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Chapters (86)
  1. Title Page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Love
  4. Before
  5. One
  6. ONE
  7. Two
  8. TWO
  9. Three
  10. THREE
  11. Four
  12. FOUR
  13. Five
  14. FIVE
  15. Six
  16. SIX
  17. Seven
  18. SEVEN
  19. Eight
  20. EIGHT
  21. Nine
  22. NINE
  23. Ten
  24. TEN
  25. Eleven
  26. ELEVEN
  27. After
  28. One
  29. ONE
  30. Two
  31. TWO
  32. Three
  33. THREE
  34. Four
  35. FOUR
  36. Five
  37. FIVE
  38. Six
  39. SIX
  40. Seven
  41. SEVEN
  42. Eight
  43. EIGHT
  44. Nine
  45. NINE
  46. Ten
  47. TEN
  48. Eleven
  49. ELEVEN
  50. Twelve
  51. TWELVE
  52. Thirteen
  53. THIRTEEN
  54. Fourteen
  55. FOURTEEN
  56. Fifteen
  57. FIFTEEN
  58. Sixteen
  59. SIXTEEN
  60. Seventeen
  61. SEVENTEEN
  62. Eighteen
  63. EIGHTEEN
  64. Nineteen
  65. NINETEEN
  66. Twenty
  67. TWENTY
  68. Twenty-One
  69. TWENTY-ONE
  70. Twenty-Two
  71. TWENTY-TWO
  72. Twenty-Three
  73. TWENTY-THREE
  74. Twenty-Four
  75. TWENTY-FOUR
  76. Twenty-Five
  77. TWENTY-FIVE
  78. Twenty-Six
  79. TWENTY-SIX
  80. Twenty-Seven
  81. TWENTY-SEVEN
  82. Twenty-Eight
  83. TWENTY-EIGHT
  84. Eleven Months Later
  85. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  86. Copyright

‘You’re a new reaper from Hastings and let’s say that you’ve been assigned to adolescent sudden deaths as well because you know the deal with that, right? Plus, there can’t be many of those every day in Hastings so it would explain why you’re at the party.’ I think about it and start to doubt myself. ‘I don’t know. Hastings is miles away. How would you even get back there if you had a reap?’

‘You’re overthinking it,’ she says, pointing what remains of her bun at me. ‘No one gives a shit.’

‘True.’ I tilt my head from side to side. ‘In fact, it’s probably best that you just try to avoid talking to anyone at all, but if you can’t, don’t volunteer any information until they specifically ask you.’

She nods.

‘That’s the secret to a good lie,’ I tell her, glad that I finally have a chance to put all those years of lying to my parents to good use. ‘Keep it simple. Don’t say too much. Just keep your answers short and as closed as possible. Having fun tonight? Yes. I haven’t seen you before, are you from around here? No. Or, if that fails, answer their question with a question. I haven’t seen you before, either, where are you from? Got it?’

‘Do you think I should have a fake name? Like Cressida Montgomery? Cressida Montgomery,’ she says theatrically, eyes narrowing. ‘She’s tough, but deep down, she has a heart of gold.’

She’s going to blow it, I conclude with a heavy sigh.

She’s going to blow her cover within about three minutes of arriving.

If I’d known we were going to the party, I wouldn’t have let her have all that caffeine and sugar.

‘Don’t worry,’ she says, taking a huge bite out of her bun. ‘I go to Roedean, remember? We invented lying.’

‘Did they teach you to talk with your mouth full at Roedean as well?’

She opens her mouth to show me the contents and I recoil so violently, she laughs.

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We hear the music before we turn on to Bristol Gardens and Poppy is suddenly so excited that I have to stop her running down the street towards it. As we get nearer, I can hear it’s something slow and creepy, the sort of song that should be on a Halloween playlist, which is perfect for a reaper party, now I think about it.

‘The Cure!’ Poppy grins as we walk up the path towards the front door.

I have no idea who The Cure are, but she seems thrilled.