Parker spun around. It was Ava, her long silken hair framing her face, her almond eyes perfectly outlined with plum liner. Her tone was friendly, and she was smiling.
“Hey,” Parker said. She shrugged sheepishly, realizing that it was after noon—and she wasn’t in school. Then again, neither was Ava. “You playing hooky, too?”
“Oh, I just needed some caffeine. I’ll probably go back for seventh period.” Ava gestured to a table near the window. “Want to sit?”
Parker shrugged. “Okay.”
They got their drinks and went to a table in the back, near an old-timey Pac-Man arcade that Parker had always thought was a nice touch. Ava stared into her cappuccino. Parker realized she’d never actually spoken to Ava—or any of the others—without Julie there. She wondered how Ava thought of her. As a Julie hanger-on? A freak, after all that stuff with her dad?
Stop shortchanging yourself, Fielder had told her in their last session. People don’t automatically look at you and see a freak. Smile every once in a while. You’ll be surprised who smiles back. Okay, it was a little Walt Disney–It’s-a-Small-World happy, but maybe she should try it.
She smiled carefully at Ava. “How are you holding up?”
And just like that, like Fielder said, Ava gave her a smile in return. “Okay, I guess. But I’m freaked out because of the cops. Aren’t you?”
“Yeah, totally.” Parker stirred sugar into her latte with a splintering wooden stick. “It’s pretty scary.” Scary couldn’t even begin to describe it.
The police will figure out the real truth, don’t worry, Fielder had said to her, when she’d blurted it out to him in a session yesterday—after which he’d gotten her coffee, saying that caffeine might help her headaches. Parker hoped he was right, about the caffeine and the police. She hated that they were suspects again.
“How are you feeling about Ashley?”
Parker cupped her hands around her cup of coffee. “You mean the cat litter and the Instagram? Not great, honestly.” An image of her friend’s pained and humiliated face in the hallway the other day flashed through Parker’s mind. And Parker couldn’t fathom what Julie’s homelife must be like right now without those cats as a buffer. Maybe that was why she’d stayed away from Julie’s the past two days.
Ava frowned. A tiny wrinkle formed between her eyes. “No . . . I mean that Ashley’s been missing since Tuesday.”
Parker froze, her mind shifting gears. “She’s what?”
“Her parents can’t find her. The police are looking everywhere.” Ava’s expression was strange. “You haven’t heard?”
Parker felt her lips start to tremble. Something prodded at her memory, but she couldn’t quite figure out what. “That’s terrible,” she said, staring off into the distance. On the other hand, it was wonderful Ashley was gone. She wouldn’t torment Julie anymore.
“But we shouldn’t worry about it, right?” she said. “I mean, that’s where you’re going with this, aren’t you? Just because we rattled off some names doesn’t mean we have any control over them dying or going missing or whatever.”
“Maybe,” Ava said distantly. She started to tear her napkin into tiny shreds.
Parker swallowed hard. Was Ava worried that someone was killing off the people on their list?
“Well, at least Alex is cleared,” Parker piped up, changing the subject. “Everything cool with you guys?”
Ava stirred her coffee. “Um, yeah,” she answered, still distracted. “I think we’re going to be okay.”
Parker nodded, happy for Ava. “I’m really glad it worked out. If only getting him cleared didn’t get us back in trouble.”
“Yeah.” Ava stared at the floor. Then she peeked at Parker. It looked like she wanted to say something, but then she looked down and clamped her mouth shut.
“What?” Parker asked.
Ava’s eyes darted back and forth. Once again she seemed to be mustering up courage, but then the light in her eyes dimmed. “Oh, nothing. Hey, I heard Nyssa Frankel is still having a party on Friday, despite everything.”
Parker shrugged. “Nyssa never cancels her parties.” Back when they were friends, Parker used to say that Nyssa could be in traction from two broken legs and she’d still hold her annual Halloween celebration. “I probably won’t go, though.”
“Really?” Ava touched her arm. “Maybe we all should. It would make us seem normal, you know?”
“Maybe,” Parker said absently, though she doubted it.