Chapter 11
They ended up going to a park. It was mostly empty at this time of night, though a few kids still ran through the gravel area around the play structures and through the swings.
There were some covered picnic tables, and the group chose the one farthest away, where they would be least likely to be overheard.
Rick took the empty spot next to Martina at the end, burying his hands in his pockets. For a moment, they all stared at each other, no one knowing quite how to start.
Nika pinched her lower lip between her thumb and forefinger, deep in thought. Her cheeks and nose were rosy from the cold, her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. Rick wished that this was a different time, and he was just here with her talking. Instead of…well, everything else.
Finally, Nika straightened. “Okay, let’s get out the facts so far. What do we know for certain?”
When no one answered right away, Martina jumped in. “Two people from the yearbook are dead, Mr. Stephens and Bryce.” She let out a breath. “Possibly murdered.”
“Probably murdered,” Camryn added.
Paxton let out an irritated sound. “We don’t know that. For all we know, Mr. Stephens decided that his sad little life wasn’t worth it and drove into that lake. Bryce probably overdosed. It happens.”
“Do you have no soul?” Landon asked, his arm tight around Alexis’s shoulders. She seemed to be only half listening.
Paxton flipped him off.
Camryn stared at him in disbelief. “So, what, you still think it’s a coincidence that two people on the yearbook murder list are dead?”
Paxton put his elbows on the table. “It’s possible.
Way I see it, you’re all jumping way too fast to murder.
What if the person who screwed up the yearbook”—his gaze drifted to Rick and Martina as he said this—“somehow knew Mr. Stephens had killed himself? Or maybe they didn’t.
Maybe they screwed with the yearbook and someone else is taking advantage.
Could be a combination of those things. We just don’t know is what I’m saying.
” He tapped the side of his head with one finger.
“You meatheads should try using your brains for once.”
Camryn, Zara, and Landon immediately started arguing. Rick couldn’t track what was being said—everyone was too loud and talking over one another.
“Hey,” Nika said. “Hey!” She said it louder the second time and smacked her hand onto the table. “Paxton has a point.”
Rick wasn’t sure who looked more surprised at the agreement—the rest of the group or Paxton.
Everyone started in again, and she held up a hand.
“Look, the way I see it, I’m not sure it matters at this point.
Maybe it’s a prank that someone has used to their own means.
Maybe it’s freakish coincidence. And like it or not, Paxton, it could also be murder.
While I do think we should keep an open mind about all of that, for now I don’t think it actually matters. ”
Alexis looked up, confused. “It doesn’t?”
“Not really,” Nika said. “What matters is that we’re targeted. Someone either wants us dead or wants us scared.”
Rick glanced at Martina, who looked concerned but wasn’t arguing.
Which meant she agreed. If Rick had any doubts about whether or not he was overreacting, the fact that the two smartest people he knew felt the same way made him think he wasn’t far off on his thinking. “So what do you think we should do?”
Nika gave him a faint smile. “We keep in contact. We share information. And we don’t go anywhere alone. Stay vigilant.”
Paxton rolled his eyes but didn’t argue for once.
Zara dug into her backpack, pulling out her laptop. “To that end, I wanted to share what I’ve managed to dig up so far. I went into the yearbook files from last year, trying to see what I could find, since we know that someone swapped out the original pages with the murder list ones.”
Paxton snorted. “Yeah, no shit.”
Zara ignored him as she opened up her laptop and hit a few keys. “I couldn’t find the original file that went to print in any of the yearbook computers, and someone had wiped it from the cloud system.”
Paxton turned to look at Rick and Martina.
“For fuck’s sake, Paxton, give it a rest.” Martina waved a hand at Zara. “Please continue, because you seem way too happy for someone who struck out completely.”
Rick silently agreed because he’d seen a similar expression on Dani’s face right before she beat him at, well, anything.
“I talked to Hannah, who worked on the layouts for that page. Turns out early last year Hannah lost a day’s work when the computer crashed and the automatic save failed. Since then, they diligently back up everything on a thumb drive.”
Zara clicked her way to the file she wanted, then turned the screen to face them. “I asked Hannah to look for the original pages to see who should have been there, and what do you know? She still had the file.”
Everyone leaned in to see the original yearbook pages on the screen.
Some of the people were the same. Alexis and Landon were still there, except they’d been listed as cutest couple.
Bryce was most popular, even though he hadn’t even been a senior last year.
Mr. Stephens was also there, except his title was Most Likely to Win the Lotto and Start a New Life.
Rick, Martina, Camryn, and even Nika were absent from the pages.
“I made a list of the names that should have been on there,” Zara said. “I’ve dropped it into the group chat.”
Rick dug out his phone. “There’s a group chat?”
“I sent the invite to your phone earlier.” Zara closed her laptop. “It’s on Signal.”
Rick found the link, clicked it, and started to set up his account while Martina held her phone so he could see the screen. As he read the list of names, he wasn’t too surprised.
Makayla Jackson & Elijah Lucas
Most Likely to Win America’s Got Talent
EvaLynn Dantes & Cole Hernandez
Most Likely to Save the Planet
Allison Haysmith & Wren Ito
Future Jeopardy! Champions
Brady Parker & Tam Nguyen
Most Likely to Be Internet Famous
There were three faculty names as well.
Ms. Diana Elm, Most Likely to Show You Her Dance Moves
Mrs. Gretchen Porter, Most Quotable
Counselor Richard Turner, Best Beard
“Not to shit on your work, Zara, but how does this help us?” Landon asked as he wrapped his arms around Alexis.
Zara appeared a little crestfallen about the reaction to her find but rallied quickly.
“It confirms for us that, whatever their motivation, the person behind this didn’t pick people at random.
If it was a prank just to upset people, they could have simply left the original pictures in and swapped out the text.
” She frowned at the group. “Swapping out the photos is a real pain in the ass, especially if you don’t know the program we use. Someone really wanted us on this list.”
“Someone also really wanted Mr. Stephens on there.” When they all looked at Martina, she waved a hand at Zara’s laptop. “He was the only faculty member on the murder list.”
“But I didn’t even really know Mr. Stephens. So…why us?” Alexis said, her voice sharp. “What did we do that’s so terrible?” Landon hugged her tighter, trying to be comforting.
“Could be anything,” Nika said. “But I’ve dropped a link for a spreadsheet into the group chat—”
Paxton made a rude noise. “A fucking spreadsheet, are you serious?”
She glared at him before continuing on. “I’m trying to see what we all have in common. It can’t be random. There’s a reason.” She cleared her throat, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “There’s something else.” She pulled up an image on her phone. “I got a threat in the mail.”
She held her phone out so people could see the image. Someone had pasted a cutout of Nika’s head to a sheet of paper. Next to it was a body, not hers, but cut out of a magazine or something. A pool of red surrounded the collaged pieces.
Rick looked up at her. “Is that glitter?”
Nika swallowed hard. “Yes.”
The puddle of red glitter took up most of the bottom of the page. Rick felt sick. “Were there words on the back?”
“An image of a clock.” Nika flipped to the next image, showing them all the other side of the letter. “It says time’s running out.”
Paxton sighed, long and drawn out. “Anyone could have made that and sent it. Let’s not get too excited there, Page.”
Rick shoved his hands in his pockets so he didn’t take a swing at Paxton. “I got one too, asshole, but mine was left on my doorstep.”
“My argument stands, asshole,” Paxton said, glancing at his phone, dismissing Rick and his petty worries.
He gritted his teeth, his fists bunching as he saw the corner of Paxton’s mouth quirk up into a smirk perfectly calculated to make Rick feel like an animal.
Martina jumped in before Rick could take a swing, which he really wanted to do. “Anyone else get one?” When the group shook their heads or mumbled no, she continued. “I wonder if ours are in the mail. My mom turned Rick’s in to the police. We took pics of it first. I suggest you all do the same.”
“Cool, great, absolutely. Are we done now?” Paxton asked. “Because my ass is frozen to this bench.”
“If only,” Martina muttered.
Paxton glared at her. “What?”
Martina raised her voice. “I said, ‘If only.’ ”
He rolled his eyes as he got up. “Whatever, Lopez. I’ve got shit to do. I’m out.”
Martina flipped him off, but he didn’t turn around to see.
“Post any news in the chat,” Nika shouted after him. “And fill out the form!”
He gave a backward wave as he cut across the park toward the playground, but otherwise he didn’t respond.
Landon helped Alexis up, the normally spry athlete drained of her usual vitality. “Do you think this will help, Nika?” she asked.
Nika frowned thoughtfully at her. “I don’t know. We could be wasting our time. But I can’t sit at home waiting for the next awful thing to happen. This at least gives us a start.”
Alexis traced a finger along a set of carved initials dug into the top of the picnic table. “We could just let the police handle it.”