The Lying Game Complete Collection - Sara Shepard Page 0,191

out the two brightest stars near Mom Star, Dad Star, and Emma Star and named them Sutton Star and Laurel Star, hoping that their proximity up there could influence her and Laurel’s relationship down here.

But by the disgusted, hateful look on Laurel’s face, I had a feeling it would take a lot more than that. And Emma should know the truth about stars—even though it seems like they’re close together, up there in the heavens, they’re a zillion light-years apart.

10

GONNA GETCHA

The following day, the bell rang and Emma grabbed her English textbook and joined the stream of students in the hall. As soon as she rounded the corner for the art wing, she heard the whispers and felt the stares.

“Her and Thayer …”

“Did you know she sent him away?”

“His hearing is a month from now. Do you think he’s going to rot in jail that whole time?”

A female basketball player with streaky highlights and a snub nose shot Emma a curious look, then leaned in to a boy with dreadlocks. Both of them started snickering. Emma winced and kept her head held high. She’d had plenty of experience with weird looks from kids at the many schools she’d attended. In fact, she’d even composed a list of nasty comebacks she could shoot at passersby if they commented about her thrift-store clothes and the fact that she was a foster kid. She’d written down the list on a pocket-size Moleskine notebook and kept it with her at all times, just like foreign tourists who carry around English translation handbooks. She’d never been brave enough to use any of the comebacks, though. Sutton probably would have been.

Suddenly, something at the far end of the lobby caught Emma’s eye. A long table had been set up at the doors, and a line of students were standing in front of it, signing something. As the crowd parted, Emma saw Laurel and Madeline sitting on chairs, both wearing black T-shirts with words printed in white across the boobs. Emma squinted, not believing her eyes. The shirts said FREE THAYER.

Emma walked up to the table, curiosity getting the best of her. “Oh, hey, Sutton!” Madeline said in a saccharine voice. “We’ll be ready for lunch in a sec.”

“What’s that?” Emma asked, pointing at a clipboard all the kids were signing.

“Nothing.” Laurel pulled it away from a guy in a baseball jersey who’d just signed the paper and covered it with her hand. “You wouldn’t be interested.”

“She should be interested,” Madeline said under her breath. “She’s the reason he’s in this mess.”

Madeline pushed the clipboard toward Emma. PETITION TO FREE THAYER VEGA, it said at the top. Tons of student signatures were scrawled on lines down the page. There was also a jar marked BAIL FUND filled with ones, fives, tens, and even a twenty-dollar bill or two.

“Want to contribute, Sutton?” Madeline lilted, an edge to her voice. “Fifteen thousand is a lot of money, and we could use every dollar. There’s no way Thayer can last in jail until next month. We need to get him out sooner.”

Emma ran her tongue over her teeth. The only thing keeping her sane right now was the fact that Thayer was in jail until his hearing. But she couldn’t exactly tell Mads and Laurel that. She wondered what would happen if she showed up tomorrow in a THAYER MAY HAVE KILLED MY LONG-LOST TWIN SISTER shirt.

She glanced up to catch Laurel glaring at her. She thought about what Mrs. Mercer had said—that Sutton was a hard sister for Laurel to have. Emma wished she knew exactly why Thayer’s return had made Laurel so angry. Was it because Thayer went to Sutton’s room and not Laurel’s? Was Laurel jealous because of that, or did she know that Thayer had been in love with Sutton? Or maybe she thought that Sutton had stolen him away.

But maybe Laurel was upset about something else entirely—something Emma and I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Luckily, Emma was saved from making an excuse to not sign the petition by Charlotte, who looped her arm around Emma’s shoulder. “C’mon, girls. Even activists need to eat,” she boomed loudly, beckoning for Madeline and Laurel. “I’ve scored our favorite lunch table.”

Shrugging, Madeline and Laurel slipped the petitions and banners back into their purses and stood. Charlotte wordlessly led them to a wooden table in the big courtyard outside the cafeteria. Desert flowers bloomed all around them. Hummingbirds flitted to the little daisy-shaped feeders that hung around the perimeter. At