Page 11 of Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets

Now, I take a shuddering breath, suffocated by the memory.

Nothing I find is going to change what happened on September sixteenth. It won’t fix what I did. It won’t make my parents snap out of their depression.

But I have to know if Piper did it because of me or if something else happened to her. And I’m going to start with Alex.

Chapter 6

Before school, I find Coach Lennon in her office and ask for the key to the equipment locker. “I want to get an early start on ordering uniforms,” I explain. “I’ll grab an old one just to make sure I get the colors right.”

Coach rolls her eyes. “You should stop worrying about what we’re going to wear and pray our team is good enough to win some games.” The subtext is clear: unlike the boys’ team, we haven’t had a miraculous turnaround. We’re going to have to work extra hard this year.

I smile, used to her snippy remarks. When she’s not yelling at me to stop messing with my hair during a game, she’s mocking me for wearing lipstick to practice. But you get to brush all that off when you’re the best player on the team. You also get pretty much everything you ask for, which is why she hands over the key before waving me away.

I shut the door to the equipment locker behind me, using my phone’s light to guide me. I grab one of our old uniforms from the team bag and toss it beside the door so I don’t forget about my excuse. It’s difficult in the dark, but I locate the bins with all the Survival Club gear.

I dig through the bin full of backpacks, removing the ones on top, trying to find the one from yesterday. I spot a pop of red and reach for it, my heart soaring. But the tag on the pack says SAM.

There are only three packs left at the bottom of the bin, none of them red.

Holding in a scream, I return everything to the bin and shove it back into place. I stand and examine the rest of the room, shining my phone’s light in a slow circle. Piper’s pack must’ve gotten misplaced. I scan the shelves up high and then scrounge through the athletics teams’ bins.

The pack isn’t here. Which means I have nothing.

I slam my palm into the aluminum wall, biting back a thousand curses. Whoever wrote that threat must’ve seen me reading it during the meeting. And now this person has covered their tracks.

I sling the stupid uniform over my shoulder and lock up. But my thoughts go to yesterday, when Mr. Davis was yammering and I was looking through Piper’s pack.

Someone was watching me: Alex. Now I just need to prove she’s hiding information about Piper’s fall.

***

The bell has already rung by the time I stash the useless uniforms in my car. I rush back to the main hall and find Alexandra at her locker, talking to this other sophomore girl whose name might be Deb or Diana. I think of her as Country Club because she wears tennis skirts and looks like the kind of person who’d spend summer days lounging at the club pool whileDaddygolfs.

I wander closer, leaning against the lockers beside them, pretending to scroll through my phone. I listen in, hoping Country Club will provide me with the smoking gun by calling Alexandra “Alex.” Instead, the two simply swap out their books and chatter inanely.

Time for a new plan. I pull out my phone, where I’ve stored Alex’s number, and dial it.

I stop breathing when the call goes through. I wait for Alexandra’s phone to ring from inside her backpack or her locker.

But the seconds go by, and the only sound is the slamming of lockers and the two girls’ giggling.

Okay, fine. Her phone didn’t ring. That doesn’t mean she’s not Alex. A “good girl” like Alexandra would probably keep her phone on silent during school hours, as per Grayling High’s policy. Or she could’ve forgotten it today.

Then again, I may have this completely wrong.

I head to Spanish. When I reach the door, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I freeze, and Señora Pérez tosses a vicious look at me through the doorway.

I back up, mouthing an apology to Señora Pérez. My throat closes up as I read the words on the screen.

Don’t call this number again

I drop my books in the middle of the hall and race back to the lockers, my heart pounding as I search for Alexandra.

But the hall is empty. Everyone is tucked away in their classrooms.

And I’m alone.

***

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