Chapter 9

Mr. Davis hurries out of the building, pausing to help a wobbly Alexandra adjust her backpack. The parking lot at the base of Mount Liberty is only big enough for two cars, so we opt to make the ten-minute walk from the school. Sam and Abby lead the way across the school lot, Jacey right behind them.

I tug on my backpack straps and check for Grant, but he motions for me to go ahead while he ties his boot.

My eyes fasten on Alexandra. I have to find out what happened that day at Vanderwild Point. This not knowing—it's a string coiled around my insides, pulling tighter by the second. Half an hour ago, I was certain Alexandra knew something about Piper. That she'd spoken to her on the phone that day, maybe even seen her.

Now, I'm just lost. All I know is that my sister was threatened by someone in this club, and then she was sent up to the Point, where she fell. And the note mentioned this club.

Alexandra claims she never spoke to Piper. And she has an alibi for that day, so she couldn't have been at the Point.

But someone else could've been. Someone else could've forged that note on school stationery and written that threat in her bag. I just need to know who sweet little Piper was having problems with.

The obvious person is Jacey. Maybe Jacey lost it, and I need to prove it.

I look ahead to where she's walking on her own beneath the brilliant orange and red maple leaves. After the Grant fiasco, there's no way she'll even talk to me. What would I even say to her? Sorry I stole your boyfriend, but can you please return the backpack with the incriminating message so I can give it to the police?

I throw my head back in frustration, letting out a small growl.

"That great, huh?"

I glance back at Noah, who's keeping pace behind me. He lengthens his stride to catch up, backpack clunking in time with his steps as I scan my surroundings. We're about to pass the gas station on the corner of Fifth and Wildflower, about five minutes from the base of Mount Liberty.

"It's not the hike," I say. If I can handle two forty-minute soccer halves without a substitute, I can handle a stupid hike. "Just have a lot on my mind."

"Don't suppose you have a completely rational fear of getting preyed upon by werewolves up there too?"

I roll my eyes.

"I get it," he says, suddenly solemn. "That's been happening to me a lot, too, since Piper's accident."

"No, that's not…" I lie. "I wasn't…" I shake my head, banishing the subject. "I don't think tonight's a full moon. Your fear is, in fact, irrational —you'd only get eaten by the regular kind of wolves."

He pretends to think about this before playfully punching me in the shoulder. And it feels nice. Like he's back to kid-brother Noah and not the disappointed-in-me version.

Maybe he's starting to forgive me the way Piper did. My thoughts tumble back to homecoming night, the Saturday before she fell. The first time I saw a true glimmer of hope for my sister and me since everything with Grant went down.

I had worked for it too. Found Piper the perfect dress. Short and blue, with layers that fluttered like the petals of the blue rain flowers that grow along the Golden River and made her turquoise eyes pop. I let her borrow my favorite clutch. I even did her makeup, painted her eyes a glimmering bronze and her lips with Roses Are Pink.

"Are you nervous?" I asked, because her hands were shaking as she examined herself in the mirror. She and Noah had only been together a few weeks, and things were still jittery-new.

"No," she said. But I could see the lump in her throat as she swallowed.

"Well, I'm excited for you." I batted my eyelashes dramatically. "You've been dreaming of Noah asking you to a dance for ages."

"Shut up," she snapped, her glossy lips pressed into a tight line. Carefully, she examined her face in the mirror. Tugged on the hem of the dress, adjusted the strap. I could tell from the way her skin glowed that she loved everything about her reflection.

Grant and I had been crowned homecoming king and queen at the game the night before. I should've been taking the customary photos with him and the other court members. Instead, I'd told him to meet me later to buy myself an extra hour with Piper.

When we arrived at school, we waited in front of the gym, Piper biting her lower lip. I swatted at her. "You're ruining your lipstick."

She stopped, only to begin picking at the black sequins on my clutch. Then she reached out to center the little gemstone on my necklace. It sparkled silver, like my dress and the clouds shifting overhead in the twinkling sky.

"You're going with a boy who loves you," I assured her. "It's going to be amazing."

Beneath the dim glow of the outdoor lights, she smiled faintly. Then she pulled her audio recorder from the clutch and pressed a button. "The walkway to homecoming was decorated with dreams," she said, transitioning effortlessly into her reporter voice while making silly faces at me. "The sparkling displays found only in realms as distant as Party City promised it would be a magical night to remember."

I clacked my fingernails together, and she tucked the recorder away. "Sorry," she said. "They assigned me the dance, if you can believe it. And I intend to do it justice." Then she removed her phone from the clutch and checked her makeup in the camera, her fingers shaking.

"You look beautiful," I said. And she did. "But I do think you need to loosen up a bit. How about a quick round of the Sullivan family road trip classic known as I Spy?"

She quirked a brow, but then started scanning the dance-goers making their way into the gym. "I spy with my little eye something you used to date in middle school."

My head whipped around, and I spotted Denny Henderson, who hadn't grown much since we "went out" for a week in eighth grade. I shoved Piper, and she wobbled in her high heels.

"Hey!" she shrieked. But I caught her by the arm, and then we were both cracking up in front of the school gymnasium.

A moment later, her smile sank. A darkness shifted into her eyes. "You know, you probably shouldn't be here when Jacey shows up."

I licked my lips, breaking my own damn rule about leaving my lipstick alone. "Right," I said, even though it felt like tiny needles were stabbing my chest. We'd made so much progress, but Piper was still embarrassed to be seen with me. Her own sister. "She just expects you to never talk to me, even though we live in the same house?"

"It's not that," she said softly. "I just want things to stay good between Jacey and me. Laughing with you isn't exactly going to help matters." She twirled a frizzy wave around her finger.

"Fine." I curled my toes, trying with everything in me not to argue because I didn't want to ruin the night for her. "I spy with my little eye…something tall and dashing and totally staring at you."

Piper turned bright red as she took a few long breaths and stuffed her phone back into the clutch. Then she full-on grinned at me, like the excitement she'd held in all day had finally burst. I gave her a discreet hand squeeze, and she spun, heels clicking down the path to meet Noah.

It was dark, but beneath the lamps, I watched him place a corsage on her wrist. His hand moved to the small of her back as they ambled up the path toward me.

"Hey, Savannah," Noah mumbled, barely making eye contact. He'd really gone all out for their date. His tall, lean frame was clothed in a dark tux. His hair was slightly combed for once. Same glasses as usual, but somehow, he looked all grown up.

Glimpsing Jacey at the parking lot's edge, I gave Piper one last smile of encouragement and moved away from the couple, into the shadows behind the gym, to wait for Grant.

Now, I stoop to pick a dandelion as I walk at Noah's side down the last stretch of road before the parking lot. Grant said Jacey had yelled at Piper during Survival Club. Maybe that's why Piper had seemed a bit on edge homecoming night. "Hey, Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"What did Jacey say to Piper in Survival Club the week before she fell? Why was she so upset?"

Noah is quiet for several paces. He kicks at a rock, which skips off a nearby tree and rolls into the lot. "She said, ‘Why did you have to take this away from me too?'"

"What did she mean by that?"

He runs a hand through his hair. Hunches his shoulders. "Freshman year, Jacey really wanted to join journalism, and Piper tagged along for the meeting. I don't know exactly what happened, but Piper ended up staying in the club, and Jacey never went back. When I asked her about it, Jacey just muttered about Mr. James having favorites or something."

A little flash of alarm goes off in my brain. It's not the first time I've heard this accusation. Seems like Mr. James had a habit of gifting Piper everything other girls wanted.

"I guess when Piper joined Survival Club," Noah continues, "Jacey sort of freaked out. She thought Piper was going to steal it away too. Survival Club has always been Jacey's thing , you know? She practically grew up in the wilderness with her dad. And Piper showed up with no experience and no clue how to do anything, and suddenly, it was like she was running the show. And she didn't mean to—we all know Piper never means to do these things. Even Jacey knew that. So she apologized to Piper, like, the next day, and then I swear things were fine."

I look up from my dandelion to give him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Noah."

He nods, and I watch him trudge ahead to catch Jacey. That itch to find the truth is worse now, begging to be scratched.

It sounds like things between Piper and her bestie were anything but fine.