Chapter
Thirty-Eight
I hang back on the dimly lit trail, not wanting Maggie to see me, since there’s no one else around. I don’t even see Courtney, and can only assume she’s in the bathroom already. Everyone else is in the quad, the crowd quiet as Mrs. Adney’s voice booms through the speakers set up around the perimeter. Hundreds of people have shown up tonight, yet I’ve never felt so alone as I do at this moment.
Chills race over my skin when I realize it’s Maggie. Oh my God, it’s freaking Maggie who’s the killer. Sweet little gung-ho Maggie—but why?
Why?
Taking a deep breath, I tell myself to stay focused. Maggie is oblivious to my following her as she heads down the path, her steps determined. The bathrooms loom ahead and the women’s door swings open, a shard of golden light shining bright before the door slams shut again.
It’s Courtney.
“Oh,” she says when she spots Maggie. Her voice is flat, devoid of any emotion. “It’s you.”
“It’s me.” Maggie’s voice rings clear. She almost sounds cheerful. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“What about?”
“I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“That’s because I haven’t been at school.”
I jump behind a tree so they don’t see me. I hope I’m close enough that I can listen to their conversation.
“I know that,” Maggie says slowly, as if she’s talking to an imbecile. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“Since when do you care?” Courtney asks snottily. Her tone shocks me, only because it’s the first time I’ve heard her sound like her old self in days.
“I told you before, I wanted us to be friends,” Maggie says, almost pleadingly.
“Well, like I told you before, I’m not interested.” Courtney starts to walk away, but Maggie grabs hold of her arm. “Hey! Let me go!”
“Tell me something.” Maggie’s voice changes, goes deeper. “Are you with Brogan?”
“What? Why do you care?” Courtney struggles. “I said let me go!”
“Answer me. Are you and Brogan a thing?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yeah. We’re together.” Courtney finally jerks out of her hold. “You satisfied?”
“No. I’m not.” Maggie’s voice is eerily calm.
Courtney turns to leave, but not before Maggie grabs hold of her arm once more, pulling so hard Courtney stumbles, trips, and falls to the ground, landing flat on her back. Maggie stands over her, reaching into the voluminous folds of her black dress and pulling something out of her pocket.
It’s a knife.
“What the hell are you doing?” Courtney yells just as I move away from the tree and run toward them.
“Stop!” I scream at Maggie, causing her to whirl around. She clutches the knife in her hand, the long blade gleaming in the dim moonlight, and I stop only a few feet away from her, trying to catch my breath.
Holy. Freaking. Crap. It’s not Courtney who’s the killer.
It’s Maggie?
Her shoulders sag and she rolls her eyes, laughing. “What are you doing here? Jesus. Why can’t everything go my way for once?”
“Put the knife down.” My gaze drops to meet Courtney’s. She’s sprawled on the ground, her knees scraped from the fall, but otherwise, she looks okay.
“Are you kidding me? No way. This actually works out better. I’ll take care of Courtney first, considering she stole my man.”
She stole that line from Courtney, who said the same exact thing about Gretchen.
“I never stole Brogan from you!” Courtney yells indignantly. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Maggie sends her a withering glance before she looks back at me. “Then I’ll take care of you. And finally, it will be over.”
“What will be over?” I need to keep her talking, and hopefully someone will find us. There are so many people here, surely someone will need to use the restroom.
And if that’s all I’m banking on, we are so screwed.
“My plan. Once you’re gone, I’ll reopen the Larks and I’ll become president, not Alyssa.” She smiles, her eyes sparkling. “Everyone will be so relieved I’m there to take care of them. It’ll be easy.”
Don’t tell me she planned this only because she wants to be the president of the Larks? That’s crazy. The seniors choose who becomes the next president…
Though it’s hard for us to make a choice when we’re all dead.
“Why are you doing this? Why did you kill them?”
Maggie shrugs and starts waving the knife around. “I tried my hardest to become everyone’s friend, and you all made fun of me. You would laugh and push me to the ground so my skirt got muddy and my shoes were ruined. All the boys would point and call me names, because you guys encouraged them. You don’t remember?” she asks when she catches my confused expression.
I slowly shake my head. “What are you talking about?”
“I couldn’t go back to school, couldn’t face all you stupid bitches again. I told my mom she couldn’t make me. I mean, I threw the biggest fit. I didn’t know I had it in me.” She shakes her head, a faint smile on her face, like she’s thinking of a fond memory. “I missed so much school they had to hold me back a year. My mom homeschooled me until I came back halfway through the tenth grade, though I should’ve been a junior, like you. Like all of you.”
I rack my brain, trying to remember her. She’s talking about the past, when we were little kids. But I don’t remember anyone who looked like her, and I definitely don’t remember a girl named Maggie.
“I was plain. And poor. A scholarship kid, and you all knew it. I wore glasses and had braces and was just so…awkward. None of you pretty, rich girls want to be seen with a girl carrying a few extra pounds. I ruined your image.” She kicks hard at Courtney’s leg, making her yell out in pain. “Come on, Penelope! Think. You have to remember me. I’ll be totally insulted if you don’t.”
It comes to me slowly. There was a short, round-faced girl, back in sixth grade and the beginning of seventh. The middle school years were bad, and there was a miserable little thing who was an easy target for a bunch of mean girls like Gretchen. And Lex. And Courtney.
Sometimes even Dani and me.
Her name was Margaret.
“Ah, you do remember me. I can see it on your face. Do you remember what you used to say? How you all used to taunt me and call me names? God, Gretchen was the worst. That’s why I killed her first. She was such a bitch.” Maggie shakes her head, her expression disgusted. “And Lex wasn’t much better. They finally recognized me when I came back, did you know that? That’s why they had to go first. I couldn’t risk them telling you about me.”
“Maggie, come on,” I say, trying a different tactic. “We were just kids back then. We didn’t know any better.”
“Bullshit! You knew better, but you didn’t care. So I worked my hardest to be the perfect little do-gooder like you wanted me to be. I was determined to become a Lark so damn bad, and now when I finally am, when I’m finally close to getting what I want, you take it away from me! You shut down the Larks! Who does that?” Maggie smiles and glances down at her knife, stroking it gently with her fingers. “A selfish bitch like you, that’s who.”
A chill races down my spine at the sound of her flat voice, goose bumps rising on my skin. She’s mad at me. She’s just as mad at me as she is at Courtney, maybe even more.
“It’ll give me great pleasure to end you both tonight, though it’s bound to get messy. Dani sure was messy, but her death wasn’t according to plan, so when you deviate from the plan, shit goes bad, right?”
She’s looking at me like she expects an answer, so I nod, feeling helpless. I look over at Courtney to see she’s now sitting up. She rests her finger over her lips and I look away, my gaze locking with Maggie’s once again. “Right.”
“Be a good girl, then, and let me take care of Courtney first. Not like you two get along. And she’s the real man stealer of the group, not Gretchen. She hooks up with everyone.” Maggie still hasn’t noticed that Courtney is slowly rising to her feet. “Courtney doesn’t care if she hurts anyone’s feelings. The only person she cares about is herself.”
Courtney chooses that exact moment to charge into Maggie from behind, knocking her to the ground. They claw and scratch at each other, the knife falling from Maggie’s hand, clattering onto the sidewalk. Courtney kicks it away, sending the knife skidding across the path.
I run toward them, screaming at the top of my lungs for help as I head for the knife. I try to snatch it up, but Maggie beats me to it, grabbing the knife and thrusting it in my face. “Back off,” she fumes, her face red. There’s a scrape across her cheek and her mascara is running. “I will cut a bitch if you get too close. I swear to God.”
“Maggie,” I start but Courtney grabs hold of her leg from behind, sending her toppling.
Toppling into me.
We fall onto each other, and I scream when Maggie lunges for me. I’m grabbing at her arms, her wrists, trying to keep that knife away from me. Courtney is screaming, and then I hear another voice.
A male voice.
Cass.
“Pen!” He’s yelling my name, his voice drawing closer, and I thrust my leg up, trying to knee Maggie in the stomach. But then I feel a prick, a sharp pinch in my skin, and I cry out before I roll over and away from her.
“Get away from me!” Maggie yells, and then Cass is there, struggling with her, trying to grab the knife. I stare up at the starry night sky, pressing my hand against my side.
When I pull my hand away, I see it’s covered in blood.
“Stop! Don’t move!”
I recognize that voice, too. Swiveling my head to the side, I see Detective Hughes, and he’s got a gun trained on Cass and Maggie. Courtney’s struggling to her feet, and he yells at her, too. “Freeze, Courtney!”
She goes completely still, her eyes wide. “Don’t shoot me! I’m not the killer!”
“She is,” Cass says, pointing at Maggie.
“I need you two to separate from each other right now!” Hughes commands Cass and Maggie, waving the gun at them. “Get on your knees with your hands up!”
More police show up, every one of them with their guns drawn as they surround us. I can feel the blood flowing, spurting out of my side, and I press my hand hard against my hip, trying to stop it. I turn my head to see Maggie leap to her feet, her hands high up in the air.
“I didn’t do it, Officer! I swear! It’s Courtney! She’s the killer! I tried to stop her before she murdered Penelope!”
“No,” I gasp, shaking my head. But it’s like I can’t speak. And the more I shake my head, the dizzier I get. I close my eyes and swallow hard, trying to find my voice, but it’s not there. No one can hear me over all the yelling and screaming.
“Get on your knees!” Hughes tells Maggie again, and she just stands there, her eyes wide, hands still up in the air.
“Why won’t you listen to me? I didn’t do it! I swear to God!” she screams at the top of her lungs.
Cass is on his knees, his arms raised above his head, and Courtney does the same. They’re both staring at the cops, not saying a word.
Sometimes silence speaks louder than words could ever say. I hope the cops realize this.
And that’s the last thing I remember thinking before the world goes black.