“They had that fight at Brianne’s party. . . .” Aisha frowns. “But yeah, deranged killer on the loose seems more likely.”
I squeeze my eyes shut at the idea of the killer in the woods actually being a crazed lunatic. But it could have been someone random, no one Gretchen knew at all. . . .
“The cops still haven’t found her Mercedes,” Haley continues. “Oh, and they’re questioning Kip Peterson.”
“What?” This is a surprise. To my knowledge, Kip never even spoke to Gretchen that night. “Where did you hear that?”
“Reva Stone. She said she ran into him on his way to the sheriff’s office.”
I hesitate. Reva was no friend of Gretchen’s, but when I think about it I guess I understand why Kip might be questioned. He’d been following her around with cartoon hearts in his eyes since at least the sixth grade. Gretchen was never interested in dating him, but he always seemed good-humored about it.
“What did they want to ask him about? The car?”
She shakes her head. “No, I guess he saw something that night.”
I look at her, wide-eyed. “He said that? What did he see?”
Haley bites her lip. “He claims he saw Gretchen in the woods before she died.”
I stop in my tracks. I hung out with Kip for at least an hour at Brianne’s house Friday night. We played UltaShock in the basement, as we usually do at her parties, but if he left when we did, he might’ve actually seen what happened to Gretchen—if not what happened to me first. “But I thought he stayed at the party. Was he in the park?”
“Sonia.” Aisha touches my elbow, looking worried. “Do you think Kip could be the person who chased you?”
I freeze up. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I guess I should. “Is he a suspect?”
“He was so creepy about her, he should be,” Haley says. “The way he followed her around with that camera.”
“You talking about that perv Peterson?” Derek comes up, wrapping his arm around Aisha. She gives him a look. “What? He carries that camera around all the time, but when he’s not ‘on assignment’ for the yearbook, all he does is take pictures of tits. What about that isn’t pervy?”
Aisha stops and raises her eyebrows. “You seem to know a lot about these pictures.”
Derek grins. When he leans in to kiss her, Haley makes a face and pulls me aside. “Are you okay, Sonia? Like, really? Everyone’s so freaked out about all this, but I can’t even imagine how terrified you must’ve been . . . or how you must feel now.”
“Thanks. It was scary—I just—” I pull my sleeves over the marks on my wrists, but my hands have started trembling again. “I miss her.”
She presses her mouth into a line and gives my arm a reassuring squeeze.
I try to ignore the way my skin stings under her hand. Haley, Gretchen, Aisha, and I all used to be close. We’ve known one another since kindergarten, grew up at each other’s houses, but at some point around middle school, Gretchen and I paired off. We hung out with each other exclusively more and more, and she started inviting just me to sleep over and even convinced her dad to bring me on the occasional family trip. It felt so intimate at the time, almost like having a sister. I didn’t realize how much we had alienated Haley and Aisha until it was too late. We never fought or had a misunderstanding; we were still friendly with one another at school. It just sort of happened. But it’s always felt weird.
There’s a mandatory assembly after homeroom and the halls fill with low chatter as we file toward the cafetorium. I get stuck behind a couple of snickering guys and I’m about to ask what they could possibly find funny until I tune in to their conversation.
“Bullshit, man. Friday night?”
“That’s what he’s telling everyone.”
“Why would Kirsten Meyer hook up with that little shit freshman?”
The guy shakes his head and laughs. “Kid claims he’s got moves.”
The first guy snorts too and now I recognize Kevin Fowler, Gretchen’s onetime indie rock boyfriend from last summer. “Oh man, if she’s anything like her sis—”
“Excuse me.” I push between them before I have to hear any more. Kevin was bent out of shape for months after Gretchen dumped him for Marcus. He was also at the party Friday night. I add him to my list.
Haley waves me over to where she’s sitting against the far wall and I pull my backpack to my chest, scanning the room for Kirsten, even though I know she isn’t here. I need to talk to her, ask if she’s okay—only that immediately strikes me as stupid. Of course she’s not. By the time she stumbled home after midnight Saturday, Gretchen was already missing. Kirsten looked up to her so much, following us around since we were little, trying to look and act like her big sister no matter how often Gretchen pushed her away. It was like she thought if she just kept trying, Gretchen would change how she felt about her.
Someone leans over from the row behind us. “Hey, anyone seen Perez?”
My neck goes hot.
“He wouldn’t dare come to this.”