“It’s okay.” Madeline said to Emma, her voice wobbly. “I cal ed Charlotte. She was actual y pretty awesome about the whole thing. I wanted to tel you later, but . . .” Madeline let out a bitter laugh and smoothed down the layers of her ful skirt. “Believe it or not, this is nothing compared to what Dad used to do to Thayer.” She peeked at Emma. “But I guess Thayer told you that, right?”
Emma’s skin prickled at the sound of Thayer’s name. Would Thayer have told Sutton something so personal?
Had they been that close?
A whoosh came over me again. That same moment I’d seen before, of Thayer taking my hands and tel ing me something, trying to make me understand. Had it been about his dad?
“You have to tel someone about this, Mads,” Emma insisted. “What he’s doing to you is wrong. And dangerous.”
“Are you kidding me?” The crown slipped down
Madeline’s forehead. “He’d find a way to twist this around and make it my fault. My mom would side with him, too. And it is my fault. If I didn’t keep screwing up, things would be fine.”
“Madeline, this isn’t normal,” Emma said forceful y.
“Promise me you’l think about saying something. Please?”
Madeline stared at her hands. “Maybe.”
“There are a lot of people around to support you if you do. Char, me, Freddy Krueger . . .”
Madeline raised her head and cracked a smile. “Oh God, that costume is awful.”
“It freaks me out,” Emma agreed. “I’m going to have nightmares.”
“Everyone is. He thinks he looks real y cool.”
“Just don’t let him slow-dance with you,” Emma warned.
“Could you imagine those slasher hands on your butt?”
The girls col apsed into giggles, nearly tumbling off the bench. A group of sophomores in matching Arizona Cardinals cheerleading costumes marched in, stopped short when they saw Emma and Madeline, and then filed back out again. That just made the two of them laugh even harder.
When they final y stopped, Emma cleared her throat and felt her smile fade. “Mads, I am here for you. I’m sorry if . . . if it seemed like I wasn’t before.”
Madeline stood and reached a hand out to grab Emma’s. “I’m glad I told you.”
“I’m glad you did, too,” Emma said, giving Sutton’s friend
—and her friend—a hug. “We’re going to figure out a way to make this better,” she said. “I promise.”
Lights swirled around them as they emerged into the bal room once more. Madeline headed for the dance floor; Emma said she’d catch up with her in a minute after she got some punch. She scanned the room for the Twitter Twins, her heart jumping when she didn’t immediately see them. As she walked toward the drinks table, a hand gripped her shoulder and spun her around. Dark eyes stared down on her. In the dim, orangey light, Emma could make out two faint Viking horns on the figure’s head.
“We need to talk,” Garrett growled. And then he pul ed Emma into a supply closet before anyone could see that she was gone.
Chapter 24
The Viking’s Revenge
Garrett slammed the closet door. It took a moment for Emma’s eyes to adjust to the dim light. Above her head was a bin of red rubber dodgebal s. To her left were soccer nets, field hockey pinnies, and extra lacrosse sticks. The tiny room smel ed stale, as though it had been closed up for a while. The brightest things in the room were Garrett’s Viking horns, which gave off an eerie, iridescent glow.
“What do you want?” Emma asked, trying not to get too freaked. This was just Garrett, after al . He was harmless . . . wasn’t he?
Al of a sudden, crammed into a dark closet and focusing on the white of Garrett’s bared teeth, even I wasn’t so sure.
“I just need to ask you something, okay?” Garrett’s voice was wound tight. He took another step toward Emma, nearly pinning her against the shelving unit behind her.
“What’s this I hear about you hanging out with another guy already?”
“W-what?” Emma stammered.
“Don’t lie to me.” Garrett clamped a hand around Emma’s wrist. “I’ve heard al about it. Who is he?”
He sounded so certain, so sure of himself. Someone had told him about Ethan. “Who’d you hear that from? Nisha?”
“So it’s true, then?” Garrett’s breath smel ed yeasty-sweet, like beer. Emma turned away. “It’s none of your business.”
Garrett sighed. His grip softened a little, and his fingers began tickling the inside of Emma’s palm. “Sutton, what did I do to deserve this? This summer was amazing—I know you thought so, too. You did nothing al summer but beg and beg and beg me to sleep with you, and the day I want to, you freak. Did I wait too long? Had you already moved on?
Is that why you dumped me?”
“Excuse me?” Emma straightened up. “I believe you were the one who dumped me. You were the one who said we were done, remember?”
Garrett scoffed. “Not cal ing me for three days after rejecting me when I was naked sends a pretty strong message, Sutton. Dating someone else does, too.”
Emma smacked a palm to her side. “What about you and Nisha? Love your twin Viking costumes, by the way. You two make a cute couple.”
“Please. I only brought her here to make you jealous.”
“Too bad,” Emma snarled. “It’s obvious Nisha’s crazy about you.”
“Unlike you?” Garrett placed his rough, cold hands on the sides of Emma’s face.