Masquerade of Lies by Wendy Hinbest Read Free Book Online Page B

their things. It suddenly hit me that I’d forgotten my chemistry book in my locker, so Claire, Jessica, and Katie went their way while I headed in the other direction across the quad. I took a shortcut through lecture hall and landed at my locker. I opened it and grabbed my chemistry textbook.
    I was about to close my locker and saw Claire’s face. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Her hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, showing off her high cheekbones. She sank into one hip with her hands crossed at her chest.
    “Boy, aren’t we a little jumpy?”
    “Claire? Where did you come from? I thought you were headed to class?” I asked. My pulse was racing. I slammed my locker shut.
    “I was, but I wanted to see if you were OK. You seemed a little weird at lunch.”
    “Thanks, but I’m okay.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yeah, I’m good. Well, I gotta go to class. See ya.” I looped around her and started walking away.
    “Sure. By the way, I’m glad you found your phone,” she called out.
    I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around. “Me too.”
    “We wouldn’t want your phone getting in the wrong hands,” she said before she turned around. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. What did she mean by that?
    I watched her saunter down the hall until she vanished around the corner. Suddenly, I realized I hadn’t told Marisa what was going on yet! I escaped to the bathroom and called her. It rang a few times and went to her voicemail, so I left her a message to call me back.
    ***
    During class, the principal made an announcement about Brooke’s death. He asked the school to participate in a moment of silence out of respect.
    My phone buzzed a few times; it was Marisa calling me back. I decided I’d just call her back after school.
    As I was leaving class, my Motorola buzzed again; this time, it was my mother. She was reminding me that she was going to pick me up from school. Ever since the whole thing with Brooke last night, my mother didn’t want to let me out of her sight.
    She drove me to school that morning and offered to walk me to my first class. I guess I couldn’t blame her too much; ever since she and my dad split up, I was all she had. After everything that happened with Simon, we decided to move. My dad stayed in Deerwood. Sometimes I thought I was the reason they weren’t together anymore, although my mom said they just grew out of love. She’d always accused him of cheating on her. He used to work a lot of late nights, and sometimes I’d hear them arguing about the lack of activity in their marriage (if you know what I mean). I used to put my iPod EarPods in my ears and listen to music so I wouldn’t have to hear it. We even tried going to family therapy, but that was a waste of time.
    My mother pulled up to the front of the school, and I got in the car.
    “How did it go today?” she asked.
    “Awful. Everybody stared at me and whispered about me.” I tossed my back pack in the back seat. “Maybe I should be homeschooled,” I said as I put on my seatbelt.
    “Hang in there,” my mother said as she reached out and squeezed my hand. “This, too, shall pass.” She gave me a reassuring smile.
    Suddenly, I remembered I had to call Marisa back. I dialed her number and put the phone to my ear. It rang a couple times, then she answered.
    “Hey, girl!” she shrilled.
    “Hey!”
    “What’s going on?”
    “A. Lot. I have so much to tell you!”
    I told her that Brooke and I had planned to meet but she never showed up. Then I told her how I’d found Brooke dead the next day at her house and that I was a suspect. She couldn’t believe it. I told her how everybody at school was staring at me and talking about me.
    “Screw ‘em!” she said.
    That was one thing I admired about Marisa: her ability not to care what people thought of her. She exuded confidence, and she never had a problem sticking up for herself. I wish I was more like that.
    “Ohmigod! Your life is like a movie