“They already took Delilah off,” a guy muttered to her right. “Wonder if Mateo’s gonna be the next one to have an accident.”

“Shh! Careful,” a girl muttered back, lower. “She can hear you.”

“No,” Maria said again.

Mateo wasn’t getting that spot. It was hers.

Hers.

She turned around. Everyone was watching her. A few of them edged away when they saw her looking. Caitlin and Ryan were off to one side, whispering, their fingers covering their lips. Austin watched silently from the back of the group. Emily looked straight at Maria with obvious delight in her eyes.

Maria was surrounded by liars.

“He can’t be ahead of me.” Maria was horrified to discover that her eyes were wet. “His rank isn’t good enough.”

Maria’d had the class rankings memorized since freshman year. Mateo was fourth in their class, behind Delilah, Lily, and Maria.

“It isn’t just about rank. He had soccer and the GSA and everything. Plus, there’s also, you know . . .” Emily lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “Affirmative action.”

More giggles from the group.

“And he wrote this essay for a gay writing contest,” Tamika added. “It won an award or something.”

No.

No.

Maria fought the urge to stamp her foot on the hardwood floor.

She had suffered. She had sacrificed.

Mateo was not going to beat her.

He didn’t deserve to. Certainly not for being gay, of all things.

“I have to go,” Maria announced. She started to push back through the group, but once again, they parted for her. As she walked away, she heard more giggles.

Maria hadn’t been sucking up to these people for the past nine years only for them to disrespect her now.

And she definitely hadn’t emptied that capsule into Delilah’s drink so Mateo could win.

It was just like the spirits said. He was her biggest threat. She had to get rid of him.

“Text me if you see Mateo,” she called from the edge of the crowd. She didn’t bother to force a smile. “I want to, you know, congratulate him.”

No one answered. They all just stared at her.

Fine. Whatever.

Maria brushed past the last of them and went straight to the old dining room. She pushed on the tall, creaky door, and it swung open immediately.

Inside, the room was dark and cold. The dim light from outside wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the old, thin windows, but the breeze was. Maria shivered and wished she’d thought to change out of her wet dress.

The darkness, though—that was a comfort. The darkness was a friend.

She texted Mateo. She made sure her texts were friendly. She asked him to come and meet her.