girls were lying, everyone believed them.” She tossed a couple goldfish crackers in her mouth and brushed crumbs from her hands.
“All the kids were questioned,” she said, talking around the crackers. “And more girls said the teacher did things to them, too. The sheriff knew they were lying because their stories were either too messed up or too perfect, but he didn’t say anything.”
“Why not?” I said, tugging my shoelace again. Okay, maybe the story was a little interesting, but I still wished we were talking about something else.
“Because he didn’t like the teacher either, and no, I don’t know why. The Red Lady started showing up in his mirrors, too, and in the back seat of his car, and in the middle of the road. So he told everyone the girls were lying, but it was too late.
“He told the girls to tell the truth, but they said they were, and there was nothing else he could do. So the Red Lady left him alone, since he tried to do the right thing.
“She didn’t leave the girls alone, though. She followed one everywhere, breathing on the back of her neck, saying in her mind she was a liar and until she told the truth, the Red Lady was going to stay with her every minute of every day for the rest of her life. And if she wanted her to go away, all she had to do was look in her eyes. She was there when the girl took a shower, when she ate dinner, everywhere. And every morning the girl found streaks of blood in her room next to her bed, so she knew the Red Lady was watching her while she slept, but then it would just disappear.
“She couldn’t take it anymore. She begged the Red Lady to stop, but all she did was laugh. So the girl jumped off a bridge and broke her neck.”
Gia gave a high-pitched squeak, Rachel a little hiss. Becca ate another goldfish. Chewed and swallowed slow.
“Then she did the same thing to the next girl, and she slashed her wrists in the bathtub. The third girl, the one whose idea it was in the first place, ignored the Red Lady for as long as she could. She thought she was stronger and smarter than the other girls. But one night she was driving, and the Red Lady showed up in the passenger seat, showing her bloody smile. The girl lost control and drove into a tree.
“She didn’t die, but she broke every bone in her body. In the hospital she kept screaming the Red Lady was going to get her, and she only stopped when they drugged her. She spent the rest of her life in a nuthouse, screaming anytime she was awake. By then, the Red Lady wasn’t even doing anything to her anymore.
“But when she was an old lady, the nurses found her dead in her bed, mouth full of dirt. See, the Red Lady never ever forgets. Ever. If she wants you to look in her eyes, if she wants you to see her, eventually you will. Even if you’re old and think you’re finally brave enough or safe enough to look.”
Rachel said, “Why didn’t they just tell the truth?”
“Because they told the lie so much they believed it,” Becca said.
Clouds moved over the sun, turning the day dark. I knew Becca’s story was fake, but I went all shivery.
“Can we go hang out inside instead?” Rachel said.
“We should sneak back in the house,” Gia said. “See if we hear anyone else like we did on Sat—”
Becca sat straight up. Gia turned bright red.
“You went there without me?” I said.
“Yeah,” Becca said. “On Saturday, when you went to your grandparents’ house.”
“Why didn’t you wait?” I said. This was different than when she and I had gone alone Friday night. We were best friends. We did stuff together without Rachel and Gia all the time. And they did stuff without me and Becca. But the three of them going without me? That felt wrong, really wrong. They’d never done anything without me before.
“We didn’t plan it, we just went,” Becca said. “We weren’t even there long; Rachel thought she heard someone in the house.”
“I did.”
“Did not,” Gia said.
“Were you even going to tell me?” I said.
“We were only there for a couple minutes. It’s not a big deal,” Becca said, turning away from me, toward Gia. “You know, there is something else we could do, something more than the