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The lock clunked to the floor The drawerscreech as it opened E in the bottom was a thick spiral-bound notebook That was all

E written on the front cover--no names or doodles, just a shiny piece of blue card stock The wire spirals were perfectly coiled and even, without a hint of bending or rust She turned to the first page There was Sutton’s handwriting, round and neat and eerily similar to Emma’s own January 10, she’d written

Emma sucked in her stomach Did she really want to read her sister’s diary? When she lived in Carson City, she’d sneaked into a bedrooed to Daria, a pretty, mysterious older foster sister who paid no attention to her She’d read every page of Daria’s diary, which was s and arh the pockets of Daria’s jeans She’d stolen a pair of headphones out of Daria’s roos every time she went in after that: a rap CD, a black jelly bracelet, a department-store sample of Chanel No 5 After she’d moved on to another home, Emma felt ashamed about what she’d done She’d put all of Daria’s pilfered things in a manila envelope, wrote Daria’s na she’d never do soain

It’s nice that she was being all moral, but I just wanted her to read the dah she’d actually heard ain and started to read

Each entry was short and sweet, hts Sos or B-day party on Mount Lemmon? Sometimes she wrote exclamations like I hate history! or Moht be about soh C has been so bitchy lately, Sutton had penned on February 10 She just needs to get over it On March 1: I had an unexpected visitor after school today He’s such a cute little puppy dog, following me everywhere On March 9: M outdid herself today Soht about her

E from the entries There were a lot about L, who she could only assu in an identical outfit toan awesome prank on L this afternoon Maybe she’ll be sorry she wanted in so badly! And then on May 17, L is still ruined over T Pull yourself together, bitch He’s just a guy Eust 20, just a week and a half ago: If L brings up that night one ht? Eue? It was like she was keeping a journal for the CIA

I was just as frustrated as she was

Then a small construction-paper square fell out of the notebook and fluttered to the floor E on the front, and gasped: THE LYING GAME MEMBERSHIP CARD Below that was Sutton’s name, the title EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT AND DIVA, and then a date in May o

On the other side of the card was a list of rules:

1 Don’t tell ANYONE Telling will be punishable by expulsion!

2 Only three people allowed in the club at one time (But someone had crossed out three and written four above it)

3 Every new prank must be better than the last Those who outdo one another earn a special badge!

4 If we’re really in trouble, if it’s not a prank, ill say the sacred code words: "Cross my heart, hope to die" This means 9-1-1!

Beneath that was a sub-list of pranks that were off-li ani stuff that was irreplaceable or really expensive (Charlotte’s dad’s Porsche was the exaovernment after them (someone had written a ha! after that) In different-colored blue ink at the very botto it three times

I stared at theI had a flash of Madeline, Charlotte, andthe Oscar statuettes But then, just like that, the memory was yanked away

Emma read and reread theaffir Gaain about the snuff film Perhaps it had started out as a prank, too But maybe one of Sutton’s friends took it too far

She placed the membership card aside and went back to the journal On the very next page, she noticed an entry froust 22: Sometiless Below it Sutton had written dohat looked like a Jarass detox shot

Okaaay, Es of girls in dresses and skirts, titled "ideal suust 29, two days before Travis showed EAnd I think I knoho it is E like someone had reached into her heart and squeezed

I concentrated hard, but nothing came to me

Emma placed the journal on Sutton’s desk next to her computer She moved the mouse on the sky blue pad, and the screen flickered to life She opened Safari and clicked on Facebook Sutton’s page loaded autoh the posts and notes, patterns began to eust, Sutton had written, I see you on Laurel’s Wall In July, she’d told Madeline, You’re such a naughty spy She wrote Charlotte a private e in June: You’re aftersi against ?"