Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The day started out like any other normal day, or, as normal as you can get in Bayview when your older sister was convicted of a murder she didn’t commit just a few months ago. Anyway, it was a pretty normal day. I had gone to my first two classes, suffered through a horrible lecture from Mrs. Janser in AP world history, and just needed a couple minutes of peace and quiet in the bathroom before lunch.
I had just been coming back from the bathroom to find my lunch table had been deserted completely, and Bronwyn was basically sprinting out to the outdoor seating in the front of Bayview High. 

What in the world?-

That’s when I saw the rest of our so-called ‘murder club’ were all out there as well. Didn’t even invite me or anything. They looked…pensive. They were all whispering in a little huddle around a picnic table. 

Bronwyn had been…distanant lately. I told myself it was just that she was stressed out from the whole ‘convicted of muder’ thing, and on top of all that, she was still working her ass off to get into Yale by the end of her senior year. But I mean, honestly, if they really needed to meet up to talk, maybe don’t do it in the middle of the courtyard. 

We already don’t have a great reputation around campus. 

I jumped as the bell to go to third period rang overhead. I guess I had just been so caught up in trying to figure out what was going on I didn’t realize my whole lunch had slipped away. 

A whiny, familiar voice popped up behind me, “Aww, they didn’t invite you to their little murder club meeting?” Vannessa asked sarcastically. “Well, there’s plenty of room in my army, if you wanna come fight the good fight. I have a feeling you could be very useful Meave.”

I creaked open the door to our living room, smelling smoke. I had been wondering if my mom or dad had the fireplace going while I was out of the house, but there was no wood burning. It kinda smelled like…buring plastic?

I walked over to the fireplace, not seeing anything, when a shard of something caught my eye. 

A mask?

It was a half melted, cheap plastic mask from the halloween store down the road, but my real question was, why was it in my fireplace. To my knowledge, Bronwyn was home all night, and I didn’t have the need to burn anything at the moment. 

So, why would she lie to me? 

I walked past Vanessa, and I could feel a grin forming on my face. Why the hell would she want me in her stupid little army anyway? The last time we talked, it was mostly her doing the talking, because she was calling me ugly, and Bronwyn stupid. 

Needless to say, I was sent to the office for a talking-to after that.                           

        
Later that night, I was scrolling through Instagram after I was all done with my homework when a new post got my attention.

“Nate Macauley: Bayview’s biggest suspect has his charges dropped after Simon Kallahar’s death is ruled accidental.”

Maybe that’s what murder club was talking about this afternoon. But if that was the case, why wasn't I invited? I’d ask Bronwyn, she’d probably tell me. 

I mean, she was my sister after all. We used to tell each other everything, me especially. It’s kinda hard to have an abundant amount of secrets when you're living in a care ward for most of your life. 

I took the stairs two at a time, hearing Bronwyn and my mom going over Bronwyn’s Yale acceptance speech flashcards, or whatever they were.

“Who is your greatest role model?” My mom asked. 

Bronwyn put on an award winning smile, “Sonia Sotomayar,” She said with the confidence of somebody who knew exactly what she wanted, when she wanted it. “The first woman of color on the Supreme Court.”

“B, you saw that Nate’s charges got dropped today?” I asked, probably interrupting the monologue she was about to go on about. I leaned against the doorframe, feeling the hinge of the door grating into my back. 

That would probably leave a bruise. Just another perk of being cancer girl, your body never fully recovers.

“Yup, I heard,” Bronwyn said, her voice tinged with annoyance. 

I continued along anyway, “Yeah, well, that Tom Preston guy, you know him, the ‘TMZ’ wannabe? He, like, reported on it and now it’s going viral.”

My mom sighed, “Maeve, please stop distracting her.”

“What? I’m helping! If she can focus on what she wants to get out of her time at Yale while I tell her about the internet falling in love with Nate, she's gonna kill her interview tomorrow.” I nodded convincingly. 

My mom shook her head, flipping through her flashcards again. “Bronwyn. Bronwyn?” She blinked, “Hm?”

“Why is Yale your top choice?” 

Bronwyn blinked again, “Oh, sorry. The first time I say Yale’s campus, I was five years old-.”

Oh my god, If I had to listen to this story again, I was going to bash my head in with the vase sitting on the side table next to me. I looked back down at my phone, scrolling through the tags on the post. 

I gasped, “This is insane, he literally has his own hashtag, #HotandInncocent?” I laughed, looking at Bronwyn’s face. “I mean, I guess it’s, like, accurate, but-”

“-Quiet or out. Those are your options.” My mom interrupted, her voice laced with annoyance. 

 So I guess nobody wanted my presence around today. Jeez, tough crowd.

“I guess, what I'm trying to say-” Bronwyn started.

“Don’t say I guess. You want to project confidence.”

I rolled my eyes. My mom had been drilling this into our heads as long as I could remember. ‘Don’t slouch’ She would tell us, ‘It makes you look like you don’t care.’ 

I have a vivid memory of getting my blood drawn for the first time. I was six years old, and terrified of needles. (I still hate them, but you tend to get used to it when you have to get bloodwork done every week for years.) She sat me down in the chair at the hospital, stuck my arm out for the nurse, and told me that if I cried, they would make them do it again. I did, and as soon as they stuck the needle in my arm, I welled up, the tears pouring down my cheeks. And she was true to her word, she made them draw a little bit more blood, and told me not to cry again. 

I never cried getting my blood drawn ever again. 

“Actually,” Bronwyn announced, “I think I should go to bed. I don’t wanna be tired for the interview tomorrow,” She said sweetly. 

 “Good idea, we can always go over more questions at breakfast.” 

“Thank you,” Bronwyn said, leaning down to give her a hug, before she hurried off to her room upstairs.

She was definitely planning something. 

I knew my sister like the back of my hand, and she would never go to bed at, I checked my watch, ten p.m. 

  “Buenas noches,” I said, looking up from my phone at her. She nodded, raising an eyebrow at me.

Yeah, definitely hiding something.

Bronwyn was tense all day. I was in the library when I overheard her and Nate arguing about something. And at lunch, she was gone, along with the rest of murder club. 

I ate by myself for the second day in a row. 

 Janae wouldn’t even talk to me. My own girlfriend, and my sister. It’s not like I had many friends in general, but having the ones most important to me just leave and not even getting an invite to help with whatever the hell they were planning?

That stung. 

Later that night, I went to go ask Bronwyn if she knew if Janae was mad at me. I knew that I was probably being unreasonable, but I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t done anything to upset her that she told anybody else about. 

I swung open the door, taking in Bronwyn's room. She had the whole thing redecorated her freshman year, with all her awards and posters up on her deep red walls. “Hey, I-” I started, looking up and seeing her climbing out of her window. 

“It’s not what it looks like!” She said quickly. “I…just needed some fresh air.” 

I sighed, “You don’t have to lie Bronwyn. I’m not asking.” I shrugged. “You’ve made it pretty clear I don't know what’s going on. It doesn't matter how many lies I tell for you or how many phones or computers I hack into. I’m not invited to the club.”

“That’s not fair.” She retorted. 

I crossed my arms, “Yeah, no shit it’s not fair. But…whatever, that’s not the point.” I picked at a strand of hair, twisting it around my fingers. It was a habit I had gotten whenever I was scared of losing my hair to chemo, and most of the time I didn’t even realize I was doing it. 

“Look, wherever you're going....is Janae gonna be there?” I asked. “She’s been…avoidng me, and I just wanna know what I did wrong.” I admitted. 

Bronwyn’s face softened. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said softly. 

“Okay, then why won’t she talk to me?” I could feel my eyes starting to well up. 

I was not going to cry. I was not going to cry. I was not going to cry. I repeated to myself. 

“I don’t know.” Bronwyn repeated. “She’s been through a lot, you know?”

“We’ve all been through a lot,” I said, my voice thickening.

“Yeah, and we all deal with it differently….Maybe…she just needs some space.” Bronwyn said, tone final. 

“Mm, right. Like you just need some air.” I nodded. I knew where this was going. 

Her face softened again. “I’m so sorry, I really, really have to go.” She started out her window again. 

“Where?” I hissed. 

She paused, and I could almost see the knobs turning in her head. “I’m gonna…go see Nate.” 

Liar. 

I blinked back my tears, and stormed out of her room. 

Chapter Text

I woke up wondering why everybody was in such a shitty mood this week. Bronwyn wasn’t back at the breakfast table in the morning, and a little glimmer of hope ran through me. Maybe she really was just seeing Nate yesterday, and she spent the night. I spent my Saturday worried because she wasn't at home, and worried because Janae still wasn't responding.

Luckily, she still had her location on. 

But why the hell would she be at the docks?

I took Bronwyn’s car out to the docks, seeing Janae’s car parked out by her parent’s yacht. I chill ran though me. 

What if? I shook it out of my head. Janae wouldn’t do that, she wouldn't cheat on me…right?

I walked around for a bit, looking for the rest of muder club. I didn’t see any signs of them, and I wondered where Bronwyn could be then. 

Getting onto the boat, I didn’t see any sign that Janae was there. None of the lights were on, but her car was there, so I knew she was around somewhere. I opened the hatch to her boat’s, what, basement? The lights were dimmed down there, but on. 

I hated boats. Hated the way they moved when you stepped on them, hating the fact that you could just drive them into the middle of the ocean. They just freaked me out. 

I climbed down the stairs slowly, peaking around the doorframe, and narrowly avoided a busted open skull. I screamed, ducking and covering my head. 

“Oh my God!” Janea yelped, brandishing a crowbar. “What the fuck are you doing here?” 

I lowered my arms, wrapping them around myself. “I was at dinner with my parents, and I saw you and I wanted to talk,” I half lied. I did want to talk, but I didn’t want it to seem like I was stalking her.

She grabbed my shoulders, trying to push me over to the stairs. “Okay, it’s, look, it’s not a good time, you have to go.” 

I was stunned. First she tried to kill me, and now she wants me to leave? “Yeah, it seems like it never is. You’v been ignoring me.”

She sighed, looking around widely, “Maeve, I’m serious. You can't be here.”

“Okay, why not?” I laughed, trying to distract from the hurt I was feeling. “What did I do wrong?” I asked softly. 

She shook her head, and I could almost see her demeanor cracking. “N-Nothing. You didn’t do anything. You-You’re amazing. It’s just-It’s a really bad time. It’s a bad time.” 

I felt my stomach drop. “Is someone else here?”

She went silent, and I could feel the tension pouring out of her. “No.” 

I didn’t believe her for one second, but I went along with it. “Okay, then talk to me.” I reached out to grab her wrist and she jerked back. 

“It’s too fucked up.” Her voice sounded like somebody had coated it with honey and then laced it with venom. 

A trap. 

“You were with Simon, and then when I’m with you it’s all I can see, and I don’t think you actually like me. I think you're transferring your feelings for Simon onto me.” She said quickly, avoiding my eyes. 

Oh. 

I felt like I was going to vomit. “That’s so not true-,” I said, shaking my head. I reached forward to grab her hand again. She pushed me away, backing up into the deep freeze she had in the basement. 

“It’s incestuous and weird, and I can’t feel attracted to you, okay?” 

I felt my heart shatter into a million tiny pieces, and my eyes started to well up. 

What the fuck?

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. 

I backed up, turning on my heel out of the boat. “Fuck you, Janae.” I started up the stairs, waiting until I ran off the boat and was in the safety of Bronwyn’s car to start crying. I felt the tears start to drip down my cheeks, hot and thick, and I let them run.

Why would she say that to me? 

I thought…I thought she liked me. Loved me even. I guess….I guess I thought wrong. I started the engine up and drove home.                           

Bronwyn’s room had always been a safe space for me. Ever since I was little she would let me hang out with her while I did my schoolwork. Whenever I got back from my stay at the children’s hospital in San Diego, she would let me sleep over in her room for a few nights so I didn't have to be alone. We did that all the way up until I was fourteen and discharged with a little badge that said ‘High-risk relapse patient’ and then our sleepovers stopped. The last time I knocked on Bronwyn's door asking if I could sleep in her room she said she was busy with homework and I could the next night. The next night I was back in the hospital because my nosebleeds had come back, and I was terrified of relapsing. 

Maybe that was why I felt drawn to climb into Bronwyn’s bed after I got back, and cried some more. I hadn’t even bothered to turn on the lights, I just let the moonlight from her open window wash over me. 

I was squeezing a pillow to my chest and willing the tears to stop when the overhead light flicked on. Bronwyn appeared in the doorway, confusion creeping into her features. She quickly closed the door behind her, setting her things on her bedside table. 

“What’s wrong?”

I sniffled, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. “I followed Janae onto her boat because I wanted to talk to her.” My bottom lip trembled, and I could feel my eyes starting to dampen again. I looked back up at her. 

“What?” Bronwyn asked, nearly yelling. “What happened?” She sounded almost…scared?

I sniffed again, “It was terrible. Did you know that she-,” 

Bronwyn cut me off quickly, “-It’s not her fault.” 

 “What? You’re taking her side?” My head reeled. 

“We all decided that-,”

It was my turn to cut her off, “-What, that she shouldn’t be with me?” I hated that I sounded so angry, that my voice broke in the middle of my sentence. “How is that any of your business?” 

I trusted Bronwyn. Of course I did, she was my big sister, and I told her everything. At least, I did from the ages one to fifteen. I told her about my first crush, I told her how I didn't get my first period until I was nearly fifteen and half, I used to be able to talk to her about that sort of stuff. 

She blinked in confusion, “No, wait. W-What happened on the boat?” She asked quickly. 

“She said…horrible things to me.” I whispered, wiping my face again, scrubbing my eyes with my palm. “She, just, doesn’t want to be with me?” My voice cracked, and a single tear rolled down my cheek. 

Bronwyn sighed, leaning her face against her bed pole and closing her eyes. “Okay,” She breathed.

I blinked, “Okay? How can you say that? What, she just breaks my heart and you just don’t care? How self-centered are you?” 

“That’s-that’s not how I meant it Maeve,” Said quickly, opening her eyes again.

 “How did you mean it, Bronwyn?” She didn’t respond. “What do you think she said to me?”

“Nothing. Just forget I ever said anything.” 

I shook my head at her, “I don’t even know why I came in here anyway. All you ever do is make things worse.” I dropped her pillow and threw the blankets off myself. I had to get out of here before gave her the satisfaction of seeing me cry.                                          

Later that night I came back to Bronwyn’s room. She was already asleep, her hair fanned out on her pillow and her skin as perfect as ever. 

She was out like a light as I crept in, trying to muffle my sound as best as I could. I spotted what I was looking for on her nightstand, and lucky for me, it was unlocked. 

I went straight to her messages, stopping at a group chat with five other people in it. Addy, Cooper, Nate, and…Janae. 

I scrolled past messages to find ones from this afternoon. A picture popped up.

Jake’s watch, the one that he always wore. I knew who was holding from just a glance. 

Janae. 

She had sent the picture seven minutes after I was on the boat. Seven minutes after she broke my heart. Seven minutes after she ruined my life. 

‘Got it.’ The messages attached to the picture said. ‘Good.’ Bronwyn had replied, ‘Did anyone see you?’

‘No.’

I was gonna be sick. I closed the messages app and shot my sister a look. My stomach rolled over, dropping like I was on a rollercoaster. 

I barely made it to the bathroom before I vomited everything up.

I walked into school still feeling nauseated. My mind was one big jumble of thoughts, and it was making my head hurt. I hadn’t even made it fifteen feet into the building when Janae was at my side.

“Hey, could I possibly talk to you?” She asked. 

I stared straight ahead, “Yeah, well, what more could you possibly say Janae?” She stopped in front of me, and I crossed my arms. I was not in the mood for this, especially not in the middle of the hallway, on a Monday morning no less. 

“I’m really sorry,” She paused, “Was my opener.”

I was too tired of it to laugh at her crude attempt at a joke. “Okay. You’re sorry.” She nodded quickly, her eyes lighting up. “So tell me what you were doing last night, the truth.” 

She looked like a fish above water, her mouth moving but no sound coming out. “I-I-” 

“-Great.” I brushed past her, making my way through the mess of kids crowding the halls. I guess I was going to be eating lunch alone in the library again today.              

I did end up eating alone in the library again. It was miserable. I was miserable. I know we hadn't officially broken up, but we might as well. From my knowledge, there is no coming back from your girlfriend calling you, basically, a liar who doesn’t love her. And, lying about killing her best friend’s boyfriend. 

I trudged my way back to the docks that evening. Bronwyn had her car, and I wasn’t really supposed to be driving anyway. Lucky for me, Janae kept the hatch unlocked to the boat’s basement. I saw the familiar kitchen and storage down there and my stomach flipped. I really didn’t want to be down here ever again. My eyes went to the freezer, a massive padlock on the front of it. I pulled at it a couple of times, before realizing it was useless. 

I had a sinking feeling about this damn freezer.

“Why the fuck is Cooper wearing Jake’s watch?” I asked, slamming Bronwyn’s door closed behind me. She was sitting on the floor, staring at her own phone. “I don’t know. I don’t even think it’s Jake’s watch. Vanessa’s full of shit!” She said, sounding utterly defeated.  

“Yeah, or it might be Jake’s exact watch, that Janae got off her boat last night ‘cause Jake's not in Mexico.” I geared myself up for what I had to say next. “He’s in her fucking freezer.” I whispered. 

Bronwyn didn't respond, just pursed her lips and looked at me. 

Ah, shit. I didn’t want to be right. I wanted this whole thing to be a figment of my imagination. 

But it wasn’t, was it?

“I’m right, aren’t I?” My breathing was shallow as I said it, willing it to be wrong. “Oh it was so much worse than anything I imagined.” I wanted to vomit again, maybe even sit down and have a nice cry. 

Bronwyn stood up, standing in front of me. 

“Maeve, please, just leave it alone, okay? You don’t wanna know.”

“But I already know, Bronwyn. I saw your texts with Janae, and then I went on her boat, and I saw the lock on the freezer. Who the fuck puts a lock on thier freezer?” I yelled. “So yeah, I put it together. You guys killed him, and now you're trying to cover it up.”

I was so hurt. 

“Why wouldn't you tell me?” I cried. 

“I’m so sorry, Maeve.” 

A horrible thought ran through my head. “Did Janae do it? Which one of you-?” 

“-It was all of us, okay?” She said quickly, her volume rising. “He was gonna kill us and we had no choice. And you’re not the only one that knows. Someone else knows too, and they’re blackmailing us.” She sounded close to tears. 

I was close to tears. This was so much worse than I had ever predicted. I hated how many times I had felt so small this week alone. 

So…powerless. 

“And all I wanted to do was protect you because this is fucked up! And once you know there is no unknowing this Maeve. And you can’t tell anyone else that you know about this okay? Not even Janae,” She sobbed. 

I felt my legs try to give out and I steadied myself against her wall. “Are you okay?” She asked, her voice clouded with tears. “Maeve?” She took a step closer to me. I felt like I was going to pass out. My vision swam. “Please…say something.” 

“Obviously, I’m not okay, Bronwyn.” I choked out. “But…I will be…becuase you clearly need my help.” She walked back to her bed and let herself fall back onto it. I slid down her wall, burring my head in between my knees. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.                                      

I had been going to a lot of places recently to be alone. The empty bathroom on the first floor, for example, was my victim of choice the next day. I felt like I had been run over by a semi-truck, and then my head was filled with cottony-down. 

I was staring at myself in the mirror, waiting for the girl I knew last week to reappear. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. I had bags under my eyes and my skin was paler than normal. I felt like throwing up again. 

I jumped as the door swung open, creaking at the hinges. “What are you doing?” I asked as Janae stepped inside. She crossed her arms over her green and black sweater. She, honestly, looked like shit. 

Her blond hair was sticking up at the roots, and she had dark circles under her eyes. 

“Following you.”

“There is really no need.” I said quickly. 

“I know you know about Jake,” She blurted out, 

“Which means you know why I had to say what I said on the boat and that I didn’t mean any of it.” 

I had tried to erase that from my memory, but it replayed in my head every night before I went to sleep now. 

“You were with Simon, and then when I’m with you it’s all I can see, and I don’t think you actually like me. I think you're transferring your feelings for Simon onto me.”

I tried to get the thought out of my head. “Yeah, well, sometimes, people say the truth when they’re trying to lie, so…” I picked at a nail-bed, scraping the polish off my pointer finger. 

Janae shook her head, “Not me.” 

I turned around to face her for real, not just avoiding her eye contact in the mirror. I leaned against the sink, crossing my arms across my chest and hoping I looked as mean as possible. She advanced forward anyway. “The truth is, I cannot stop thinking about you. And I,” She stopped, meeting my eyes. “I hate myself for what I did.” 

I blinked in surprise. “That really fucking hurt.” 

My head pounded, and I looked away from her. I could feel my voice thickening.

“She, just, doesn't want to be with me anymore?”

“I don’t deserve to be forgiven.” She said softly, taking a step closer to me. 

“It’s incestuous and weird, and I can’t feel attracted to you, okay?”

“What if I am transferring my feelings for Simon onto you? And it is..werid and fucked up?” I pushed myself off the countertop. 

She smiled, half of her mouth in a lopsided grin. “I don’t care,” She whispered, stroking my face with both hands, her touch gentle, and pressed her mouth against mine. I felt myself melt into her kiss a little bit against my will. 

Why are you kissing her? She just broke your heart, my brain said. Because, my heart said, you would do anything for her. I just needed all my emotions to just shut up for a minute.

We stayed there for a moment, and then her lips were off mine, and she was shoving her hands back into her pockets awkwardly.

I paused for a moment before I asked her. “What are you doing tonight?” 

She pushed her hair out of her face, playing with one of the strands. “I’m going to the Justice for Jake rally.” 

I rolled my eyes. I was really going to regret this, wasn’t I?                                  

“Wheeler is here,” I scoffed. “Should she really be legitimizing this whole thing?” I asked, taking the binoculars away from my face. 

“I just don’t think she wants to admit she got it wrong. She just really wants us to be guilty.” Janae replied, crossing her arms. I swallowed, looking back into the binoculars. I don’t know how I let her convince me to do this. Going with my ex-girlfriend who I just happened to kiss in the bathroom, who happens to have a dead body in her parent’s yacht's freezer. 

It was a mess. 

Let’s be clear, I didn’t initiate the kiss. I just…didn’t stop her when she did. And I don’t know what that makes us. 

Jake’s other brother Cole stepped up to the platform Vannessa was on, talking about how he wanted his brother back and some other bullshit. 

I didn’t really care until he mentioned the money. 

One hundred thousand dollars to anybody with information about his whereabouts that could help find Jake. 

I turned to Janae, who I know heard the same thing I did. “You wanna split it?” I joked. 

She tried to stay stone faced, but a small smile grew across her features. “That’s not funny.” She said, turning away from me to hide her grin. 

“It’s kinda funny,” I giggled, nudging her with my shoulder. I hadn’t laughed, laughed for real, in a while. 

I was confused about what to feel at the moment. Maybe she still did hate me…maybe she was lying in the first place, and-

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down from my spiral of thoughts that hounded me all at one time. I watched through my binoculars as Bronwyn made her way over to Vanessa. 

“Ok, Bronwyn is going for the phone.” I said, keeping my eyes on her. I sighed after a moment. I was terrible at reading lips, but it looked like it didn’t go well at all. “Of course,” I lowered my binoculars. “That looked like a disaster.” 

I handed the binoculars over to Janae. “Ok, uh, well, wish me luck.” 

“Why?” 

“I’m joining Vanessa’s army,” I told her sarcastically, and jumped down from the boat. 

She heard her sigh, and then jumped down after me. 

Score.

I made my way down to Vanessa’s pity party, stopping behind her. “You know, I just love how you used that picture of Jake that I sent him.”

Vanessa raised her perfectly manicured eyebrow. “You?” She responded snarkily. 

“You know, you said there was plenty of room in your army, so, here I am.”

She scoffed, “Right. I’m supposed to believe your Evilseed69? How dumb do you think I am Maeve?” 

I feigned shock. “Honestly? Dumber than you even know, Vanessa.” 

She rolled her eyes, walked back over to some other people that she knew as we went our separate ways. That was fine by me, I got what I needed. 

I flagged down Janae, pulling her over to a quiet corner of the room. “So Vanessa’s source for the picture from Halloween was someone named Evilseed69.” I opened my phone and typed the name into the search bar. “And…it looks like it came from a troll farm, meaning whoever sent it in clearly doesn’t want to be found.” 

Well shit. 

“So, we think that’s Simon Says?” Janae asked. 

Cole’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “If I could have everybody's attention, if you want to join us in the room. Everyone outside as well, please. I would like to take this moment to introduce Addy Prentiss. She’s the love of Jake’s life, and she has something she wants to say to him.I know we all hope that he’s listening, wherever he is.” 

“Oh no.”

I turned to look at Janae, “What?” 

“No, she said she wasn’t gonna do that.” Janae said, panic inflating her voice. 

Addy took the mic from Cole’s hand, and Janae slid her chair out from under her, pushing through the crowd. Addy’s eyes started to fill with tears, and I can’t tell if they're real or just for the crowd that has amassed around her. “There have been so many lies and rumors about Jake, since he disappeared.” She started. She looked terrified, blinking back tears and sniffing. “I understand the Riordan family wants him to come home. So tonight, I think it’s time for me to tell the truth. To them, and to myself.” I grabbed Janae’s hand, pulling her to the front of the venue with me. 

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. This was not part of the plan. No, no, no, no, no!

Addy continued, “This is hard for me to say but,” She let out a puff of air, “Jake killed Simon. Yeah, Jake is a horrible, damaged person. So Jake, where you are. Don’t come home. Don’t come back. I never want to see you again.” Addy dropped the mic into Cole’s shaking hands, making a beeline for the door. The crowd murmured loudly, and the buzz filled my ears.

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Chapter Text

Janae drives the boat back into the marina, her eyes perched on the water ahead the whole time. She doesn’t say anything, not even when we hit some terrible waves and I lose my dinner overboard, just rubs my shoulder.

She looks over her shoulder, pulling in the huge boat backwards. How she learned to do that, I would love to know. Once we were parked, Janae jumped down from the main level and locked the door to the boat’s basement.

“Oh shit,” Bronwyn exclaimed, and I clambered over to see what she was talking about. Nate ground his jaw. “Oh shit, is that Detective Wheeler?”

“Why the fuck is she here?” I asked.

“My phone,” Cooper replied. “She saw your text, I told you!”

Bronwyn started to breathe fast. “This is it,” she lamented. “We’re gonna get arrested.” Addy swallowed. “We’re gonna go to prison. I’ll never see Paris! I’ll never get to experiment in college.”

I racked my brain. “Okay, everybody, chill.” I pasted a fake smile on my face. “We're just doing what teenagers in Bayview do. We’re hanging out on a boat, okay? The only thing making us look guilty right now are the looks on your fucking faces, so pull it together.” I said through my gritted teeth. I waved to Detective Wheeler, the last person I wanted to see right now.

“This is some boat,” she said, walking up to us. “Whose is it?”

I smiled sweetly. She knew who I was—one of those perks of being a cancer kid, you get most everybody’s pity. “Janae’s, Officer.” I pointed to Janae, who gave Wheeler a tiny wave.

“It’s Detective, actually.” She walked around to the side of the boat. “This is a really beautiful boat. Can I take a look? I mean, is it actually a boat, or is it more of a yacht?” She laughed joylessly.

“Do you have a warrant?” Janae asked. I shot her a look saying ‘Don’t say that, you fucking idiot!’

“A warrant?” Detective Wheeler shook her head. “I need a warrant to look at this very impressive boat? That’s interesting.”

Ah shit, she was onto us.

Janae blinked. “Uh, it-it’s just because my parents, they just—they care about their privacy, so...” She trailed off.

“I see. Well no, I don’t have a warrant, but all you guys out here in the middle of the night, worried about a warrant, maybe I ought to get one.” Detective Wheeler raised her eyebrow in my direction.

“Detective, we were just hanging out…on this…beautiful night.” Addy interjected, staring up at the moon and stars.

I smiled back down at Wheeler, hoping she would just leave. “Well Cooper,” she said after an eternity, “I got some bad news for you.” She handed back his phone, staring at me. “That text from Jake is not actually a text from Jake. Somebody is playing games with you.”

Cooper, thank God, could act. “Really?” he asked, sounding as surprised as ever. “Are…are you sure? I was hoping it would help you find Jake.”

Maybe too far, Coop.

“It still might. We intend to find out who wrote that text, and maybe it’s somebody who knows where Jake is. Maybe it’s somebody who doesn’t want us to keep looking. In any case, we're gonna find Jake, don’t you kids worry about that.” She gave us all a once-over before she left the dock.

Janae and I were simply trying to make it to first period uninterrupted when, like she was summoned from hell, Vanessa and the cheer squad appeared on my way to chem. Janae took a sip from her coffee, wrapping her arm around my shoulders as we walked.

“Ready?” she asked the blond to her left, Giselle. She nodded. “Okay, listen up Bayview!” Vanessa yelled into a megaphone. “I have major news about Jake’s disappearance. This morning, someone sent me a picture from the night he disappeared. And guess what was in that picture? His car, parked at the edge of the woods by his house.”

I grabbed Janae’s arm, trying not to make eye contact with her.

Vanessa continued. “So, we are taking our search for truth into the woods. Join us tomorrow for—” She fizzled out as Bronwyn appeared behind us.

“Simon Says must’ve sent it,” she stated.

I sighed. “Yup.” Janae squeezed my shoulder.

Giselle had the megaphone now. “Please guys, come and join us. Those of us that loved Jake need closure.”

How the hell was she even more annoying than Vanessa?

Vanessa swung her pom-poms. “Ready? Ok?” The cheer team followed after her, chanting and dancing. “The police are doing nothing, so now it’s up to us. Get out there, search the woods.” I could feel Janae dying inside. She snorted her coffee back into the cup, choking herself with laughter. “We’ve got to make a fuss! Go, Jake!” They finished.

I snorted, and Janae rolled her eyes. “Did they just say ‘Go Jake’?” she asked. I nodded, “Yeah…”

Principal Gupta shook her head. “Everybody, get to class!”

I made my way to chemistry, giving Janae a kiss on the cheek goodbye.

I was called out of chemistry twenty minutes into class by Janae. She texted me to “Get my ass outside” about three times before I could convince Mr. Keller that yes, I needed to go to the nurse’s office, and yes, it was urgent.

“This was inside your locker?” Bronwyn asked, gesturing to the pink bunny mask that was currently stuffed inside Cooper’s backpack.

I walked up to the huddle just in time to hear Addy say that she thought it was Giselle who planted it. I pulled out my phone. “Yeah if that’s even her real name,” I scoffed. I pulled up Instagram. “Look at this. Her pictures match eight different profiles, none living in California, and none named Giselle.” I listed off a few of her fake names. “Amy Lowell, Melissa Yarrow…”

“That’s so weird,” Bronwyn said, taking my phone.

Cooper nodded. “Ok, so she’s shady as hell, but does that really mean that she’s Simon Says?”

Addy sighed. “No, but the way she’s fucking with me might. Lying about being with Jake, and the cheer uniform? She’s literally trying to steal my life.”

“Addy, Simon Says isn't only about you. My mask was in my locker, the police had my phone, the watch was on my wrist!” Cooper said.

“I hate to break it to both of you, but Simon Says is fucking with all of us,” Bronwyn huffed.

“But think about it. We know that she wasn't in Greece with Jake, but the things she said about him—I think she really loved him, which means she has a motive.” Addy finished.

“Or, maybe she’s just a really good liar,” Cooper suggested.

“Or, maybe I’m right, and if I am, if you combine the fact that she has motive with the mounting evidence that she’s completely insane, I think it says Simon Says.” Addy sighed.

“Speaking of completely insane,” Nate jerked his head in Vanessa’s direction. She was handing out fliers to open-period students like a lunatic. Principal Gupta marched over, grabbing the flier from one kid’s hand. She pulled Vanessa away, and from what it looked like, was currently kicking Giselle off campus.

Addy turned on her heel, walking in their direction.

“Addy, where are you going?” Bronwyn asked. Addy spun around. "I'm finding out the truth.”

Janae grabbed my hand, pulling me to follow her. “I wanna see how this plays out.”

So did I.

We ran out into the courtyard, where Addy and Giselle were standing in front of one another. Addy was angry-looking, her normally angelic features contorted into something fierce whenever anything came out of Giselle’s stupid fucking face.

“What did she say?” Janae asked, as we came up behind Addy. “What did she say?” I asked.

Addy was about to respond when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket, smirking at the message. Janae leaned over, reading it over her shoulder.

“What did it say?” I asked. Why wasn’t anybody telling me anything? “Addy...” Janae warned her. Now I really wanted to see what it said.

“Hold this.” Addy shoved her bag into Janae’s arms, and her phone into mine. “Hey!” She yelled, grabbing a baseball bat from one of the players around campus. “I’m gonna need to borrow that.” I jabbed my elbow into Janae’s ribs as we followed Addy. “What did it say?” I asked.

She leaned down to whisper in my ear, her breath tickling my face. “It said, smash the shit out of Giselle’s car.”

I jumped as Addy smashed out the rear taillight, an alarm going off from the car. Janae threw her arm out in front of me, backing us up. I gripped her sleeve as Addy smashed through the windshield, grabbing a necklace from where it was hanging in the rear-view mirror.

“Oh my god,” I whispered to Janae. Addy held up the necklace like a trophy, before darting off into the grass. Janae grabbed my hand and we ran to follow her.

I had finally gone back to class, and tried to pretend that everything was normal. Mr. Keller was pissed that I missed nearly all of chem. I was in AP World when my phone buzzed. It was Janae. I pulled my phone out and saw a message with a screenshot attached. It was a countdown, and a text read, “it’s not disappearing.”

I texted her back quickly, telling her that I could fix it but I needed her phone. I had abruptly announced to my whole AP World class that I needed to use the bathroom, and ran out the door when I saw Janae sprinting down the hallway. She handed me her phone.

“Follow me!” she yelled, racing off. I followed her to the first-floor bathroom, phone still in hand.

“This one!” she said, mostly to herself. “What am I even looking for?” She panicked. She pulled out a little box. “Oh my God I got it!” She set it on the counter and opened it up.

“What is it?” I asked, grabbing the note from her for a moment.

She read it over my shoulder. “Put this in study lab computer twelve? Oh my God, how much time do we have?”

I turned the phone back to her. “Three minutes.”

She turned on her heel. “FUCK!” and sprinted back out again. I raced after her. We had just rounded the corner when Janae slammed full force into an unsuspecting freshman. “I’m so sorry!” I spluttered, laughing at the absurdity.

I was breathing heavily by the time we made it to the computer lab. I grabbed Janae’s jacket and spun her around. “Ok, ok, breathe.” She nodded frantically.

We both gulped some air. “Ok, let’s go.”

The teacher waved us in as Janae burst through the door. I found computer twelve, and handed Janae the hard drive. “Okay, plug it in.” I breathed.

“Is this a good idea?” she hissed. Probably not, I thought.

“It’s too late, just do it.” I shucked off my bag and Janae plugged in the hard drive. I grabbed a cord from my backpack and plugged it into Janae’s phone, connecting it to my laptop.

“I’m gonna try to run a trace,” I told her.

She looked around. “Nothing is happening—” She was cut off as something popped up on her screen. It was a pop-up ad for an eighteen-plus website. I didn't notice it until it was on everyone's screens too. The computer lab erupted into noise.

“Oh my god!” I hissed. “Janae, what did you do!” I sat up in my chair, seeing that it was on everyone's computers. “I don’t know, I don’t know!” Janae hissed back. More ads popped up, each one worse than the last. They started playing…noise. I grimaced, trying not to make eye contact with anyone in the room. It wasn’t even the vulgar images that were my biggest concern, it was the fact that nobody was doing anything about it. There were girls in skimpy outfits grinding up against men old enough to be their grandpas on her screen, and Janae looked terrified.

“Maeve, Maeve, Maeve!” She asked, panic clear on her face. “How do we stop it!”

I shook my head. “I-I don’t know how to stop it! Just…act normal!” I told her. I was mortified. This was not the way I wanted to watch it for the first time. I had really thought it would be a little more…glamorous, and a little less embarrassing. Janae looked like she was going to vomit. I knew she had been out for a while, but I still wasn’t out at all. At least, not officially. My parents still didn’t know, but I had told Bronwyn, and I really wasn’t trying to keep my sexuality a secret by any means. I tried to avoid looking at any screen other than my laptop for any reason.

The teacher in the room tried to cover her screen, but it was basically useless. “What the hell is going on?” she yelled.

Janae covered her face with her hands, cupping her ears. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” She groaned.

We were definitely in huge trouble.

“I was just trying to open my history essay, I swear.” Janae lied, folding her hands over her chest. Administration had been called shortly after the whole…fiasco, as I heard it being called as Janae and I were marched down to the office. I was able to get the timer off Janae’s phone, but apparently whatever Janae had plugged into her computer didn’t just affect the computer lab, it affected the whole building. It was a fucking mess.

“I’ll have to double check that, but I’m fairly certain the history of adult entertainment is not in the syllabus,” Gupta said coldly.

I felt sick to my stomach again.

She turned to me. “Ms. Rojas.” She said, disappointment clearly etched into her deep frown lines. She knew my sister by name, and not for this reason. Bronwyn had never been sent to the principal’s office, not even once.

“It was me,” I said, staring her dead in the eyes. “It was a stupid prank.”

“Whoa, no! Maeve had nothing to do with it!” Janae exclaimed, turning to me. I hoped she knew that I wanted to do this. If we were going down it was gonna be together.

Gupta laughed humorously. “That’s a very kind gesture.”

“I’m serious, it was my fault.” I said.

“Between the two of you, Janae, you’re the one with the history. The…song at Simon’s dedication.” Gupta nodded her head like she knew the whole side of the story. No one had known that Janae was hurt and alone and sad. Gupta would never know that. I was the only person Janae told all of that to, that I knew of.

“Yeah, the ‘Fuck you’ song?” I blurted out. Gupta turned towards me, her cold dead eyes boring into my skull. I smiled sweetly.

She turned back to Janae, who had her eyes closed in frustration. “Listen, I know it’s been a rough year for both of you.” I scoffed. “Well, there’s the understatement of the year,” I said under my breath.

Gupta continued, “But Janae, your behavior has been increasingly disruptive, and I worry that you're having a negative effect on other students.” She gestured to me. “You and Addy Prentiss have been spending a lot of time together, haven’t you? And just today, she vandalized a visiting student’s car.”

Janae opened her eyes. “I don’t see how that is my fault.”

Gupta’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ve seen a…rather disturbing pattern. And I’m starting to wonder if Bayview is the right environment for you.”

Janae looked over to me in shock. “What?” I scoffed.

“Are you kicking me out?” Janae asked, sitting up in her chair. Gupta shook her head. “I’ll be calling your parents to discuss their options. I just want what's best for you, Janae.”

My ears started ringing, and my stomach clenched. Oh my god…I got Janae kicked out. I wanted to punch myself for being so stupid, so careless with the hard drive. I looked over at Janae, and she was as pale as a ghost. She looked like somebody had just told her she was on death row. “We’ll figure this out,” I mouthed to her. She nodded without looking up.

I hadn’t even bothered to go home after we were let out of Gupta’s office. Janae and I just went back to her house, and sat in her pool house contemplating what the hell we were gonna do. My parents would’ve found out that I was in the office by now anyway, and that was something I was not looking forward to.

Janae had called a group meeting, and everybody else was here now too. She was standing next to Addy, inspecting a gold pendant attached to a chain.

“See?” Addy held up the necklace from Giselle’s car, and another one that looked the exact same.

“So, he gave you both the same necklace?” My sister asked. “Yes!” Addy exclaimed. “Jake gave it to me when he came back from Greece, and said it was ‘one of a kind’.”

I inspected the necklace. “I mean, yeah, Simon Says is good with tech.” I said. Janae shot me a knowing look. Right. I was trying to forget what happened that afternoon.

“Right? It fits!” Addy looked around at our unconvinced faces. I didn’t know if I was buying that Giselle personally was Simon Says. “Guys!” She groaned. “Giselle is a psycho who was in love with Jake, and now she wants to torture us because of what we did to him. Doesn’t the timing of my Simon Says text seem suspicious? Like I confront her, ask her to tell the truth, and then Simon Says ‘fuck up her car’?”

Cooper sighed. “But why would Giselle want you to fuck up her own car?”

Addy rolled her eyes. “Because she knows we’re onto her. She’s trying to throw us off.” It was Bronwyn’s turn to roll her eyes. “Okay, but why would he make us put…porn…on school computers?”

I covered my face with my hands. Addy shrugged. “I don’t know, Bronwyn. To humiliate Janae and Maeve? Like I said, she’s psycho!” Janae grabbed one of my hands and laced her fingers through mine.

Bronwyn shot a glance my way. “That’s not enough.”

Addy grimaced. “But Evan hooking up with Vanessa was enough to look into him?” Bronwyn leaned back in her chair, sighing.

“She is the best lead we have,” Nate added, picking at one of his fingernails. Addy smiled. “Thank you, Nate. We just have to find out where she’s staying and then we can look for proof while she and Vanessa are doing the search party thing.”

Bronwyn shook her head. “I do not think that breaking into her hotel room right after you broke into her car is the best idea.”

Addy shrugged. “Well, do you have a better one?” I looked over at my sister, her fingers tapping on her thigh. She let out a long breath.

Addy smiled. “Okay then. Well, when you think of one, let me know. And in the meantime, I’m gonna find out where she’s staying, and I'm gonna stop her once and for all.” Addy looked around, pleased with herself, when the door slammed open. She yelped, jumping around to see who it was. Janae squeezed my hand.

“Janae?” a male voice called out from above us. Janae and I locked eyes. “Dad?” she called out tentatively. She threw off my hand, running to the front of the room. A man in his mid-forties appeared and Janae smiled uncomfortably. “Hey, you said your flight was delayed.” He looked around at all of us. He had a receding gray hairline, and the tightest pants a man could ever wear. I looked away.

“Well, they put me on another one.”

“Well, then you coulda texted me, because you scared the shit out of us.” Janae said weakly.

The man peered over her shoulder. “I know, I can see that. What’s...what’s going on?” Janae tensed. She stuttered for a moment before Cooper saved all of our asses. “Study group,” he said calmly. Janae pointed in his direction. “Study group!”

Her dad blinked slowly. “Well...it-it’s time for your...friends to leave. We have some things that you and I need to discuss.”

Janae smiled weakly. I grabbed my bag and started for the door. Everyone else followed suit. I didn’t know whether to give her a kiss goodbye or if it was very appropriate for the timing; I just squeezed her shoulder on my way out. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it back.

The next day I was back in Janae’s basement. While everyone else was out executing Addy’s plan to figure out if Giselle was Simon Says, Janae and I were hacking into her personal records. And by we, I mean me.

“Leaving that countdown on your phone might have been a big mistake for Simon Says because I may be able to use the data from it to figure out where the messages are coming from. It’s just…gonna take a while,” I said, typing into my computer.

“Well, that’s good, because I’m not going anywhere. Pretty sure I’m grounded for life,” Janae said from the floor. She was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, tying and untying a tie while I worked. I swung my legs out from where I was lying and sat down next to her. “I mean, your parents really wouldn’t take you out of Bayview, would they?” I asked.

”Maybe if it was just Simon’s grave, or just the porn, but the combo has them pretty resolute.” Janae had texted me last night, saying that her life was ending. I had texted back immediately, worried that something terrible had happened.

I was correct.

”They think I need saving. Trying to make me into a clone, but Maeve, I’m not going to fit in anywhere like this.” She gestured to one of the pamphlets that was sitting in front of me. “I barely fit in here,” She said sadly.

“Hey,” I caressed her face with one of my hands. “Nothing,” I planted a searing kiss on her lips, “and nobody,” I pulled away, watching her smile softly. “Will ever make you into a clone. Okay?” I asked, stroking her cheek. She sighed, “Okay.”

“And, on the bright side,” I grabbed the tie she had been messing with. “You look extremely handsome.” She searched my face, and I melted into her side.

Later that night we were all sitting in Addy’s bedroom after they went on their duck hunt over Giselle. I was still trying to figure all of this out with the records on my laptop, and it was being so fucking slow. I was about ready to bash my head in.

“She had the money I left. She’s definitely Simon Says,” Nate declared.

Addy gasped. “I fucking knew it! She probably left the bullet casings she supposedly found in the woods too. To torture us more.”

Cooper shrugged. “We can only hope.”

“Either way, the bullet casing doesn’t matter because we don’t have the body, or the gun. We got rid of both of those,” Bronwyn nodded at me, and I nodded back.

“Exactly,” Janae announced, pulling herself through Addy’s bedroom window. Addy sighed. “Oh my God Janae, you didn’t have to come through the window.”

I spun around in Addy’s chair. “You know,” I grinned. “When you're grounded, you sneak out, not in, right?”

She stuck her tongue out at me, plopping herself down next to Addy. “Well, I also snuck out.” I nodded, trying to hide my smile.

“Guys, we have all of the proof we need. All that matters now is stopping Giselle,” Addy said.

Bronwyn shook her head. “We can’t go to the police with what we have because that would mean that we tell them we killed Jake and covered it up.” Addy nodded in agreement. “The only way to end this is to confront Giselle ourselves.”

“And what exactly are you proposing, Addy?” Nate asked. “We go to her house, knock on her door, and tell her we know she’s Simon Says, and then what, ask her to pretty please stop making us do crazy shit?”

I gasped. “Oh my god, I think I got it.” Bronwyn got up and quickly made her way to me. “Got what?” she asked. “Well, I—I’ve been trying to figure out where the Simon Says messages are coming from, but it turns out they’re being routed through, like, a million VPNs so it’s almost impossible to get a geographical read. But…I think I just figured out how to send messages back through the same path,” I said excitedly, looking around the room. All of them looked confused as I typed back into my computer.

Addy was the first to respond. “What does all of that mean?”

I grinned. “We can send messages to Simon Says.”

None of them looked as excited as I thought they were going to. I mean, this is great news. It was over ten hours of work and they’re all looking at me like I just said I was going to blow up Bayview.

“Is…that a good idea?” Cooper asks. Bronwyn nods. “Are we sure this is safe?”

“Are you serious? This could finally give us the upper hand.” I tell them. Addy sighs. “We—we should think about it.”

They all start to talk at once, voicing their doubts. I type out a message and hit send. “Did it.” I lean back in my chair.

“You did what?” Nate asks.

I shrug coolly. “I sent Simon Says a message.”

Bronwyn runs her hand through her long hair. “Maeve, that’s not how we do things here. We actually talk to each other before we—”

Janae interrupts her. “—What did you say?”

I shoot her a look that I hope reads, ‘Thank you for believing in me because my own flesh and blood is being a pain in my ass,’ before turning my screen around to face them. “I told her we know who she is. Now, we just wait and see if she responds.”

Bronwyn rolls her eyes. “That’s the plan? Wait and see if she responds? Amazing!” She whips her head around to face me. “This is crazy.”

I shake my head. “Uh, no, letting her control you is crazy. This,” I nod toward my computer, “this is smart.”

I hear the chime of everybody's phones before I’m done talking. Cooper looks at me, stunned. “Well, I guess it worked.”

I lean to Nate and grab his phone out of his hands. ‘Meet me at the waterpark, tonight.’

I clamber out of Cooper’s bright orange jeep. Why didn’t we take Janae’s car, I think to myself. It’s drizzling outside, and everything is wet and gloomy.

“Oh my god, you guys, this is Giselle’s car,” Addy exclaims worryingly. Cooper whistles. “She really is Simon Says.”

“What if this is a trap, or she tries to hurt us?” Bronwyn asks. Janae loops her arm through mine. “There’s six of us and one of her. If she wanted to hurt us, she could have already.”

Cooper nods in agreement. “If she wanted to turn us in she could’ve. It’s time we figure out what she wants and put an end to this.”

Addy reaches into her pocket, pulling out a tiny can of pepper spray. It’s almost laughable. “And I’ve got pepper spray, so.”

I’m kinda rethinking this now. All the horror movies I’ve watched make what we’re about to do seem very stupid and childish. Probably because it is.

We walk into the waterpark, phones out with the flashlights on. I’m just starting to calm myself down when the sound of glass breaking echoes from above us. I run over to where it’s coming from.

“Maeve!” Janae hisses.

I nod to where the sound came from. “Guys, over here!” They run over to me. “Giselle!” I called out. “Where are you? Enough of this shit!”

“Where is she?” Nate asks, and sometimes I really wonder about the density of this guy. I’m about to give him some half-assed response, when Cooper calls out for us. “Wait, guys, where’s Addy?”

Bronwyn whips around. "I thought she was right behind us.”

That’s when I hear the scream.

Addy’s scream.

“Addy!” Cooper yells, running to where the sound came from. “Addy! Oh my god...” I nearly vomit right there when I see it, a mutilated body right in the middle of the pathway. It’s a girl, I know that, and she’s wearing the same pink bunny mask that was in Cooper’s locker. My stomach sinks to the floor. Is that—

“Cooper?” Addy asks, her voice small. He sighs in relief. “Oh, oh my god, you’re ok.”

“Addy,” Janae starts. “What happened?”

“I…I don’t know.”

I start toward the body. “Wait guys, who…who is that?” Janae holds her arm out to keep me from going any farther.

Cooper bends down and peels off the mask. “It’s Giselle,” he says. Bronwyn wraps her arms around Nate, crying into his shoulder. “Did she fall?” he asks. “Or did she…jump?” The lights suddenly flicker, and everyone’s phones buzz. Janae wraps her arm around my shoulders.

‘You don’t make the rules. You play the game.’ I read on Janae’s phone, and my heart dropped.

Oh no.

I tried not to think about it too hard once I got home. Simon Says was willing to kill. I pulled out my laptop from my bag, willing myself to open it. My cursor flashed over the box.

‘Leave them alone.’ I typed with shaking hands.

The reply came faster than I thought it would. ‘I will, but you need to do something for me first.’ It lasted only a few seconds, and then it vanished.