Part 31 (1/2)
She pa.s.sed the kitchen. Her stout, balding father saw her and gave her a just-a-sec wave. ”Hazel, do you mind very much lending Mom your car today? We had to take hers in yesterday.”
She blinked. ”What? What happened?”
He smiled quizzically. ”Nothing happened, Hazel. It just needed a tune-up.”
”Oh. Sure,” she said. ”No problem.”
”Do you need a ride to school, or can you get one from a friend? You don't have to leave until eight, right?”
Hazel touched her forehead. ”I can probably get a ride.”
”Right.” He chuckled. ”Because getting a lift from your old man wouldn't be cool.”
Oh, Dad, you have no idea. ”Cool” is the last thing on my mind.
She retreated to her room and called Ellen's cell.
There was no answer. She figured Ellen was talking to her father, trying to get out of the house. She rang Carolyn instead.
”I'll be there in fifteen minutes,” Carolyn said. ”Meet me out front.”
”Well,” Hazel said with a sigh, ”I guess this is it.” Carolyn had pulled into a spot in front of the school.
”I guess so,” Carolyn replied. They sat in silence, just staring at the empty school for a moment before grabbing their bags and getting out of the car.
”There's Megan,” Carolyn said as they came around the corner of the media center. Her back was turned to them, but they recognized her by her purple hoodie. She was leaning sideways against the rock, her head down.
”She looks upset,” Hazel whispered.
”We're all upset,” Carolyn replied.
”Megan,” Hazel called out. Megan didn't respond.
”You okay, honey?” Carolyn said softly as they approached. Megan didn't say a word.
”Hey, Meg?” Hazel reached out and put her hand on Megan's shoulder. Her friend collapsed under the weight, slumping onto the ground.
”Oh my G.o.d!” Carolyn screamed.
Hazel crouched down beside Megan. She turned her over.
A pair of blue eyes stared blankly up at Hazel.
Megan was dead.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
”Megan, Megan!” Hazel yelled, shaking her by the shoulders. The hood of the sweats.h.i.+rt fell away. Megan's neck was marked with deep purple bruises.
”She's been strangled!” Carolyn exclaimed.
Both girls were suddenly startled by a loud cry. They whirled around to see Ellen, one hand covering her mouth, the other shakily clutching her car keys, tears gus.h.i.+ng out of her eyes.
”No, please, no,” Ellen whimpered.
”Ellen!” Hazel said.
Ellen let out another sob and then tried to wipe her tears away. ”Oh my G.o.d. Is she dead?”
Hazel's mind raced. Did Sylvia overhear us planning to go to the police? Or did someone tell her about it?
Just then her phone let out a sharp beep. Hazel cautiously pulled the phone out of her bag. New text message.
YRSECRETPAL2PURPLEHAZE: Tattletales. Careful who u talk 2. U might end up like her.
”h.e.l.lo?” Hazel said hesitantly into the phone.
”Hazel,” Sylvia said. ”I've been trying to reach you ever since I heard.” Her voice sounded hoa.r.s.e, like she'd been crying.
”Since you heard?” Hazel said slowly.
”Since I heard about Megan. I still can't believe it,” Sylvia said. ”How could this have happened, Hazel? What was she even doing there?”
”I don't know,” Hazel replied. ”None of us know. That's what we told the police, Sylvia. We don't know how it happened.”
”I'm so devastated, Hazel,” Sylvia went on. ”The funeral is Sat.u.r.day and I'm not going to school for the rest of the week. I just can't.”
”Yes. It's awful. An awful shock,” Hazel said stiffly.
The funeral was horrible.
The smell of incense and dying flowers made Hazel's throat close up. Her eyes began to water.
There were huge arrangements everywhere. The church was freezing, which was surprising, given that it was overflowing with high school students.
Megan's casket was closed, and Hazel tried hard not to imagine her lying inside that box-all cut up from the autopsy, filled with embalming fluid, and held together with big st.i.tches.
She thought of Brandon then and tried even harder not to picture what his body must look like, two weeks later.
The girls hadn't let on about Sylvia to anyone. The police had riddled them with questions when they showed them Megan's body, but the PLDs all remained silent. Partly because of their shock-and partly because they weren't sure what Sylvia would do if they implicated her.
The chubby, weak-chinned priest droned on, talking about what a wonderful girl Megan had been, what promise her young life had shown.
”But G.o.d in his infinite wisdom saw fit to take her to his kingdom,” he declared.
Sylvia let out a pained sob. She'd been in tears for the entire service. The other PLDs sat beside her in stony, fearful silence. If Hazel hadn't been so stunned by fear, she would have been disgusted by the irony.