“So are you kicked out of the game?” Hartley asks.
I shake my head. “No. That’s the weird thing. I got an invite. It was in my locker this morning.”
“Why would the Society want you to keep playing if they think you cheated?” Nikki asks. “They didn’t make me keep going. After the hospital, I didn’t get anything.”
“Maybe because you technically completed the dare, you just didn’t stick the landing,” Lyla says, trying to make these pieces fit together in a way that makes sense. “I mean, I went after her. She didn’t call for help.”
I don’t mention I had no intention of swimming back on my own before the gator made his appearance.
“Well, it doesn’t seem fair,” Nikki says.
“We don’t make the rules,” Lyla answers.
“They do,” I say, feeling heavy. “And we don’t have a choice in the matter.”
Distantly someone coughs and a fax machine hums to life.
“Maybe we can get out if we can’t play,” Farrah suggests. “Maybe we just need to break something.”
“Easy, Tiger,” Hartley says. “Don’t get any ideas.”
Farrah blows out a breath. “So what do you suggest we do about this?”
“I think it’s time we call the police,” I say. “They think the car was an accident right now, but I can show them this text. Maybe they can trace it, and this can all be over.”
“No,” Farrah says. “We’ve talked about this already. No cops.”
“That was before my car exploded,” I protest.
“Think it through,” Hartley says. “The Society has been smart about everything, so what are the chances they used a phone you can trace?”
“Besides,” Lyla adds more gently, “it’s not like the text references the car. It’s a weak connection at best.”
“But—” I stop. They’re right. They’re 100 percent right, and it makes everything so much worse. “This is getting really crazy,” I say. “I’m scared.”
Admitting it out loud makes me realize how true it is. I used to think I liked being scared. Ethan and I have watched countless gory horror movies together, and I never once closed my eyes. But this is different. This is real life, and it isn’t fun or exciting or thrilling. It’s raw terror. Life poised on a knife-edge, never knowing where the blow is going to come from next, who is going to get hurt.
“We’re all scared,” Lyla says, putting a hand on mine. “We just have to stick together.”
The bell rings, and Nikki shoots out of her seat. Everyone begins to disperse.
“Wait! What are we doing about tonight?” I ask.
Hartley pushes off the wall, a humorless smile turning up her lips. “It’s like you said. We don’t really have a choice.”
Mom’s against the charity event. Big surprise. She lays out her case as if she’s arguing in front of a judge: It’s too much. It’s too dangerous. I’d be missing my evening treatment. I shouldn’t be out late on a school night. Besides, don’t I have homework?
I listen to her patiently, chewing on my salted ribeye steak, and when there’s finally a break in the conversation, I argue as if I’m a criminal on death row: It’s not too much—I won’t dance, I’ll sit down if I feel too tired, and I’ll call her with updates every hour if she wants. Every half hour, even! The nurse can do my treatment before I go. I’m finished with all my homework, and the history midterm isn’t due for three weeks. Besides, it’s just one night. I deserve to have some fun every now and then.
And then I bring out the big guns: what is life if I just spend it cloistered inside the house?
It’s a cheap shot, but it worked to get me into school.
And it works now.
Mom sighs heavily and sets down her fork, and I abandon my dinner to run around the table and squeeze her neck so hard she makes exaggerated choking noises.
“What are you going to wear?” Jenny asks, now that the battle’s done.
“I’m borrowing something from a friend.”
“Who?” she asks, suspicious. She knows as well as I do how limited my pool of friends is.
“Farrah. Why?”
“Oh my God, Farrah Weir-Montgomery?” Jenny squeals.
“How do you know her?”
“Please. Everyone knows her. Can I come too?”
“No,” Mom and I say at the same time. Jenny pouts.
But Jenny’s enthusiasm is infectious. I can’t believe Mom actually said yes. I’m going on a date!
A few weeks ago I thought I’d die in my bedroom without ever experiencing any of the normal things teenagers get to do. And then that invitation turned up in my in-box. Next thing I knew I was sneaking out of the house at midnight, kissing a boy, and going on a date. Ever since the mysterious Society came along, my life has changed for the better.
Minus the car.
I suddenly feel guilty that I’m going to be sneaking out of the house in six hours to play a game that’s already cost Mom so much.