Page 31 of Wish You Were Her
“Lights up! Wake up, townsfolk.”
Allegra used her best skills to pretend she was also opening her eyes with all of the others. She avoided looking at either Jonah or Arthur Lancaster, their oblivious victim.
“Townsfolk, something dreadful happened in the night,” Simon declared and people smirked, enjoying his melodramatic narration. “An esteemed member of our community was brutally slain by the werewolf (or werewolves) at large.”
Allegra watched Simon hold court. She certainly found his charm attractive. She enjoyed spending time with him. Shelovedhis emails. Now that she had been in Lake Pristine for almost a week, the online exchanges had become more and more frequent, and she was loving the adorable book cameos. They had discussed books, movies and music, all without Allegra giving too much away. She still had an air of mystery, something he regularly teased her about. He would also end every email now with the words “wish you were here” and whenever Allegra responded, she was tempted to say that she already was.
The emails were a side of Simon she struggled to see in person. But his good-natured leading of the Werewolf game was promising—and that made Allegra hopeful, because the emails had become some of her favorite things to read. She had to get to know their author better, no matter how selfish or immature he might sometimes seem.
“Who was brutally attacked?” Hera, the arcade manager, asked gamely, in pantomime voice, drawing Allegra back into the game and away from thoughts of secret emails.
“While everyone was asleep in their beds, one of you got up to go for a midnight stroll. You made your way through the square, down Main Street and ended up at the bandstand, where you closed your eyes. You were waiting to meet someone. Someone who was late.”
Allegra grinned, along with most of the room. Only Skye, her sister Star and Jonah remained stoic. Arthur, the unknowing werewolf victim, Allegra noticed, kept glancing toward the basement door.
“While this person was waiting on the bandstand, they were hunted. Then caught. Perhaps the werewolf was jealous.” Simon did a full spin of the room, his arm outstretched. “The first bite was to wound, but the second hit him square in theheart. I’m so, so very sorry.” Simon’s finger landed on the bemused cinema manager.
“The werewolf got you, clean, Lancaster. Right in the heart.”
“Oh, no,” Arthur said, in a flat, deadpan voice that made Allegra stifle a laugh.
“Villagers,” Simon said. “While the victim leaves the game, time for a town meeting! Who could have done this? Who are the secret werewolves among us?”
This signaled the start of a discussion, Allegra realized, as people leaped into speaking.
“I vote Grace,” Skye’s sister, Star, said frankly.
“No chance,” Allegra heard herself retort. “She wouldn’t do in her big brother.”
“Don’t let her angel face fool you,” Arthur said, laughing.
Arthur dutifully left the game and stepped to the back of the room as the accusations continued to fly. Skye nominated Allegra but no one took her seriously. Most people ended up focusing in on Grace, who didn’t seem to mind the suspicion. She took great, theatrical joy in proving everyone wrong by revealing her civilian card and people cursed their own assuredness.
And the lights went off once more.
Chapter Ten
Jonah was surprised that when it came to hunting people in a game of Werewolf, he and Allegra worked rather well together. They silently and curtly picked out their victims and maintained shocked but innocent expressions while fingers were pointed afterward. Jonah was nominated by Kerrie but he talked his way out of it. He surprised himself by cutting a few people off when they turned their suspicion toward Allegra.
He had no reason to keep her in the game, but he did it anyway.
As Werewolf neared its end, the older members of the party began to drift away. Arthur, Odette and Hera left to go to the only bar in town. Jonah’s mother gave him a quick kiss goodbye before disappearing to the upstairs den with Simon’s parents and a few other older townsfolk who had stopped by.
When only the teenagers remained in the game room, Skye snatched the Werewolf cards out of Simon’s hands. She had been voted out in an earlier round and was clearly sick of sitting against the wall with Star.
“I’m bored with this game. Let’s play something better,” she declared to the remaining members of the party.
“Well, who are werewolves out of those of you left?” Grace asked.
Jonah glanced over at Allegra. She smiled demurely as she revealed her werewolf card to the rest of the room.
“Knew it,” Skye muttered. She had accused Allegra plenty of times, but nobody had agreed with her.
Jonah slid his onto the carpeted floor. “What do you want to play instead?”
Skye’s eyes glinted as she scanned the room. Her gaze landed on Grace, who was talking to two of her friends from her dance class.
“Truth or dare.”
