Piranhas in Pink: Piranhas in Pink Book One

by Nova Knightley

  Aliens? Justice was cute, and I liked my guys a little weird but not straight-up crazy. I was going to have to rethink liking that boy.

  ***

  In the cafeteria, I grabbed a tray. Lunch smelled delicious, even for school cafeteria food. Spaghetti and garlic bread was on the menu, but I remembered that the PIPs didn’t eat during lunch. I didn’t know how they did it, because I was starving. Maybe I needed to start bringing snacks to eat throughout the day. I put the tray back, purchased a granola bar, and headed to our table. I was a few feet away when Bree stepped in front of me. She had her hair in a high ponytail with a pink ribbon like a cheerleader would wear.

  “So, how’s our project coming along?”

  I slid the granola bar into the pocket of my sweater. “There’s a lot going on right now, Bree.”

  She brushed a stray thread off my shoulder. “Oh, I know. The vigil for Mei was so sad, right? The local news stations were there. A missing girl is a big deal, and they’re not going to stop talking about Mei anytime soon. I’m sure the police would really, really appreciate any information I had to share.”

  I glanced at the PIP table. Seiko and Kyla were deep in conversation, but Eden and Dani were watching us. “Just give me a little more time, okay?” Honestly, I had forgotten all about Bree. “Maybe Eden will let you come to the children’s center to help.”

  Bree nodded. “That would be nice. Maybe I could also hang out with you guys at the shore or go to the next party with you.”

  I gritted my teeth. I hated being threatened, but she had the power to ruin my life. “I’ll see what I can do, Bree.”

  She turned on her heel and headed for the back of the cafeteria.

  A spot was left open between Eden and Dani, so I assumed I was supposed to sit there. I cracked open the cherry Dr. Pepper that was waiting for me. Eden passed the package of pink straws. I took a long drink, hoping the carbonation would help keep my stomach full until after school.

  Eden was filing her nails. “What did she want?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. If I told them, they would probably get Bree to stop threatening me, but it might piss her off enough to go to the police with her suspicions. Even if they didn’t have any evidence to prove anything, just having them suspect me was enough. I needed to keep Bree happy. “She wants to help out at the children’s center. She loves kids, and it would look great on her college applications.”

  Dani rolled her eyes and went back to her trigonometry homework.

  Eden groaned. “I know everyone wants to be one of us, but that girl really can’t come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t chosen.”

  I traced the cherries on the soda can with my finger. “I think you should let her. There’s always something to do. The more the merrier, you know, for the good of the children.”

  Eden thought about that for a moment then shook her head. “We need to have boundaries. I don’t want her thinking she’s a part of us when she’s not. She can find her own service project. It’s not hard.”

  “Incoming,” Kyla said.

  Mother Theresa stomped toward the table, looking like she hadn’t slept in days. She plopped down across from Eden. “It’s done. We did it last night after the vigil.”

  Dani whistled. “You jumped a girl after a candlelight vigil? Animals.”

  Theresa looked around wide-eyed, but the cafeteria was so loud that no one was listening. “You’ve got a lot of nerve saying that. It was just the most convenient time. We were all there, and it was dark.”

  “How’d you do it?” Seiko asked.

  Theresa took a deep breath. “Well, I’m not proud of this, but I had to tell a lie. Penelope and Ebony rode to the vigil with me. Afterward, we asked Winter if she wanted to go with us to get some milkshakes, and she laughed. I can’t blame her. None of us are friends with her, so it was totally random. Then Ebony told her that she had some really good weed. I guess we should have started with that. Of course that pothead couldn’t resist. We took her behind that strip of office buildings off of Taft Road and… you know.”

  Amusement danced across Eden’s face. “Let’s see it.”

  Theresa reluctantly held out her phone then snatched it back. “I want to delete it right after you see it. We can’t have this getting out there.”

  Eden nodded and took the phone. We all leaned in to watch as she muted the volume and pressed play. The shaky camera focused on a black sedan. A girl who wasn’t Theresa opened the back door, revealing a girl with white-blond hair and striking blue eyes. That must have been Winter.

  Winter stepped out of the car, looking around. She held her hands out as if to say, “So where is it?”

  That was when another girl came into view and slugged Winter on the side of her face. She hadn’t even seen it coming. Theresa must have been the one holding the camera. Of course. She was smart enough to not be filmed.

  Winter stumbled to the side, her eyes wild. She mouthed, “What the—” but the other girl punched her before she could get the sentence out. Theresa’s leg came into view, her foot colliding with Winter’s midsection. She doubled over in pain. The girls kept hitting, kicking, and punching Winter. She tried to fight back, but it was no use. Not only had they caught her off guard, but they had her outnumbered. Eventually, she gave up and used her hands to shield her face. Penelope and Ebony fought like it wasn’t their first time at the rodeo. Winter had had enough. She curled into a ball, clutching her stomach, and the camera stopped.

  Eden handed Theresa her phone back. “Nice work. You have successfully paid off your debt. Why do you look like death?”

  Theresa shook her head. “Are you kidding me? I couldn’t sleep last night. Winter isn’t in school today. What if we hurt her more than we meant to? What if she tells someone what we did?”

  “She won’t,” Kyla said firmly. “She prides herself on being a badass. She’s not going to tell anyone that she got beat up by Bainbridge’s resident nun—or anyone, for that matter.”

  Either Theresa didn’t catch the shade behind the nun comment, or she didn’t hear it, because she didn’t react to it. Or maybe she’d just heard it before.

  Dani tapped her pencil against her notepad. “Theresa, that girl is a major bully. She’s been terrorizing innocent people for years. She deserved this, so stop feeling bad.”

  Theresa still looked unsure until Dani said something to her in Spanish.

  Dani looked at the four of us and translated, “I said, Hebrews 12:11. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

  Theresa shrugged. “You are correct. We all need discipline from time to time.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Consider yourself a vessel for the Lord’s work.”

  Theresa beamed, delusional enough to believe that. “Yes, I guess I am.” Her smile dropped. “So, we’re really done? You’re not going to bring up my little incident ever again?”

  A placid smile spread across Eden’s face. “We’re women of our word. You did what we asked, and now your business with us is complete… unless you should need something from us in the future.”

  Theresa shook her head so hard I thought it would roll of her shoulders. “No. No, I won’t. I have learned my lesson. Saint Maria has shined her mercy on me. I won’t mess up again.” She rose and smoothed out her floor-length floral skirt. “Have a blessed day, ladies.”

  We watched as she exited the cafeteria.

  Kyla snickered. “You know that is a serial killer waiting to happen, right?”

  Seiko slapped the lunch table. “God, yes. I could totally see her killing people for sinning then calling it doing the Lord’s work.”

  Dani nodded. “I’ve always found nuns to be frightening. She would make a great one.”

  Eden pulled out her phone and typed something into her organizer. “She’ll be back for something else. They always come back.”

  ***

&
nbsp; After school, I hurried to grab my notebooks from my locker. I slid them into my backpack. The afternoon was going to be busy. I had track practice, and Wednesday was also manicure day for the PIPs.

  Owen stopped by his locker. “Hey, McRae. What’s up?”

  “Not much. The announcements were very interesting this morning.”

  He stopped what he was doing and leaned against his locker. “Yeah. Justice is now permanently banned from the newsroom. That sucks because his announcements are usually very amusing. Drama sells. But alas, Principal Chambers has spoken and slammed down the evil hammer of censorship.”

  I remembered Owen telling me that he wasn’t allowed behind the camera anymore because of his outbursts and wondered what else he and Justice had in common. “Are you and Justice friends?”

  He glanced at the ceiling. “I guess you could say that. I don’t have many people I can discuss conspiracy theories with, and he has some good ones.” Owen looked me up and down. “Wait a minute. If you’re crushing on him, you can forget it. He’s like a sewer rat to the PIPs, which is just as well because he detests you guys.”

  I slammed my locker shut. “I’m not crushing on him. I’m going out with Brody, and we happen to be very happy.”

  Owen raised his eyebrows, giving me the uneasy feeling that he could see right through me. “Of course. I’m sure it’s been the best five minutes of your life.” His demeanor grew somber. “Angie is very disappointed in you. She thought she’d made a new friend. She doesn’t have a lot of girlfriends.”

  That made me feel even worse than I already did about Angie. “I like Angie too. We can still be friends.”

  Owen ran his fingers through his curls. “Sure. Secret friends. You’ll have to hide her from the PIPs like she’s a side chick. She’s got too much pride to go for that.”

  “Yeah. I understand.” I had exactly eight minutes to get to the locker room, change, and get out to the track. “I have to get to practice, but I’ll see you around, okay?”

  Owen gave me a salute, walking backward in the opposite direction. “Probably not. I think I’ve graduated from a crayfish to a goldfish because I got a car last weekend, and goldfish know to stay the hell away from piranha.”

  Ouch. He might as well have cracked me in the ribs with a baseball bat.

  25

  The Truth about Brody

  Brody and I went to a movie that Friday night. I regretted letting him talk me into seeing a horror film. Usually, I loved them, but I wasn’t in the right head space to watch people get hacked to death.

  After the movie, Brody had a craving for night breakfast, so we went to the Pancake Hut. The entire night, I pretended not to notice Brody texting someone nonstop. I also pretended not to notice the slow curve of his lips every time he received a response. He had someone. As his girlfriend, I should have been jealous, but I couldn’t bring myself to be. We both knew our relationship was all for show.

  Brody shot off another text while I drummed my fingers on the table. After a minute, I got fed up and snatched the phone away from him. “Listen, I promise I can be a lot more interesting than your phone if you give me a chance.”

  Brody reached for his phone, but I held it out of his reach, looking down at the screen. He had a message from someone named Wifey.

  ILY. I wish we were together right now.

  I handed Brody back his phone.

  He paled and shoved it into his pocket. “So… there’s this person…” Brody shrugged, not making eye contact with me. “We’re just friends.”

  “A friend you call Wifey?”

  Brody glanced around us. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

  I stirred my orange juice with a straw, watching the pieces of pulp chase each other. “I know I told the waitress no pulp.”

  “Lennox?”

  I looked up at him. His eyes were wide and pleading. I didn’t understand. “What’s there to tell? So you have a girlfriend. Big whoop. What I don’t get is why you’re dating me. Just date whoever Wifey is.”

  He slid down in his seat. “It’s more complicated than that. Way more complicated.”

  Complicated AKA interesting. I sat up straight. “What do you mean? Why is it complicated? Is she in prison or something?”

  Brody gave me a look that told me prison would be better than the truth. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to tell me.

  “What are we going to do, Brody? Pretend to like each other and go on these fake dates?” The whole dating-a-guy-from-the-list thing was a sham, but I didn’t want to spend my Friday nights watching Brody text the person he really wanted to be with.

  He took a deep breath. “Sorry, but yeah. I can’t let anyone know about her. Not yet, anyway. By the way, my family wants to meet you.”

  I groaned and buried my face in my hands. Putting on an act for his family was a lot to ask. I was already carrying on one charade. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do that one too.

  26

  Can You Keep a Secret?

  Saturday morning brought us back to the children’s center. I couldn’t wait to ask Phoebe why she’d lied and told me her name was Daisy. That morning, Ms. Beverly gave us different assignments, so instead of monitoring the free-play room, Seiko and I were assigned to help the art teacher. We were making adorable scarecrows out of construction paper and popsicle sticks.

  It wasn’t until lunchtime when I spotted Phoebe. Her shirt had a rhino on it with the words Save the Chubby Unicorns. I smiled, thinking about what a cool kid she was, but then I stopped myself. She wasn’t cool. She was a liar.

  Phoebe was seated alone again, and I took my turkey sandwich and carrot sticks and sat across from her. “Hey, Daisy. Or is it Phoebe?”

  She’d just been about to take a bite of her sandwich when she paused. “Uhhh, yeah, about that…”

  “Why did you lie? Why’d you tell me your name was Daisy? What was the point? To make me feel like an idiot?”

  She set her sandwich down. “I’m sorry. I lied to you at first because I thought you were like the others, always trying to force me to play with those stupid kids. Then we got to hang out, and you were pretty cool, so I felt bad about lying.”

  I pulled the crust off my sandwich. “So? You still didn’t tell me the truth.”

  “I tried to, but the bus pulled off before I could.”

  I thought back to the previous Saturday when she had been trying to tell me something.

  Phoebe cautiously picked up her sandwich. “I’m sorry I lied. Are you mad?”

  “No. I accept your apology. But no more lies.”

  She shook her head. “I won’t lie again. Not to you, anyway.”

  That was good enough for me.

  I watched as one of the counselors broke up a group of boys roughhousing. “Why’d you choose Daisy? You like that name?”

  Phoebe seemed to deflate. “Daisy was my mom’s name. She’s dead now.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure what to say next. I hated when people asked me what happened to my sister, but other times, it felt good to talk about it. I figured I would leave it up to Phoebe.

  She took a bite of her sandwich and swallowed it. “That’s why I’m here. Kids can only come here if something bad has happened to them. This place is supposed to make us feel better, but it doesn’t. At least not me.”

  I knew exactly how she felt. Sometimes, people tried to get you through a devastating tragedy by distracting you with things that should make you happy. It never worked for me either.

  “If you ever want to talk about it, you can. I know what it feels like to lose a person you love.”

  She raised an eyebrow with her mouth full of turkey sandwich.

  I pushed my tray away. The sandwich tasted like cardboard. “My sister died a couple years ago.” I hoped she didn’t ask me how. It was a lot to explain to a kid, and I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.

  Phoebe touched my hand. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”

  �
��Thank you.”

  She pushed her tray away too except for her chocolate pudding cup. “Do you have other brothers and sisters?”

  “No. I’m an only child now.”

  Phoebe concentrated very hard on peeling back the lid of her pudding. “Me too. But that’s okay. You and me can be sisters… I mean, if you want.”

  I tickled her side. “I would like that a lot.”

  Phoebe ate her pudding quietly for a moment while I checked my phone.

  “Now that we’re sisters, can I tell you a secret?”

  I was always a sucker for a good secret, but I couldn’t imagine an eleven-year-old having one that was particularly juicy. “Sure.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “It’s a family secret. That means it stays in the family.”

  “I promise. I won’t tell a single soul.” What could her secret be? She has a crush on someone? She’s a member of a secret girls-only club?

  She held up her pudding-covered spoon. “Lennox, you must seal your promise to me by licking this spoon.”

  Gag. “I am so not licking your spoon. You either trust me, or you don’t.”

  Phoebe looked at her spoon for a few seconds then shrugged. “Fine. You see that girl over there?” She pointed at a blond with hair to her waist sitting at a table across from Eden. All the little girls seemed to be enthralled by her.

  “Yeah. What about her?”

  “Her name is Esme. She goes to my school.”

  Esme wore a navy-blue sailor dress with red leggings and baby doll shoes. She looked sweeter than maraschino cherries soaked in sugar. That was the type you had to look out for. Phoebe glared at the girl as if she were willing her to explode. She jammed her spoon into her pudding. “Do you know what she said to me the other day?”

  “What?”

  “In PE, she got mad because I got her out in kickball. She called me a dirty cheater. I told her she was a dirty sore loser. Then she goes, ‘At least my mom’s not dead.’”