mean?” I ask.
“I mean Natalie wasn’t in our second-period class,” she says. “Word is she hightailed it out of school as soon as she was caught planting the note this morning.”
I put my tray on the table and take my seat, though I know I won’t be able to choke down even a bite.
“Has Jamie heard?” I ask. “I haven’t seen him at all today.”
Melanie sighs. “Poor Jamie. I’ve cornered him at least three times and he won’t even talk about it. He just shakes his head and says, ‘Whatever, just drop it, there’s nothing to say.’” She snorts. “Tell that to the rest of the school. It’s all anybody else is talking about. I guess you were right, Anne.Tell a couple of people, and before long the whole school’s talking about it.”
“It didn’t help that Blake made a scene at the locker,” I mutter, picking up a limp fry and then dropping it back onto the tray.
“What was he supposed to do?” Melanie asks. “He caught her red-handed!”
“I dunno,” I say. “He just goes a little … ballistic sometimes. If he’d been a little more discreet—if he’d been the slightest bit discreet—we could have wrapped all of this up privately and moved on. And why was he staking out your locker anyway, Mel? Did you even ask him to?”
She thinks about it, then waves a hand impatiently. “No, but I’m glad he did. It was a good idea; I guess it was just a matter of time before another note turned up.”
“Maybe … ” I murmur.
Lauren looks at me quizzically. “Why are you hating on Blake all of a sudden? God knows he annoys the hell out of me—so darn earnest—but aren’t you glad he got to the bottom of this?”
“Uh,” Melanie interjects, “considering I’m the one who was getting the notes, I think I’m the only one qualified to answer that question. Yes, I’m doing the happy dance that the mystery is solved.”
I drum my fingers on the tabletop. “Except that it isn’t,” I say, more to myself than the others.
They lean in closer.
“What do you mean?” Melanie asks.
I pause, then shrug. “It still doesn’t make any sense. Why would Natalie want to break up you and Jamie? And why did she react so strangely at the locker? She really did act clueless about what the notes said. And who’s this other girl she’s talking about?”
“You mean the fantasy girl who doesn’t exist?” Melanie says.
“Why would that be so far-fetched?” I ask. “Blake says he and Jamie have been getting hate mail from people at Cara’s school.”
Mel shakes her head briskly. “Natalie has established herself as a lunatic. What did you expect her to do, admit it? I don’t get why you think it would be so shocking for her to lie.”
I stare blankly into space. “I just wouldn’t expect her to lie so well … ”
Lauren looks at us haltingly, opening her mouth to speak, then abruptly shutting it again.
“What?” Melanie asks her.
She bites her lip. “Well … there is one theory floating around, but it’s really off the wall … ”
Melanie makes a rolling motion with her hand.
Lauren shakes her head. “Let’s just eat.”
Melanie raises an eyebrow. “Uh, I don’t think so. Spill it.”
Lauren picks at her food some more. “I just hate fueling the stupid gossip,” she says.
I lean into the table. “What did you hear?”
Lauren pauses a moment, then rolls her eyes in resignation. “Okay, fine. This is really screwy, but, whatever. Here goes: the thing I’ve heard a couple of people mention—even before the whole school found out about the notes—and these are people who don’t even know the dead girl, mind you, so consider the source … ” Lauren blows her bangs out of her face. “They’re kinda floating the theory that maybe the dead girl isn’t really … you know … technically dead.”
Mel and I crinkle our brows.
“I’ve got to admit,” Lauren continues, “it’s the first thing that popped into my head when Natalie started yammering about some mystery girl, some girl whose identity she couldn’t disclose for some unmentionable reason … ”
“That’s crazy,” Melanie says. “Cara drowned that night.”
Lauren gives us a steady gaze. “So say Blake and Jamie. But the body was never recovered. And the people I heard talking—they’re friends with some kids at Cara’s school—they said that apparently no one at the bonfire that night ever saw Cara go into the water. They say it would have been weird for her to go swimming at night, all