it was going awfully slow. I willed myself to vanish into thin air as I simultaneously scolded myself for coming without Nolan. What was I thinking? Dani’s killer was still on the loose. I promised myself that if I made it home alive, I was never going to sneak out alone at night again.
I sighed with relief when it drove past and then ran the rest of the way to my grandma’s. I was never more grateful to set foot on her lawn. My gratitude quickly turned to panic, though, when I saw that my grandma’s bedroom light was on. Did she know I was gone?
Out of habit, I almost made the mistake of going through the front door. I walked around to the back of the house to my window and slipped inside as quietly as I could. I quickly changed and climbed into bed. Grandma never came to my room, and eventually, I drifted off.
♦ ♦ ♦
Nolan was quiet on our walk to school. “What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Tired.”
I never mentioned that I’d brought home the wrong picture and I definitely didn’t tell him I went back, alone, to get the other one. “Well . . . see ya after school,” I said. He barely nodded and walked away.
School was uneventful, except for catching Riley and Ava looking at me—twice. The first time was in the hallway near our lockers, and the second time was when I passed by their table at lunch. They were whispering both times, which made it even worse. When I told Nolan about it, he didn’t have much to say. He was still as quiet as he had been that morning.
When the last bell of the day rang, I walked outside and waited on Nolan. He was usually the one waiting for me. Before I knew it, almost fifteen minutes had gone by. He was really starting to tick me off.
“He’s not coming.”
I was surprised when I turned around and saw Riley. Ava was at her side. This close, I could now see that they looked even worse. Under their makeup, dark circles hung beneath their eyes and their usually flawless skin was riddled with tiny bumps. “How do you know?” I asked.
“The cops came and got him,” said Ava. “Lauren Ryan told me. He’s in her math class.”
My mind was swirling. What did the cops want with Nolan? I turned to go, and they followed me. “I prefer to walk alone,” I said.
“You walk with Nolan,” said Riley.
“Yeah, but I like him.”
Ava snickered. “You really told us. You’re such a badass, Noelle.”
It felt like my blood was boiling in my veins as I turned to face her.
“What are you doing?” Riley snapped at Ava. “Just shut up!” I couldn’t believe Riley was standing up for me. “She’s never going to help us if you keep acting like that.”
So, that’s why Riley was bucking up to Ava. It’s wasn’t about defending me. They wanted something again. I was curious, but not that curious and turned to go.
“Wait!” s
aid Riley. “Please.” She sounded desperate so I stopped. “Thanks,” she said.
“I didn’t say I’m going to help you,” I reminded her.
“Will you at least hear us out?” asked Riley.
“I’m really busy,” I lied.
“It’ll be quick. We can talk now, on our way home.”
“Fine,” I said flatly.
As soon as we began walking, Ava started speaking. “We know this is going to sound weird or—unbelievable.”
“Just spit it out,” I said.
“We think Dani is cursing us,” said Riley.
At this, I stopped. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, come on,” said Ava incredulously. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” She pointed at the dark ring under Riley’s left eye and then lifted Riley’s bangs to reveal even more acne. Riley swatted Ava’s hand with a loud smack. “Ow, you bitch! What did you do that for?” said Ava. I knew it was wrong, but it was satisfying seeing them turn on each other.
“You can point to your own disgusting face,” snapped Riley. “This is all your fault. And for the record, you look worse than me!”
“So, Dani is giving you guys pimples from beyond the grave?” I rolled my eyes and continued walking, and they followed.
“I told you that you weren’t going to believe us. But I’m telling you, it’s true,” said Ava.
“Why would she do that? Dani was nice, unlike you two. And besides, I’m sure there are lots more interesting things to do in heaven than give you guys acne.” I was quiet long enough for a group of kids to pass and get out of earshot. “Besides,” I whispered, “what does any of this have to do with me?”
“We need your help,” said Riley.
I laughed. “Well, I don’t have any Proactive in my backpack.”
“Ha-ha,” said Ava. “This is serious. We need you to help us perform a . . .”
“A what?” I asked.
“A ceremony,” said Riley.
“What are you talking about?”
“Even though you think Dani isn’t the one responsible for how we look, we think she is, and we need to stop her,” said Ava.
“So, what, you two are witches now?” I asked sarcastically. When they didn’t answer, I stopped and looked at their solemn expressions. “Seriously?” They just stood there staring at me. “You’ve got to be kidding. Find someone else to help you.”
“It has to be you,” said Riley.
“I don’t do stuff like that.”
“You already have,” said Ava.
My heart began to race. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ava was smirking now. “That night in the cemetery.” She was delighting in my shock as she continued. “The ceremonial black robes we wore. The special libation of which we all partook. Any of this ringing a bell?”
“What was it for?” I was terrified to hear her answer.
“We didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt,” Riley whined.
“What?” I knew at any moment my heart was going to pound right out of my chest.
“Oh, shut up, Riley,” barked Ava. “You’re so weak.” She looked at me. “We did a siphoning spell. Long story short, we wanted some of what Dani had and we tried to take it.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
“Her charisma, her X factor—whatever you want to call it. She had more than her fair share, and there was plenty to go around,” said Ava.
I had never heard of such a thing. It was hard to wrap my mind around. Suddenly, I could’ve sworn that I smelled the unmistakable stench of burnt hair and then I remembered how some of Dani’s hair had been burned that night. Ava had claimed she’d picked a bug off Dani’s back. She didn’t toss it to the ground though, she’d thrown it in the fire and mumbled something. Dani had said she’d taken some of her hair with it. I remembered smelling it. Ava had blown it off as an accident, but now I realized it hadn’t been. “When you said you didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt—did you guys accidentally . . . kill—”
“No!” they both insisted at the same time.
“We got hurt,” said Riley pitifully.
Did she really think I was going to feel sorry for them? “Why do you guys think you need me?”
“We don’t think. We know,” said Ava. “You were part of the original ceremony. You were part of our triangle.”
“Triangle? So…there needed to be three participants?” I asked.
Ava nodded smugly. She seemed pleased that I finally seemed to be getting it, but she had no idea just how much I finally understood.
“So, the only reason you guys asked me to be a part of your stupid group was because you needed a third person in your little ritual.” Riley looked down at her feet and neither of them denied what I’d said. “You shouldn’t have done that to Dani. And you guys used me. I’m not having any part of this.”
“Oh, come on,” said Ava. “Don’t be so serious. It’s hocus-pocus. It’s fun.”
“Fun? Have you looked in the mirror?” It suddenly hit me, “You guys are the ones who’ve been making sacrifices in the cemetery, aren’t you?” They didn’t answer, but they didn’t need to. I knew they were the ones. “You guys shouldn’t be messing around with that stuff.”
They called after me, but I never looked back. When I realized I was closer to my mom’s house then my grandma’s, I headed there instead. I was surprised that when I turned the knob it didn’t move. My mom hardly ever locked the back door. I jiggled it in case it was stuck. It wouldn’t budge. I fished the spare key out from under a flowerpot that was home to a dying hibiscus. I couldn’t believe it when the key wouldn’t go in the lock. On closer inspection, I realized that the lock did seem a little brighter. Had it been changed? I rattled the knob once more, and then the door flung open.
“What the hell, Noelle? Are you trying to break it?” Rick grumbled. I must have woken him because his hair was a mess, and his clothes were rumpled.
“The key didn’t work,” I said as I held it up. I couldn’t believe it when he snatched it from my fingers.
“That’s because the locks are new.”
“Well, can I have a key?”
“Look,” he pinched the bridge of his nose like I was giving him a headache, “you barely stay here anymore. We don’t want you just barging in whenever you feel like it.”
“Uh, this is my house.”
Still blocking the entrance, he clenched his hand into a fist. “Your mom’s not here. What do you want?”
“Nothing.” I was filled with rage, but it came out as a whisper. My throat burned, and I told myself I’d better not cry. I turned to go, and when he shut the door, I screamed, “I don’t want a damn thing.” I’d never known Rick to be such a prick. I hated him now, and I hated my mom even more.
All I wanted to do was run to Nolan and tell him everything. I couldn’t walk fast enough. I wiped my eyes before I rang the bell. When no one answered, I walked around back to Nolan’s bedroom and tapped on the window. When he didn’t come, I finally remembered what Ava had told me earlier. If he was still with the cops, something must be wrong.
I ran next door to my grandma’s. I called for her, but there was no answer. I couldn’t believe she was gone again. Where was she? I ran to my room and threw myself on my bed and sobbed. I had never felt so alone.
♦ ♦ ♦
I woke to a faint tapping sound. I could smell bacon. My grandma was home! I had fallen asleep. Wait! Was it morning already? My clock read 7:05. There was light in my room but I still couldn’t tell if it was a.m. or p.m.? I flinched when the tapping came again. I went to my window, raised it and found Nolan leaning up against the house. “What time is it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Around seven, I think.”
“A.m. or p.m.?”
“P.m.”
I sighed with relief. “Wait—where’ve you been? Ava said the cops came and got you from school today.”
“They did. I was at the statio
n for hours.”
“Why?”
“Why else? They were questioning me again,” his voice caught, “about Dani.”
“What happened?”
He exhaled. “They still don’t know who killed her, and they’re trying really hard now to blame it on someone so they can wrap things up.”
“They can’t seriously think it was you?”
“Well, according to them,” he made finger quotes, “I’m the last person who saw her alive.”
“No, you’re not. You’re the last person we know who saw her alive. The last person who saw her alive was her killer.”