Pretty Little Killers by Geoffrey C. Fuller Daleen Berry Read Free Book Online

freshmen had made plans to see a movie. Skylar was there at the time so Morgan assumed she was included. Most of the teens were good friends with Morgan but none of them were close to Skylar.
    It happens in high schools and everywhere else in society: people associate with other people who are like them. Often that means economic and cultural similarities. Morgan’s father was a doctor and many of her friends’ parents were white-collar professionals as well—lawyers, consultants, accountants, and professors.
    â€œNo, no,” Morgan said. “That’s not how that works. Either we’re both going, or I’m not going at all. Skylar and I’ll do something, ’cause I’m not doing that. That’s stupid.”
    â€œI think it would be awkward if she went,” her friend replied. “This could be weird. We’re not that good of friends with her.”
    â€œWell, I am. I’m friends with all of you.”
    Morgan didn’t think it was a conscious choice on her friends’ part. They weren’t trying to exclude Skylar because her family didn’t have money; they just weren’t on the same wavelength.
    Class differences weren’t always fueled by snobbery, but the effects could be equally divisive. Especially when it appeared snobbery was alive and well at UHS. Whether or not this attitude of entitlement affected Morgan’s friends, Skylar must have been aware of it. How could she not be? It was all around her. Students say some of the wealthier teens, the more mean-spirited ones, actually referred to the rural kids or those from working-class backgrounds as “the dirty kids” or simply, “the dirties.”

three

    The Lesbian Connection
    Skylar and Shelia met Rachel when the three had a class together and the next thing Skylar knew, wherever she and Shelia were, so was Rachel. This was fine by Skylar, who made friends with everyone. While they were freshmen, Shelia, Rachel, and Skylar became a well-known trio who turned the heads of other students they passed in the UHS hallways.
    Skylar was ecstatic when Shelia Eddy— her Shelia—transferred there from an outlying rural area. Skylar and the tiny brunette had been friends since second grade, and she could imagine how fantastic it was going to be. Although Shelia was boy crazy and always on her cell phone, she had connections and could get weed.
    Slender and sharp-tongued, Shelia had been popular at her old school, Clay-Battelle. But at UHS, she was an unknown. Except for Skylar, all her childhood friends lived in Blacksville. When Shelia didn’t become popular at UHS, she used her budding sexuality to make friends and influence people. UHS teens say Shelia was the least liked of the three.
    Unlike Shelia, Rachel was surrounded by her childhood friends, many of whom also came from Saint Francis, a parochial school. Unlike Skylar, Rachel had money, and her parents were consideredmore white-collar workers than blue-collar. A popular redhead, Rachel was known for her staunch Catholic faith and her volunteer work during Special Olympics. A songbird and aspiring actress, Rachel was the most talented of the three.
    Finally, there was the five-foot-two blossoming environmentalist and champion of the underdog. The girl whose every step became a bounce, who smiled all the time, aced every exam, did her friends’ homework, and insisted she was going to law school. That, of course, was Skylar. A likable honors student, she was the smartest of the three.
    By the time they became fast friends, they were inseparable: the brunette, the redhead, and Skylar, the beautiful girl with Bette Davis eyes.
    Despite the three girls’ desire for excitement—or perhaps because of it—their relationship would soon be marked by tension, distrust, and one fight after another.
    During those two years, Skylar must have assumed the social payoff was worth the occasional drama. She either wasn’t