“Let’s go now,” Naomi suggested. “I have the perfect song for us.”
Hanna stood just as Mike returned from dolphin-spotting. He gave her a confused look, which she avoided with a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you later,” she said breezily, then glided away. Hopefully he didn’t notice how badly her hands were shaking as she followed Naomi to the elevators.
The karaoke lounge was two levels down, and they could hear caterwauling all the way from the elevator bank. There was a small, dimly lit stage at the front of the room, and the room’s small, round tables were filled with kids. Hanna noticed a cute, dark-haired guy sitting by himself near the bathrooms. It was Graham, the boy Aria was partnered with for the scavenger hunt. Aria had shown her pictures of him on the Tabitha Clark Memorial website.
As if sensing her gaze, Graham turned and looked at Hanna, too. He didn’t blink. Hanna flinched and turned away. She followed Naomi to peruse the book of songs, her heart banging the whole time. I could be standing next to A right now, she kept thinking. This girl could know all the horrible things I’ve ever done.
She eyed “California Gurls” by Katy Perry and considered suggesting it, but then decided it was too cheesy. But suddenly, Naomi pointed at it, too. “I think we could rock this one, don’t you?”
“Let’s do it.” Hanna wrote it down next to their names. There was no way she was quibbling with A.
They sat down at a table and waited their turn. Though Hanna had to keep jiggling her leg to assuage her nerves, she pretended to be completely calm, watching as a bunch of guys from Ulster growled out something by a metal band and three girls with the same blond haircut pretended they were Britney Spears. Naomi pulled out her cell phone, and though Hanna was dying to look at what she was writing, she kept her gaze pasted on her drink, her heart thudding hard.
Naomi dropped her phone back in her bag. “I wish they would serve us,” she sighed. “I so need a cocktail. I’m having major guy issues, and I want to drown my sorrows.”
“What’s going on?” Hanna asked, shakily resting her chin in her palm. Fake-friending Rule #1: Always pretend to care about the fake friend’s boy problems.
Naomi sighed. “The guy I’m into likes Spencer.”
Hanna sipped the water that had been placed in front of her, surprised Spencer hadn’t brought this up when they’d talked about A last night. “That sucks,” she said fumblingly.
“It does suck.” Naomi’s eyes widened. “Hey, got any dirt on her? You know, something that would make him run screaming?”
Hanna coughed. “I don’t really know anything that good.” Except that she’s a murderer, a voice growled in her head. Or that she took drugs last summer and framed someone else for possession. Or that she helped me move your cousin into the driver’s seat of the car I was driving.
Then again, if Naomi was A, she already knew all of that.
“Aw, I’m just kidding.” Naomi nudged her playfully after a moment, probably registering Hanna’s uncomfortable expression. She squeezed Hanna’s hand. “You’re so lucky you have Mike, you know.”
“Yeah,” Hanna said, feeling herself relax, smiling as she thought of him.
“He’s better than Sean Ackard,” Naomi added. “You know I dated him too, right?”
Hanna nodded. “In ninth grade.”
Naomi looked surprised. “How did you remember that?”
Hanna laughed. “I pined over Sean for years—I knew everyone he dated. But, you know, when I got him, he was a huge disappointment. He was just so … good.”
“You mean the no-sex thing, right?” Naomi rolled her eyes. “He’s always been like that. I was at this party with him once, and all the couples were peeling off to make out. But Sean and I sat on the couch, watching this stupid movie on TV like we were the parents. It was so lame.”
“What does Kate see in him?” Hanna giggled.
“Maybe she’s into virgins,” Naomi snickered. “I heard she’s going to V Club with him now.”
“Actually, I—” Hanna was about to say she’d seen Kate and Sean leave a V Club meeting a few weeks ago but stopped herself just in time. She’d been with Liam when she caught Kate and Sean at the V Club meeting.
Then again, if Naomi was A, she would know that, too.
Hanna straightened up, feeling nervous. “You know, if you really want a cocktail, we could sneak off the boat when we get to Puerto Rico and go to a bar or something. I have a fake ID. And you have your, um, cousin’s, right?”
A strange expression flashed across Naomi’s face. “Yeah.”
“Are you guys close?” Her heart was pounding hard. She felt ridiculously transparent.
Naomi picked at her nails. “Like sisters. Her name’s Madison. She went to St. Agnes. Now she goes to Penn State. Or, well, she did go to Penn State until the accident.”