Page 61 of Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets

Mr. Davis kneels down beside the river to splash some water on his face. When he picks himself up, he looks like he’s aged several years. “I think I can safely say this weekend’s excursion has come to an end. Let’s head back to camp and clean up.”

Tyler glances at me, and anger needles back into my veins. Why did he abandon me?

We climb the ravine, pushing back through the trees until we reach the camp, where the fire has long since sizzled out. My stuff is already packed, so I rack my brain for a way to escape.

But Mr. Davis is keeping a close eye on us as he disassembles his tent. He’s not about to let anyone else wander off.

The others are tearing things down and stuffing their backpacks, and Grant leads me behind his tent by the hand. “Wait a sec,” he says before ducking inside to remove his sleeping bag. He folds it once, and then lays it in the dirt for me. “Sit down while I finish packing.” He gestures to the cushion he’s created and begins dislodging the stakes around the front of the tent.

Once he’s finished, he comes around to the back again and kneels at one corner, tugging a stake from the ground. Two other pointed metal pieces lay nearby in the dirt. “Need any help?” I ask, though I’m too fatigued to budge.

He glances over one shoulder. “You have to rest.”

I should. I feel like I could collapse and sleep for a thousand years. But something stirs beneath the fatigue. “Grant, do you know anything about Mr. Davis?”

He frowns and moves on to the final corner, still clutching the stake in one hand. “Savannah, come on.”

I lick my lips. Forcing myself to my feet, I peer around the tent. “I think Piper caught him helping guys on the soccer team cover up drug stuff.”

He smiles subtly but stops working. “That’s ridiculous.”

“He was the last person to see her that day. She was investigating the boys’ soccer scandal, and then, what do you know? Piper falls off a cliff.” Grant’s hazel eyes, the ones that always mesmerize me, narrow. “And as soon as we can prove it—”

Grant moves so quickly I don’t see him coming. I don’t even manage a yelp as I’m backed into the tent panel. At his side, the sharp stake in his grip flashes. He looks down at me, the lips I love to kiss pressed tight, the glimmering gold gone from his irises.

Leaving only a storm.

Piper

The Day She Fell

“What are you doing in here?”

I spin around to see Grant, car keys in hand.

“I-I was waiting for Mr. Davis,” I stammer. “I’m allowed to be in here. I’m his TA.” But I replace the lid on the paper shredder and back out of the room. Then I brush past Grant to wait on a cement planter in the hallway. He pokes his head into the office and turns back to me, lips tight.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at that Survival Club meeting?” I ask.

Grant’s brows furrow. “What meeting?”

“Didn’t you get a note from Mr. Davis?”

He shakes his head.

“I guess it was only for those of us who need extra help,” I say, shrugging. My phone rings in my pocket, and I startle. Grant eyes me carefully as I fumble the phone. It’s Alex again, and I debate answering for a moment before picking up.

“Piper?” Alex sounds worried. “Are you at school?”

“Yes, and I’m fine. Please trust me.” Then I hang up, guilt already pressing on my chest.

Grant takes a seat beside me, and I keep looking down at my phone, pretending to read text messages.

“Piper, are you okay?”

I almost laugh, the question is so absurd. I’m going to be expelled, and my teacher is covering up a drug scandal. These two thoughts keep spinning around my brain like atoms. I’m frozen to the rough cement. Nothing I’ve done up until this point will count for anything, all because I trusted my sister to “help” me. All anyone will ever see is the dripping red mark on my file. I’m over.

And my teacher is over.

---