I waved as she approached. "Jenni?" I called out.

  She looked up, blinked, and frowned at me as her brain seemed to forage for recognition.

  "Hartley Grace Featherstone," I supplied. "I'm on the school paper."

  She pulled one earbud out of her right ear. "Huh?"

  "Um, Hartley," I said again.

  "Oh. 'K?" she said, more of a question than a statement.

  "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

  "Um, I guess," she said, popping her gum. "Why?"

  "I wanted to ask you a couple questions for a story I'm doing for the school paper."

  She blinked at me. "We have a school paper?"

  I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

  "Yeah, we do. So, can I ask you a couple questions?"

  "What kind of questions?"

  "About Sydney Sanders."

  "What does she have to do with me? She committed suicide, right?"

  "Actually, we think it might have been Twittercide," Sam said.

  Jenni gave her a blank look.

  "We think Sydney might have been killed while tweeting," I explained.

  "Wow. You mean, someone killed her on purpose?" She looked over both shoulders, as if that person might be lurking in the hall.

  "Maybe," I said. "Anyway, you and Sydney were both up for Homecoming Queen, right?"

  A wicked grin snaked across her pretty features. "Were. I've pretty much got it locked up now, right?"

  "Even after the lice thing?" Sam asked.

  "That is old news," Jenni said, narrowing her eyes at Sam. "Anyway, I got back at her for that."

  "Oh?" I asked, gaze going to Sam. By maybe drowning her in her own swimming pool?

  "Yeah," Jenni said. "I got her busted for cheating."

  "You got her busted?" I asked.

  She nodded. "I sat in the next row over in Mr. Lipkins' class. When I saw her checking her nails for the answers, I knew what she was doing. I told Mr. Lipkins all about it."

  "You're the student who alerted him," I said.

  She grinned. "Served her right. Telling everyone I had lice was not cool."

  No, it wasn't. But apparently Jenni had gotten even…not only getting Sydney kicked off the ballot and securing her place as Homecoming Queen frontrunner but also stealing Sydney's boyfriend. At least temporarily.

  "You're dating Connor Crane now, correct?" I asked.

  Jenni nodded. "Uh-huh."

  "Did Sydney know you and Connor were together?"

  She smirked. "Of course. And I could tell it drove her nuts."

  There was zero sympathy for the dead girl in her eyes. In fact, if anything, she seemed to be enjoying replaying the way she'd taunted Sydney. It was distinctly chilling.

  I formulated my next question carefully. While I didn't necessarily owe any vow of secrecy to Connor, I didn't really want to be the one to let his plan out of the bag.

  "You don't think that maybe Connor was only dating you to get the Homecoming nomination?"

  Jenni narrowed her eyes at me. "Is that what Sydney told you? Because she was a vindictive liar."

  Somehow I thought that label might apply to the girl in front of me too.

  "So you weren't worried Connor might go back with Sydney after Homecoming?" Sam added.

  Jenni shrugged, and that same dead-eyed smile snaked across her face. "Well, she certainly won't be getting back with him now, will she?"

  She certainly wouldn't. And the more I talked to Jenni, the more I could easily see her having had something to do with that.

  "Where were you when Sydney died?" I asked.

  "I dunno. What time was that?"

  "Just after three."

  She pursed her eyebrows together, scrunching up her perfectly sculpted nose. "I was shopping. I didn't have any shoes to go with the color corsage Connor was getting me. So I was at the mall every day last week after school."

  Hardly an ironclad alibi. A fact that must have shown on my face, as she continued.

  "Lookit," Jenni said, popping one hip out. "If you really think someone killed Sydney, I'd take a look at that so-called best friend of hers."

  "Quinn?" I asked.

  She nodded.

  "'So-called' best friend? Why do you say that?" Sam asked.

  "Because Quinn hooked up with Connor before he dumped Sydney."

  "She did not!" Sam said.

  Jenni smirked again. "Oh yes, she did. Right before Connor and I got together. He told me he was studying after school with Quinn and Sydney one day, and Sydney had to leave for yearbook committee. The second she was gone, Quinn was all over him. She totally made out with him."

  I refrained from pointing out that it took two to tongue tango, instead asking, "Did Sydney find out about it?"

  Jenni shrugged. "I dunno. But it might explain why she ratted Quinn out to the vice principal."

  Good point. It also might explain why Quinn had seemed like she was hiding something when she'd talked to us. I wondered what else she might have been hiding…like the fact she'd Twittercided her best friend? (I had to admit, Sam's new word was growing on me.)

  "Did Connor tell you this?" Sam asked.

  Jenni nodded. "Quinn wouldn't leave him alone," she said. "Always texting him, calling. At first I thought there was something going on there, like Connor was cheating on me or something, but then Connor told me what had happened. I mean, she was obsessed."

  As I contemplated this new bit of information, the bell rang, echoing off the pea-green hallway walls.

  Jenni stuck her earbud back in, effectively ending the interview, and ducked into Spanish. Sam took off for her AP Statistics class, promising to meet me at lunch in the cafeteria, and I hoofed it to Lit, still mulling over what Jenni had said.

  If it was true that Quinn had made out with Sydney's boyfriend, that put a whole new spin on their friendship. And if Sydney had retaliated by getting Quinn busted for cheating, maybe Quinn had upped the ante in her revenge and killed Sydney. One thing was for certain—I was itching to talk to Quinn again.

  * * *

  I spent first period in a haze, barely paying attention to Shakespeare's sonnets as I watched the clock tick down with agonizing slowness. Ditto PE and American Government, which seemed to last an eternity as Mr. Bleaker explained the Articles of the Confederation in excruciating detail. By the time I finally got out of 4th period Spanish, I fairly raced for the cafeteria. Unfortunately, my sprint carried me right past the teachers' lounge, and as the door opened, Mr. Lipkins emerged, a cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in the other.

  "Hartley," he said, hailing me. "I was actually hoping I'd run into you."

  "You were?" I asked, racking my brain to make sure I hadn't said anything bad about him in the article that had run in that morning's Homepage. "Um…why?"

  "I saw the article in this morning's paper."

  "You did?" I asked, trying to replay it in my mind.

  He nodded. "It looks like you're doing a very thorough job of investigating where Sydney got those test answers."

  I did a mental sigh of relief. "Thanks. I'm certainly trying."

  "Have you turned up any new information about how they got out?"

  I bit my lip. "Not really." Which was mostly true. While I knew Nicky was involved, I still didn't know how Nicky had gotten the answers, so technically, I didn't know how his answers got out. Just where they went when they did get out.

  And, as Nicky had pointed out, I had no proof.

  "Well, I'd like to be kept in the loop on this," Mr. Lipkins said.

  I nodded. "Sure," I said. "No prob."

  "I take the security of my tests very seriously," he added.

  "I understand," I said, backing away. "Trust me, if I find out how those answers got out, you'll be the first to know!" I quickly turned and continued my sprint all the way to the cafeteria.

  By the time I got there, Quinn, fresh off her suspension, was already at a table near the back with half the lacrosse team, a tray of Monday Meat(ish)loaf in front of her.

  I quickly made my way toward her, ignoring the way my own stomach growled at the scent of food. (Even if it was only food-ish.)

  Quinn looked up, conversation around her hushing as someone clearly not of the Sporty Girl ranks approached.

  "What?" Quinn asked. A less than friendly greeting, but then again, I had a less than friendly question to ask her.

  "I wanted to talk to you about Sydney," I told her.

  At the mention of Sydney's name, all eyes hit the floor, a mix of sadness and awkward emotions swirling in the air. I saw that several of the girls were wearing black mourning bands on their arms, Quinn included.

  "So talk," Quinn challenged me.

  I glanced at the row of girls in matching ponytails and sweats seated next to her, all eyes trying desperately to avoid mine. "I think maybe we should talk in private."

  A couple of the other girls exchanged glances.

  Something in my tone must have convinced Quinn, as she shrugged, pushed away from the table, and led the way to an empty spot in the corner. She leaned against the end of the table and crossed her arms over her chest, defensive before I could even begin. "Okay, what's so private?"

  Since she seemed to be a fan of the direct, I dove right in.

  "You made out with Connor while he and Sydney were still going out."

  Fire instantly lit up Quinn's eyes as she narrowed them at me. "Who told you that?"

  "Um…a source. Is it true?"

  She pressed her lips together, and I could tell a lie was just on the tip of her tongue.

  But not knowing who my source was, she didn't know what kind of proof (or lack thereof) I had. So she bit the inside of her cheeks and finally decided on, "Yeah. So what?" She stuck her chin out defiantly.

  "Did Sydney know?"

  Quinn paused, genuine emotion suddenly welling in her eyes. "Yeah. She found out."

  "How?"

  "She found a text I'd sent Connor on his phone and called me out on it. So I told her the truth. Connor was into me."

  "Connor was into you?" Huh. That wasn't exactly how Jenni had described it, but I wasn't going to be the one to burst Quinn's bubble.

  "Yeah. Super into me."

  "I can't imagine Sydney was very happy about that," I prodded.

  Quinn shook her head. "No. She was mad. Not that I can blame her. She just found out her boyfriend was leaving her for me."

  "He told you that?" I asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice.

  "Well, no," she admitted. "But I could see it coming."

  "So, let me guess," I said. "To get back at you, Sydney told the principal that you were involved in the cheating."

  Quinn nodded. "Which was uncalled for! But, like I said, I don't blame her for being angry. It never feels good to be rejected."

  "But then Connor started dating Jenni Pritchard, not you."

  Quinn squared her jaw. "It's just because Jenni is up for Homecoming Court."

  "So after the Homecoming Dance…" I trailed off.

  "He's dumping her and getting together with me."

  I wasn't sure if Quinn was delusional, Jenni was wrong about the obsession being one-sided, or if Connor was playing both girls. Or, possibly, had been playing all three.

  "I hate to break it to you," I said, "but that's not what Connor told me. He said he'd planned to get back together with Sydney after he and Jenni won King and Queen."

  Quinn shook her head. "That's not possible. He's into me. He made out with me on his bed. Guys don't do that unless they're into you."

  I bit my lip. I didn't want to be the one to tell her, but some guys just made out with you to make out with you. I wasn't sure the venue had much to do with it.

  "Jenni seemed to think Connor was pretty into her."

  Quinn's eyes narrowed. "He's just using her. He'd never stay with a psycho like that." She paused, leaning in. "You know why she transferred here from Atherton, right?"

  I shook my head.

  "She burned down her old school."

  "No!" I said, the exclamation bursting out of me before I could hold it in.

  "I swear it's true," Quinn said. "I saw her file in the administration office when I was making copies of our bake sale flyers for Coach Clark."

  "Why would Jenni do that?" I asked.

  "Some teacher gave her a bad grade, and she went berserk on them. Broke in and set the classroom on fire. The only reason they let her in here is that her dad made some big donation to redo the sports fields."

  I thought back to the vindictive look on Jenni's face as she'd talked about getting back at Sydney. "Are you sure?" I asked Quinn.

  She shrugged. "It's what the file said. Anyway, Jenni's crazy and Sydney's gone, so clearly Connor has one choice left."

  I gave her a hard look, drawing my eyebrows together. "Right. Now that Sydney's gone."

  "What? What's with the eyebrows?" she said, taking a step back. "What are you trying to say?"

  "Did you kill Sydney to clear the field to Connor?" I asked point blank.

  Quinn blinked at me. "Me? No. No way! She killed herself. Over the guilt from ratting me out to the VP."

  "I thought you said overachievers didn't kill themselves," I pointed out, repeating what she'd told me in our first interview.

  Quinn shrugged. "Well, I've had some time to think about it. And I think she did. I mean, I was her best friend. She must have felt really bad about what she did. Look, are we done? Because we only have fifteen minutes left of lunch and I gotta eat."

  While I would have liked to grill her further, I didn't know what else to ask. Plus, I intended to stuff as much meat(ish)loaf into my own mouth in fifteen minutes as I could.

  * * *

  After shoveling lunch into my mouth quickly enough that I almost didn't have to taste it, I hit my locker before heading to 6th period. I was almost to the classroom when someone hailed me from the throng of students rushing to class.

  "Hartley!"

  I looked up to see Nicky Williams rushing toward me. I raised an eyebrow. He was the last person I expected to seek me out.

  "Nicky?" I asked, pausing outside Mrs. Blasberg's classroom.

  "Hey," he said. "I need to talk to you."

  I leaned against a bank of lockers. "Okay. Talk away."

  "Not here." He glanced around nervously. "Meet me later. After school."

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why? What's this about?"

  Nicky sucked in a breath, adjusting his beanie cap lower on his forehead. "Look, the cops showed up at my house yesterday. Said my number was in Sydney's call log."

  "And?"

  "And they wanted to know why!" he said, looking far less cool than the last time I'd seen him. Gone was the smug confidence, and in its place was something that looked downright jittery.

  "I'm guessing you didn't tell them it was to purchase test answers?"

  He licked his lips, eyes darting around the busy hallway. "Look, they said I was obstructing justice, hampering an investigation, all kinds of legal stuff like that."

  I immediately thought of Detective Raley. Maybe he wasn't so laser focused on suicide if he was interrogating Nicky.

  "Anyway," Nicky went on, "I'm ready to talk. If I tell you what I know, then it's out there, right? Once it's printed in the paper, the cops will leave me alone, right?"

  I shrugged. It was possible.

  "What is it that you know?" I asked him.

  He paused. So long I thought he was rethinking his strategy to unburden himself to me.

  "Nicky?"

  "I-I saw something."

  "What kind of something?" I pressed.

  "Look, I-I lied to you. About being at home the day Sydney was killed."

  That much I'd guessed. But instead of gloating, I just said, "So where were you?"

  He paused, glancing down the crowded hallway. "I went to see Sydney."

  Now we were getting somewhere. "At her house?" I clarified.

  He nodded. "Look, I got nervous that maybe she did know I was the guy she'd bought from. She'd already ratted her best friend out. I didn't want to take any chances. This could get me expelled."

  "So you decided to visit Sydney and make sure she couldn't tell the VP it was you."

  "No!" He did a couple over-the-shoulder glances. "No, it's not like that! I just went there to talk to her. You know, feel her out to see if she knew it was me. Maybe make a deal with her if she did."

  "A deal?"

  "Pay her off."

  "And if she didn't agree, maybe just off her instead?"

  "No!" he said again. He licked his lips. "Look, you gotta believe me. I just went there to talk, but…well, I never got the chance. I…" He did more nervous glancing around and took a deep breath before leaning in close. "I saw something," he said in a quiet voice.

  "Something?" I asked, matching his whisper.

  "Someone. Someone was in the backyard with Sydney."

  "Who?"

  "Look, I only saw them for a minute. And they could have been there for any reason, you know. But I—" He stopped abruptly, eyes shooting to point behind me.

  I turned around to see Mrs. Blasberg and Mr. Lipkins emerge from a classroom behind me, deep in conversation.

  "Look, not here," Nicky said under his breath. "Meet me tonight. At Oak Meadow Park. 8pm. By the train."

  I knew the park well. It was on Blossom Hill Road just down from the junior high we'd all gone to and not only completely deserted after sunset but completely dark. Usually not a combo I was a big fan of.

  I shook my head. "Nicky, I'm not going to—"

  But he was already hustling his way down the hall, disappearing into the crowd of students.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The rest of the day went by in a blur of homework assignments, boring lectures, and one pop quiz in trig. And as much as Sydney's Twittercide and who Nicky might have seen at her house were on my mind, another event was slowly pushing its way to the forefront: my date with Chase.

  I still wasn't entirely sure how I felt about it. Chase was nothing like the guys I'd gone out with before. Cole Perkins was my first real boyfriend. We'd gone out freshman year, but things had fizzled quickly once the rose-colored glasses of first love had faded. I think I'd been more into the idea of having a boyfriend than I had been into Cole.