Dead Ringer

by Jessie Rosen

  Of course, if the cops came up with something first, Sasha would quit the job in a heartbeat. This was just a security measure in case they failed yet again.

  And what if one of the four recognized her? That was unlikely, but well, then that would be even better. They would be tortured by seeing her, but they wouldn’t be able to say anything at all.

  Chapter 8

  October 14

  Laura

  Laura forged a sick note from her parents on Tuesday and Wednesday morning after Sarah Castro-Tanner’s story resurfaced. Once the police announced that they were reopening the investigation, every local media outlet started covering the story. Everyone at Englewood High School was obsessed, and it only took until eight o’clock on Monday morning for Laura to realize that their obsession extended to her.

  “I think this is all happening because she reminded someone about Sarah,” a girl she didn’t even recognize whispered to a friend as they passed each other in the hall. The comment made Laura want to run out the school doors and all the way back to California.

  Charlie texted on Wednesday night when she said she wasn’t sure if she’d be well enough for homecoming:

  You have to get better for Friday! I rented a sick white tux!

  The joke made Laura laugh for the first time in a long time. She replied:

  Well, then I’m definitely not going to feel better.

  Ten minutes later, Charlie was at her doorstep.

  “You have a real habit of showing up uninvited,” she said. The first week they were dating, he’d come over unannounced after she told him that she overheard a rough fight between her parents. He suggested some pizza and an old episode of The Twilight Zone as proper medicine. This time Charlie was trying to play nurse, but all he had when she opened the door was a handful of trashy celebrity magazines.

  “The lady at the drug store said these would make you feel better,” he said.

  Laura laughed. “Thank you. I think the standard gift is cough drops and tissues, though.”

  “Damn… I need to know that if I’m going to be a doctor,” Charlie said, slapping his forehead.

  “It’s fine,” Laura said. “I’ve been taking care of myself since forever. I made chicken soup and grabbed some lemon verbena tea from the Stop N’ Shop.”

  “You should just move out and get your own apartment,” Charlie said, teasing. “You do everything for yourself anyway.”

  “True,” she said, “I also made myself some caramel popcorn so I could watch TV all day on the couch.”

  “Please say there’s some left for me?”

  Laura gave him a quick smile as she turned and ushered him into the living room. Seconds later she was wrapped inside his arms under a nice, warm afghan on the couch.

  “I’m not going to go the homecoming dance if you don’t go,” Charlie said as they flipped between two shows.

  “You have to,” Laura said. “You’re on the executive committee of the student council, plus Amanda planned the whole thing. I feel like you don’t need an opportunity to make her more mad.”

  “But I’d rather just hang with you.”

  Charlie’s sweetness made Laura want to confess that the whole sick-girl thing was a charade, but she was too embarrassed to admit it. She’d been strong and independent since Charlie met her, and she didn’t want him to start seeing her as a weak, anxious girl who cared more about what everyone else thought than her own boyfriend. She clicked from channel to channel again, hoping Charlie would fill the awkward silence, but instead a booming voice on the television made them both jump out of their skin.

  “We’ll have the latest on the reopened suicide case in Englewood tonight at ten o’clock.”

  It was a newscaster. The DVR must have flipped back to live TV. Laura quickly grabbed the remote and switched it back.

  “It’s okay,” Charlie said.

  “I know,” Laura said, “but we still don’t need to see more of it.”

  She had called Charlie the minute the crazy news hit, knowing that Sarah’s story was already a tough subject. Charlie said he was just upset for the Castro-Tanners, but that he was okay. Laura decided not to press any further, even though she still wanted to know so much more about how Charlie felt, and what that whole experience was like for everyone at Englewood. He never said more about the fact that Sarah had been in love with him at one point, and it was hard for Laura not to press about what exactly he meant.

  Laura looked down at the two strong arms holding her around the waist. This moment was a dream come true—just like every moment with Charlie—but nothing could compare to the idea of walking into that homecoming dance on his arm. Laura knew it was silly, but she’d never been “that girl” before in her life—the one with the love and attention of the single most-popular guy in the class. She couldn’t give up the chance to attain such a great memory just because a few people might stare at them on the dance floor; that was letting them win again, and Laura had promised herself she would take a different approach to life now that California was in the past.

  There was also the fact that she already had a totally fabulous, red dress from the 1960s with gold spaghetti straps and a big, gold belt at the waist. The dress deserved to be at that homecoming dance, and so did Laura.

  * * *

  A giant shadow projection of the New York City skyline greeted Charlie and Laura as they walked up to the school gym. The theme for the homecoming dance was “Nights in New York” and the social committee had clearly gone all out. There were certainly benefits to being at a rich school in a rich town, but there were negatives, too—like the fact that every single girl walking into the event was wearing a brand-new, insanely short, super-trendy dress. Obviously dressing to impress is more important than dressing to the theme, Laura thought as she looked down at her Breakfast at Tiffany’s-inspired attire. This was yet another element of life in Englewood that was not worth getting anxious about. Plus, there was no saving her entrance. It was less than one week after the big Sarah Castro-Tanner story broke and she was making her first public appearance with Charlie. The Audrey Hepburn costume was the least of her problems.

  It took a minute or so for the three hundred people inside the transformed gym to register the fact that Charlie Sanders had just walked in holding hands with Laura Rivers, but once they did, it was fascinating to watch how poorly they hid their delight. Everyone knew that Charlie had started the school year doing a lot of canoodling with one Amanda Hunter. Everyone also knew that Charlie had removed himself from the homecoming-king and -queen race when things between them got rocky. Now they all knew why, and it was conveniently tied to the girl they were already gossiping about. Laura laughed to herself for a quick second as she took it all in; she had given the rumor mill of Englewood a whole lot of material to work with during her brief time in town. Then Laura’s eyes locked with a pair of big, blue saucers made up so perfectly that they looked like a still shot in a fashion magazine. Naturally they belonged to Amanda, and from the furious look in them, Laura could tell she was about to give Englewood one more amazing moment to talk about.

  Amanda was wearing a little, black bondage dress that fit her so perfectly, it must have been custom made. Laura silently turned her nose up at the obvious style choice— those stretchy dresses had been everywhere for years—but she could not deny how amazing it looked on her long, lean figure. Amanda wasn’t hard to hate, but she was impossible not to envy.

  Laura hoped that their “hello” had been accomplished with that steely stare, but unfortunately she was wrong. Amanda began to stride over. Charlie squeezed Laura’s hand a little tighter. She wasn’t sure if he was being supportive or if he also needed a little extra courage.

  He hadn’t said much about how Amanda reacted when he told her that they were dating, but from the intense look on her face now, Laura thought she was getting a pretty good sense. She braced herself for any onslaught and tried to put herself in Amanda’s shoes. Laura had essentially stolen her boyfr
iend, even if Charlie went willingly. There was a lot of history between them, and this moment had to be hard. No matter what, Laura was going to remain calm.

  “Hi, you two,” Amanda said, now one foot from both of their faces. Her expression was impossible to read. Laura wouldn’t have been surprised if she pounced on them both like some kind of wild cheetah that stalked its prey silently until finally going in for the kill. “Carly, you look fine,” she continued. “Laura, you look gorgeous. I’m glad someone followed my New York theme. I was too much of a wuss to wear something vintage. Are you feeling better? I heard you had a cold.”

  Laura was pretty sure that if she opened her mouth even a millimeter her jaw would drop directly onto the ground. There was no sugary tone in Amanda’s voice like there’d been at Jeff Haskell’s party that first week of school. She was being…legitimately nice. It was weird.

  The next thing Laura knew, Kit and Miller were standing among the group—Kit in a flirty, floral minidress and Sean in a dark suit with a purple tie to match.

  “Where are you always getting these amazing clothes, Laura?” Kit asked. “I thought I knew every boutique in this town…”

  “She shops at these vintage places,” Charlie said, an air of pride in his voice.

  “Like old shit?” Miller said.

  Kit promptly smacked him across the chest. When she did, Laura instantly noticed her nails. Kit’s signature nail art was missing; in fact, her fingers had actual scab marks around the cuticles where they’d been bitten to the quick. “Like classic style,” she said. “Girls, fashion shoot in the photo booth?”

  “Yes,” Amanda said. “The props my committee put together are killer. Boys, see you later. Maybe.”

  And with that, Laura let herself be whisked off into the crowd.

  Charlie

  Charlie kept scanning the crowd and locking eyes with people he’d known for years—Billy Cosentino from down the block, Cole from soccer, Rachel Goldberg, who he had a crush on in second grade, Amy Keseday, the girl who frequently beat him in coed soccer shoot-outs… Soon enough they would probably all be questioned by the Englewood police regarding what they knew about Sarah Castro-Tanner’s death, and it would be all Charlie’s fault—not Amanda’s, not Kit or Miller’s, but his. He was the one who started this whole avalanche because he was dumb enough to fall for Sarah’s prank. Sure, what she did was sick and twisted, but it wouldn’t have worked if he hadn’t taken the bait, and it wouldn’t have led down the path to this point if he hadn’t been so enraged after the truth came out, and it wouldn’t have all unraveled if he hadn’t needed to get revenge so badly that he told Amanda, who put the entire payback plan into motion.

  Charlie watched as his classmates all scrambled to the floor to do that wiggly line dance everyone was so obsessed with at the moment. Then he saw Laura. She was standing next to Kit and Miller doing a totally uncoordinated version of the moves, which she’d obviously learned two seconds ago. She looked up, caught his eye and gave him the world’s cutest please-don’t-watch-me face. Charlie smiled back. “Too late,” he mouthed, and then took out his phone and snapped a picture of her before she could hide behind Kit.

  What if Laura knew what a monster he’d been? What would she think of him if she found out that he’d totally lost control because he was so consumed with keeping his precious reputation intact? And what if she found out what happened between him and Amanda before that?

  Charlie felt his chest start to expand and contract like he’d just finished a ten-mile run. He tried to take a breath, but he could only make out short, shallow gasps. His head felt light, but not in a good way. Something was seriously wrong with his body.

  Before he could run out of the gymnasium to get some fresh air, Amanda stepped up onto the stage and grabbed the microphone from the emcee.

  “Hey, hey, hey, EHS, welcome to your night in New York City! Everybody having fun?”

  The crowd cheered, and Charlie joined in. Something about screaming in that moment made his body relax, and he started to gain control of his breath again.

  “We have a little surprise for you tonight before we announce the homecoming court and crown our king and queen. Think of it as something to get you psyched about this year with a little trip down memory lane. Billy? Let’s roll it!”

  With that, the lights turned down and a large, white screen unrolled from the gym ceiling.

  “What’s so great about Englewood High?” a disembodied voice said as a picture of the school’s front was projected onto the canvas. Charlie was pretty sure it was Miller’s voice; Amanda was always using it for her social committee videos.

  The school shot quickly dissolved into a time lapse of the crowded halls in between classes as a cool, pop version of the Englewood fight song played. Charlie was impressed. Either Amanda had become even more creative, or she was giving excellent orders to the AV club kids who did all her work.

  “What’s so great about Englewood High?” Miller’s voice repeated.

  “US!” a crowd of voices replied.

  Everyone in the gym screamed at that line, and they continued to yell and cheer as the video kicked into high gear with dozens of pictures featuring the fun of life at EHS flying across the screen. Next were clips from soccer games, car washes, and the Battle of the Classes, which took place each spring. Then interviews with groups of friends answering questions about what made life at school so great were layered in, and mixed among that were still shots of the senior class growing up throughout the years—from elementary school through the present. Every single time a new image came onto the screen, people would cheer for their friends or themselves. Charlie had to hand it to Amanda, this was a genius way to get everyone fired up and ready for the year ahead.

  He made his way into the crowd hoping to find Laura. He figured she might be feeling a little awkward since there weren’t any photos of her in the slides. It was still too early for the yearbook committee to be shooting new candid pictures or getting coverage of all the activities. Charlie found her standing next to Kit, Miller, and Amanda near the front of the stage. Kit gave Charlie one of her typical knowing smiles. Charlie figured this one meant that she was happy they were being nice to Laura for the time being and had spoken to Amanda about the situation. Kit could say a lot with a single look, though the skill was usually wasted on Miller.

  Charlie made his way to Laura’s side, reached out and squeezed her hand. “This isn’t such a bad place to go to school, right?” he said.

  “Not at all,” she replied.

  They turned back to watch. The music from the video was coming to a crescendo and pictures were flying across the screen almost like the finale in a fireworks show. Now everyone was cheering non-stop, anticipating the big finish.

  But the moment the final image hit the screen, the room went quiet. It was like someone had unplugged the speaker. No one made a single move or sound, though Charlie wouldn’t have heard it even if they did. He was too focused on trying not to pass out.

  In the center of the giant, white screen was a photograph of Sarah Castro-Tanner looking terrified as she stood beside a row of lockers—talking to Charlie Sanders.

  October 16

  Sasha

  Sometime around 11:00 p.m. on Friday night, Sasha’s computer started to ping. She’d set a special alert on activity generated from Charlie, Amanda, Kit, or Sean’s computers and, from the sounds of it, one of them was doing some serious work.

  The system Sasha was currently running functioned so that anything those four did on their desktops automatically downloaded into a server that Sasha kept on her own system. If they took a screenshot from a website, it replicated itself into a folder marked “Images.” If they sent messages through any chat software, a copy of the conversation was saved into a section she called “Correspondence.” And if they uploaded anything onto their desktop from a remote source—a web portal, a cellphone, a jump drive—whatever they migrated over also made its way straight into a file marked “Up
loads” and into Sasha’s hands.”

  By the time Sasha opened her computer and clicked on the folder marked “Charlie,” there were over one hundred twenty new documents in the “Uploads” section. Sasha assumed Charlie was transferring files he needed for some homework assignment from one place to another—maybe another computer to his own via an external hard drive? But with a number so high, she figured it had to be photos. Then a thought struck Sasha: maybe he was looking through his old files to see if he could find a copy of the picture that put an end to his lovely night at the homecoming dance? It was the big night, after all.

  If that was the case, Charlie was out of luck. He didn’t have that picture. In fact, the only person who did had no idea that it was ever in their possession. If Sasha were a kinder person, she would have contacted the Englewood Yearbook office to inform them that their photo editor’s computers had absolutely zero security settings. It had taken her five minutes to hack into the main hard drive containing the archive of candid photos, all conveniently organized by year. All she originally wanted was an image of Charlie with Sarah in the same frame, but she ended up with something so much better. The idea had been to send whatever photo she found straight to Charlie, but once she heard chatter about a video montage at the Englewood homecoming dance—organized by none other than Amanda—she devised an even better plan.