The Lying Game Complete Collection - Sara Shepard Page 0,149

her. “Sutton, we already invited them.”

Emma’s jaw dropped. “You did? When?”

Madeline shrugged. “It seemed only fair after the court prank.”

“Inviting them to get ready with us was only fair,” Emma said, the pitch of her voice rising higher and higher. “I don’t want them camping with us!”

“Calm down.” Charlotte sounded bored. “It’s just one night.”

Laurel looked back and forth between everyone, her cheeks still flushed from her night with Caleb. “We can’t exactly uninvite them,” she said. “Besides, they know where the springs are. None of us have ever been before, and apparently they’re hard to find.”

“The springs are hard to find?” Emma echoed weakly. Suddenly, the seat belt across her torso felt like a vise. She had to get out of here. She racked her brain for an excuse, but before she could come up with anything, Gabby wrenched open the door.

“Hey, girls!” She climbed past Charlotte and Laurel to the very back seat. Lili begrudgingly followed. When it was clear that the only available seat left was next to her sister, Lili let out a groan and plopped down, too, putting as much distance between them as she could. She gripped her Liberty torch as though it were a weapon.

Emma’s skin felt hot and prickly at the nearness of the Twins. Her brain spun. Would Lili and Gabby do anything to her with the other girls around? Maybe if she played it cool—and stuck with Laurel all night—nothing would happen.

No no no, I thought desperately, willing Emma to get out of the car.

“Okay, bitches.” Madeline revved the engine. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Everyone whooped. “Hot springs, here we come.” Charlotte draped her arms across the back of the seats.

Laurel swiveled around and looked at Lili and Gabby. “You remember how to get there, right?”

“Yeah. We just went camping there with our dad.” Gabby’s voice was languid and happy, as though she’d just spent hours at the spa. “He didn’t want us to swim in them, but we did when he went to sleep.”

“That’s not true,” Lili said sharply. “Dad didn’t care if we swam in it.”

“Yeah, he did,” Gabby said. “He thought we’d drown.”

“You’ve got it all wrong.” Lili sounded really worked up. “You always get everything wrong.”

Everyone fell silent at the razor-sharp tone of Lili’s voice. “Rrow,” Madeline whispered.

The car rolled over a speed bump and out the school exit. Someone had draped spiderwebs over the gates and affixed devil horns to the large, many-armed cacti lining the path. Madeline turned up the winding roads that led toward the mountain. A sports car with round, xenon-bright headlights passed them going the other direction.

The girls began to chatter about the dance—Madeline and the disastrous Freddy Krueger, Laurel’s burgeoning crush on Caleb. “And how about you?” Madeline nudged Emma. “You disappeared for a while. Did you find someone fun?”

“Definitely not,” Emma said quickly. She wanted to forget the whole Ethan thing ever happened.

“What did you think about the dance, ladies?” Charlotte asked, swiveling around and looking at the Twitter Twins. “Was being on the court everything you hoped for and more?”

“Of course,” Gabby said automatically, lifting her sash from her chest and admiring it lovingly. “All eyes were on me. I felt like a princess.”

Lili let out an irate squeak. “There were eight court girls, Gabriella. Not just you!”

Gabby shrugged. “You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t think I do.”

“What’s wrong with you tonight?” Gabby wrinkled her nose. “You sound like Mom when you call me Gabriella.”

A small, frustrated noise came from the back of Lili’s throat. “As if you don’t know?”

Everyone laughed awkwardly. Madeline cleared her throat. “Um, girls?” But the Twins ignored her.

“If you’re going to be a mega bitch, maybe you shouldn’t come tonight,” Gabby said primly.

“You know what? Maybe I don’t want to come. Maybe I don’t want to spend another minute with you,” Lili growled. She pointed at a Super Stop gas station at the next intersection. “Pull into there.”

Madeline gripped the wheel, but she didn’t put on her turn signal.

“I’m serious!” Lili screeched. “Pull frickin’ over!”

Emma stiffened. Lili was more unhinged than ever.

“Whoa.” Madeline set her jaw, veered into the next lane of traffic, and wheeled into the gas station. Several cars waited at the pumps. Two teenage boys in death-metal T-shirts loitered near the entrance, smoking cigarettes. Inside, Emma could see brightly colored soda bottles, racks and racks of candy, and grayish hot dogs spinning slowly on a grill.

As soon as the car slowed, Lili pushed Gabby out the back