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Emma ran her hand over the back of her neck It was suddenly sweaty Her heart was pounding really fast, too "I’m just a little freaked out," she admitted

"Why?"

They turned another corner and walked through the lobby, sidestepping a group of kids break-dancing by the ceramics display case "Let’s just say I’m tempted to blow off school for the rest of the year and hide in a cave somewhere"

"Is this about the Nisha prank?" Ethan asked "Two girls ahead ofabout it," he went on One of his shoulders rose in a sheepish shrug "It soundedcrazy"

Emma sank down on a lobby bench "Yeah My friends kind of wenttoo far"

Ethan sat down next to her, picking up a flyer that said FALL HARVEST DANCE! GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! and twisting it in his hands One corner of his mouth pulled up into a sarcastic suys always go too far?"

A knot formed in Emma’s stomach Charlotte’s words spun in her head like clothes in a dryer: Like you haven’t done worse? Was that hoorked?

She sed hard, staring blankly across the rooold-lettered poster said IN MEMORIAM Black-and-white yearbook portraits of dead studentswith their names and death dates Sutton should be on that board, Eht She wondered if whoever had killed her passed this lobby all the ti down the hall, their footsteps ringing out on the hard floor Esmile "If you’re sick of the pranks, you should tell your friends you want to stop Just walk away from it, y’know? Everyone would thank you for it" He tossed the coffee cup in the trash "See you around"

Emma watched him disappear down the hall Her pals wouldn’t work The dead faces on the IN MEMORIAM poster watched her with eerie, knowing sh her body like a dart "I have to get out of here," she whispered

She’d never felt so sure of so in her life Whatever Sutton was involved in, whatever the Lying Gaerous and way too intense Just sitting here in the school hall e

Andai noise as E lot of the don Tucson Greyhound station She hit the brake just before ranition, she looked cautiously around

The air was oven-hot and the blacktop shiave Ee kids shuffling into Hotel Congress turned and stared right at her, too Even the sex kittens in the S&Mseelasses, but she still felt exposed

It was later that afternoon, and Emma was supposed to be at tennis practice She’d racked her brain all day for how she could get out of town--and where she’d go Emma didn’t want to use Sutton’s ATM or credit cards to fund her escape--it would be too easy for the killer to track her

And then she’d realized: the locker in Vegas She’d stashed her two-thousand-dollar nest egg there, afraid to bring such a huge wad of cash to Tucson The locker required a numerical combination, which Emma had set to Becky’s birthday, March tenth If Eet back to the money, she’d be okay for a while She could take a cheap bus to the East Coast, where no one would find her Maybe, if she got out of the way, people would realize Sutton was gone and start searching for her

And ure out why--and how--I’d died Or would I? If Eo with her--to live her new, anony her while she moved on? Or would I disappear forever once she left my life? What would happen to me then?

Emma had swiftly stolen Laurel’s keys froive erly plucked the keys fro and slipped the out of the parking lot, stabbing Greyhound Bus Station into Laurel’s GPS

Emma entered the bus station and stood in line behind a thin balding lasses and a frizzy-haired wo suitcase The shifty-eyed ticket attendant glanced up and stared straight at her, then went back to ringing up a sale A sign over the woas The bus left in fifteenman leaned forward on his elbows at the ticket counter and ht usted, the door blew open and shut,Emma jump The hair on her arms stood on end If only this line wouldsuddenly exploded fro iPhone LAUREL, said the Caller ID Ee flashed on the screen, but then Laurel called right back Eain Why wasn’t Laurel on the tennis court? Eht she had at least an hour before Laurel would notice her car e flashed, a new text appeared Emma opened it 911, Laurel wrote DID YOU TAKE MY CAR? ARE YOU OKAY? IF YOU DON’T CALL BACK IN FIVE MINUTES I’M SENDING OUT A SEARCH PARTY

The frizzy-haired woman in front of Emma peered at her curiously The ticket attendant leered as she licked a finger to count out dollar bills Emma tried to s the lump that had formed in her throat All at once, her escape plan felt foolish Laurel was probably freaking out about the ht now

And even if Eas, the police would find Laurel’s car in the parking lot in no tiirl they thought was Sutton had just run away And then Shifty Eyes the ticket attendant would identify Easand the cops would be looking for Emma there, not for Sutton’s body here

Laurel called again just as Ereen answer button and said hello "There you are, flake" Laurel sounded annoyed Her voice was hollow, like the phone was on speaker "Did you steal et your own car out of the iround "We’ll all pool our money!"