The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,40
already radiating from Jade now made perfect sense.
Jade tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Mom says it must be hard being back here.”
“Don’t worry about me. I know you all must be shaken by Madison and Kaylee’s deaths.”
“For sure,” Jade said. “I’m still in shock. Not surprised, though.”
The blond girl to her left elbowed her. “Jade, come on.”
“Why?” Nikki checked her list; the blond’s name was Taylor. The girl next to her was Sophie; the short-haired brunette on the end was Brianna.
“Kaylee was trouble.” Jade’s tough exterior threatened to crack. “We told Madison that, but she didn’t listen.”
“Kaylee punched a couple of girls on the volleyball team for spreading rumors about her,” Taylor added. “And got herself kicked off the team for it.”
“Not what I heard,” Jade said. “I heard it was because she came on to the coach.”
Brianna rolled her eyes and looked at the floor, while Taylor and Sophie scoffed.
“My sister is varsity,” Sophie said. “She saw the whole thing go down.”
“What happened?” Nikki asked.
“One of the varsity girls had her phone and was showing everyone the photos of Kaylee from last year. She was talking about her. Madison told them to knock it off, and the varsity girl shoved Madison and told her to mind her own business. Madison was being nice to Kaylee, telling her to ignore them, but the older girl wouldn’t shut up. Kaylee had enough and socked the girl.” Sophie shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s when they started hanging out,” Taylor said. “This fall.”
“She brought her into our group without asking,” Jade said.
Jade certainly had inherited her mother’s holier-than-thou attitude. Connie loved to make sure the unpopular kids—usually those who lived outside of town, like Nikki—knew their place.
Brianna had yet to speak, her gazed focused on her shoes.
“But you guys were still friends,” Miller said. “Madison was at your house the weekend before she disappeared.”
Jade made a face. “Because I had to nag her into it. And I had to invite Kaylee. Thank God she didn’t come. That’s the thing—she didn’t like us any more than we liked her.”
Sophie and Taylor exchanged a glance that made it clear Jade’s opinion didn’t speak for all of the group, but the girls didn’t have the guts to challenge the social pecking order.
“I liked Kaylee.” Brianna’s soft voice surprised Nikki. “She was nice. Quiet, but nice. And smart.”
Jade glared at her, while Sophie and Taylor tried to hide their smiles.
“Did she ever talk to you about boys?” Nikki asked.
“Not really.” Brianna’s nervous gaze focused on the window behind Nikki.
“Are you sure?” Nikki asked. “We think she may have been dating an older boy in secret.”
Jade snickered. “Wouldn’t surprise me. She probably put—”
“Stop it,” Brianna said. “She had a big crush on an older boy, but they weren’t dating.”
“How did they meet?” Nikki asked.
“Madison’s known him since she was little. His name is Bobby Vance.”
“Mindy’s son?” Miller asked.
“I don’t know his parents,” Brianna said. “He’s going to Mankato State.”
“He’s Mindy’s son.” Jade perched on the edge of her chair. “He is pretty cute. They used to live down the street from Madison until his dad died.”
Nikki scribbled down the name and then tried to pass the picture she’d taken from Kaylee’s bedroom to Brianna, but Jade got to it first.
“Cute.”
“See the reflection in the window? Is that Bobby?”
Jade shrugged and then gave the photo to Brianna. “Might be. He’s tall and thin. Blond hair.”
“I can’t tell for sure,” Brianna said.
“Isn’t that a restaurant in Hudson?” Jade asked.
“Why?” Nikki waited for the other two girls to look at the picture before stowing it in her bag.
“’Cause I don’t think Bobby has a car,” Jade said “Freshmen can’t have cars on campus, and his dad died before they could buy him one. His mom can’t afford it now.”
“You sure know an awful lot about their family situation,” Miller said dryly.
“Not really,” Jade said. “Everyone knows freshmen can’t have cars. And if Mrs. Vance couldn’t afford their house, I bet she couldn’t afford to buy him a car.”
Nikki directed her question at Brianna. “Did Kaylee talk about Bobby coming home on the weekends? Or say anything that made you think she might have been spending time with him?”
Brianna shook her head. “I only know about the crush because Maddie told me.”
“I think Madison was her main friend,” Sophie said. “And Miles Hanson, but that was because of Maddie, too.”
Because she was afraid to be herself. She wasn’t high enough on the food chain to draw any sort of attention that wouldn’t be