Page 66 of The Forever After Bet

“Barely. This is a nightmare.” I rub a hand along the back of my neck.

Bree finally comes out of the bathroom. With her coat on, and her head held high, she walks up to me. “Call me after your friends leave if you still want to play. I sent you a text message with a little teaser.”

Bree heads to the door. I don’t follow her and nod to Ty.

He walks her to the door, opening it for her. “Have a delightful night, Bree. It’s nippy out there. Don’t freeze.”

She scowls at Ty and storms out of the house the same way she stormed in. As soon as the door shuts, I take off running down the hall. I don’t want Hannah or her friends to see Bree’s text messages.

“What’s wrong?” Ty yells.

I open the door, and all three girls are sitting on my parents’ bed. Hannah has my phone held out so all the girls can see it. June’s face is scrunched up. Leah’s got her head tilted, her mouth hanging open, and Hannah’s face is pure shock.

“That’s so gross,” June whispers.

“Is that considered an outie?” Hannah asks.

“That girl’s messed up.” Leah shudders, looking away from the phone.

“Hannah,” I sigh.

“Is she gone?” She asks.

“Yes.”

“The food’s here.” Ty holds up the takeout bags.

“Yes. I’m so ready to eat,” Hannah says, standing up.

“Is there enough for all of us?” Leah asks.

“Yeah, there’s plenty,” I say.

I walk up to Hannah. “You’re not upset?”

“No.” She holds up my phone. “Do you want to see the picture she sent?”

“Absolutely not.”

Hannah reaches up, kissing me. “Good, because I deleted it.”

“Thank you.” I take her hand, and we walk back into the family room.

We dish up food and sit in the family room to eat.

“You guys got here fast. Were you close by?” Hannah asks.

“Uh yeah, we’d just left Leah’s to get something to eat. We’d pulled into Wingers when you called,” Jack says.

“I dragged Ty to a theater friend’s one-woman performance. A coffee house on Blain Avenue lets people sign up and perform every Saturday.” June smiles, patting Ty’s leg.

“We had to go before it was over. Dang it.” Ty snaps his fingers in mock regret.

“It was bad, but I told my friend I’d go to support her.” June shrugs.

“What would’ve happened if we’d been late?” Leah asks.

“Bree would be missing a couple of chunks of hair.” Hannah shrugs. “I wouldn’t have been able to stay hidden, that’s for sure. I didn’t see her when she came into the house, but I watched the recording from the security camera at the front door. She opened her coat and adjusted her tatas, so I saw what she was wearing underneath.”

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