“Hey!” Emma said, waving them toward her. All she had to do was glance at the kids around them, and a whole slew of girls and guys got up, no questions asked, and moved down several rows. It was insane having that kind of power, especially when in her previous life, she would have been the one scurrying away.
Ethan watched as everyone climbed up the bleachers. “Let the games begin,” he murmured under his breath.
Lili reached the top and twirled around, showing off the back of her hot pink T-shirt, which read GET CRASS ON THE GRASS. “Like ’em? We had them custom-made.”
“You can’t find something this authentic in the school store,” Gabby added. She was wearing an identical shirt, except in neon yellow.
Madeline slid in next to Ethan on the other side from Emma. “Hey, Poet,” she said, nudging him in the ribs.
Emma avoided eye contact with Thayer, willing him not to sit in the empty spot next to her, but to her chagrin, he sank down and said hello. Emma’s fingers tightened around Ethan’s, as if to say, It’s okay. Luckily Ethan squeezed back and gave her a small smile.
Laurel looked sourly at Thayer and Emma, then took the seat on the other side of Thayer.
“How’s Hollier soccer’s number-one fan?” Thayer asked, fake-punching Emma in the arm.
“Uh, still kicking,” Emma said, realizing how lame she sounded.
Thayer gave her a stern look. “You aren’t going to cheer for Hollier now that I’m off the team, are you? Personally, I’m hoping Wheeler wins.”
Emma frowned good-naturedly. “Traitor.”
Thayer laughed louder than necessary, and he stared at Emma with twinkling, unblinking hazel eyes. Emma felt Ethan’s fingers slip from hers.
I felt a little hurt, too. Thayer was looking at my twin the same way he looked at me in the memories I had of our time together. I wanted to put my hands on his shoulders, to make him see me, not Emma. If he loved me so much, how come he couldn’t see that the girl he’d fallen for wasn’t the person sitting next to him?
Charlotte took a huge, floppy red hat out of her purse and pulled it low over her forehead. Madeline looked at her and giggled. “What are you doing?”
Charlotte pulled the brim lower over her forehead. “I’m sick of everyone staring at me because of that stupid Devious Four prank. Tad Phelps actually had the nerve to ask which bras were mine. Seven people unfriended me on Facebook, and no one was afraid of me in debate. Before, they all used to cower when I took the podium, never wanting to argue with me for fear I might retaliate by pranking them. Today one girl questioned my use of the phrase ‘moral character’ given the, quote, ‘recent vandalism to school property.’”
Emma looked out over the bleachers, and sure enough, at least fifteen different people were peering at the Lying Game members and whispering angrily.
“Throwing the dance isn’t enough. We need to prove that we didn’t do this,” Charlotte said.
Laurel sighed dramatically. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually wish the school did have security cameras. Then we could show everyone it wasn’t us.”
Ethan looked up, a hesitant expression on his face. “You know, there are traffic cameras on the corner next to school.”
Laurel narrowed her eyes. “So?”
“So,” Ethan continued, “I got a ticket once for running the light there, and they sent me my ticket along with a photo. I could see the front of the school in the background. Maybe those traffic cams caught the vandalism to the school.” Ethan shrugged.
“Seriously?” Madeline’s eyes lit up. But then she visibly deflated. “How could we ever get access to that though?”
Ethan licked his lips. “Well…the camera feed goes to an online site that you can access remotely and I’m pretty good with computers. I, uh, hacked into the site at the time to see if I could get the ticket erased.” His cheeks reddened visibly. “I couldn’t, but I did notice they kept an archive of the video footage. The password’s probably changed, but with a little time, I think I could figure out how to get back in.”
“OMG, that would be amazing!” Charlotte squealed.
“That’s badass, Ethan,” Madeline said admiringly. “I had no idea you had it in you.”
The other Lying Game girls cheered and smiled. Only one person looked less than delighted: Thayer. He kept his gaze on the field, even though play hadn’t started yet. “Like it’s really that hard to get ahold of surveillance footage,” he said under his breath, in a voice only Emma could hear. She pretended not to notice.
Emma turned to Ethan. “Are you sure you want to do that?” The last thing she wanted was for Ethan to get in trouble just to make Sutton’s friends like him.
Ethan shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Honest.”
Suddenly, a shadow fell over Emma. A girl with dark, curly hair in a side ponytail stood in the aisle. Tiny yellow shorts barely covered her thin thighs, and a white T-shirt showed off the outline of her bra. It took Emma only a few seconds to realize it was one of the members of the Devious Four—Bethany something.
“Hi, Ethan,” Bethany said, staring at him and only him. She hitched her shorts even higher.
Ethan blushed, clearly not used to the attention. “Um, hi?”
I rolled my eyes. I was dead and practically memory-less, but even I knew that you never, ever talk to a freshman. You pretended you were too busy to realize they exist, even if you were related to them.
“What are you up to this weekend?” Bethany asked.