Suddenly, a warm hand circled the top of her arm. “Can I have this dance?” Ethan said in her ear. While Emma had been holding court, he’d been talking to some kids from their German class.
“Of course!” she breathed as Ethan pulled her close. His lake-blue eyes held hers. He leaned forward and brushed Emma’s lips with a kiss.
“Awwww!” Lili swooned, snapping a Twitpic.
Emma grabbed his arm. “Let’s go somewhere quiet,” she whispered into his ear.
Ethan nodded, and they pushed through the crowd together. Students brave enough to talk to the girl they thought was Sutton Mercer congratulated her on an amazing party, and Emma flashed a confident smile. One girl dressed in head-to-toe purple asked to take a photo of “Hollier’s Hottest Couple.” Emma and Ethan paused for a moment, smiled, then moved on. Normally, Emma would have nudged Ethan and commented on how ironic it was that a foster kid and a loner were suddenly an It couple, but now wasn’t the time.
As the opening notes to a Coldplay song blared, Emma pulled Ethan under the bleachers. “Okay. I admit it, I’m nervous about tonight,” she said.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed in concern. “You don’t have to go, Emma. There’s got to be another way.”
“Maybe, but I don’t know what it is, and I can’t just continue on like this, not knowing.” Emma twisted the silver bracelet on her wrist around and around. “Living in that house is making me crazy.”
“But what if Raven is in on the murder? What then?” Ethan asked. “Maybe this is too dangerous.”
Emma thought about this, staring at the students in the gym. Most of them were dancing or laughing by the snack table. “Maybe it is dangerous. But that’s a chance I have to take. Please back me up, Ethan. Please. I don’t know what else to do.”
Ethan still looked worried, but he pulled her into a hug. “I understand,” he said. “I’ve got your back. I’ll be there every step of the way.”
Emma set her jaw. “Actually, I was thinking about that. If I bring you to the room, it could freak Raven out.”
Ethan paused, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, what if I wait outside the room?”
I liked that plan. The last thing I needed was my sister dying and both of us being in the in-between, trying to figure out who killed us.
“Deal,” Emma said.
“Please be careful, okay?” Ethan looked worried. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to you.”
Unexpectedly, tears filled Emma’s eyes. “I’ll be okay.”
“How can you know that?” Ethan pressed.
“I guess I can’t,” Emma said, fidgeting with Sutton’s silver locket at her collarbone.
“I’ll be right outside the room. And if you get a bad feeling, or if something doesn’t seem right, promise me you’ll get out of there.”
Emma forced a smile. “Of course I will.”
Ethan leaned forward and put his arms around her again.
“When this is all over, think of how much easier it will be for us,” Emma whispered in his ear. “I’ll just be…me. And you’ll just be you.”
Ethan pulled her closer to him, but his gaze was elsewhere. A bunch of bulky figures stood in the doorway. “What the…?”
Suddenly, the music screeched to a halt. There were confused murmurs. Emma and Ethan made their way out from under the bleachers just as Madeline’s voice rang out. “Cops!”
“Everyone, freeze!” one of the figures called at the same time.
Pandemonium ensued. Students shoved toward the doors, nearly knocking Emma to the ground. Several police officers ran into the gym and grabbed students. Sirens whooped outside, and megaphones blared instructions to freeze and stay calm.
Emma grabbed Ethan’s arm. “Come on!”
They cut into the mass of kids. Girls hobbled toward the door, unsteady in their heels. Guys took shortcuts over the bleachers, stumbling over the risers. A lacrosse player who’d had too much to drink bumped against Emma, breaking her grip with Ethan. He was drifting away from her, like a life raft cut from its ship.
“Ethan!” Emma called out.
Students elbowed between them. A cacophony of screams and cries echoed through the air. Someone caught Emma’s shoulder, and she turned to see Nisha’s eyes flashing.
“Hurry!” Nisha called.
Emma turned back for Ethan, but he wasn’t in the spot where she left him. “Ethan!” she cried out. “Ethan!” She checked her watch. It was 8:40. She had to get out of there. She couldn’t miss her meeting with Raven.
Students poured into a hallway that led to the parking lot just as a police car screamed up to the entrance. Wheeling around, she sprinted in the opposite direction, down an unfamiliar passage. She kept looking over her shoulder, hoping Ethan would materialize, but he was gone. Maybe he’ll meet me outside, she thought. He knows where to find me.
She continued down the hall, Sutton’s sandals rubbing blisters on her feet. The hallway was dark, and she could barely see in front of her. She thought she could make out a door at the end of the hall, but what if it led nowhere?
Suddenly, there were footsteps behind her. “You!” a voice called.
Emma spun around, recognizing the voice instantly. Quinlan. Of course he would be the one to find her.
But she couldn’t let him get her—and she couldn’t let him figure out who she was. She sprinted faster, her lungs screaming.
“You there!” Quinlan’s voice sounded even closer. “Stop!”