Madeline unlocked her SUV with two short bleeps. Emma climbed into the front seat next to her, while Charlotte and Laurel squeezed into the middle row. Sleeping bags, pillows, backpacks, flashlights, and an illicit bottle of vodka had been packed in the cargo space earlier that day. Very quickly, the cabin filled with the mingling odors of perfume, costume makeup, and cinnamon Altoids, which Laurel had passed around as soon as Madeline started the engine.

Just as Madeline adjusted the driving mirrors, there was a knock on the window. “Hey!” Gabby waved.

“Shit,” Emma whispered. “Let’s get out of here before they ask to come along again.”

Madeline looked at her. “Sutton, we already invited them.”

Emma’s jaw dropped. “You did? When?”

Madeline shrugged. “It seemed only fair after the court prank.”

“Inviting them to get ready with us was only fair,” Emma said, the pitch of her voice rising higher and higher. “I don’t want them camping with us!”

“Calm down.” Charlotte sounded bored. “It’s just one night.”

Laurel looked back and forth between everyone, her cheeks still flushed from her night with Caleb. “We can’t exactly uninvite them,” she said. “Besides, they know where the springs are. None of us have ever been before, and apparently they’re hard to find.”

“The springs are hard to find?” Emma echoed weakly. Suddenly, the seat belt across her torso felt like a vise. She had to get out of here. She racked her brain for an excuse, but before she could come up with anything, Gabby wrenched open the door.

“Hey, girls!” She climbed past Charlotte and Laurel to the very back seat. Lili begrudgingly followed. When it was clear that the only available seat left was next to her sister, Lili let out a groan and plopped down, too, putting as much distance between them as she could. She gripped her Liberty torch as though it were a weapon.

Emma’s skin felt hot and prickly at the nearness of the Twins. Her brain spun. Would Lili and Gabby do anything to her with the other girls around? Maybe if she played it cool—and stuck with Laurel all night—nothing would happen.

No no no, I thought desperately, willing Emma to get out of the car.

“Okay, bitches.” Madeline revved the engine. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Everyone whooped. “Hot springs, here we come.” Charlotte draped her arms across the back of the seats.

Laurel swiveled around and looked at Lili and Gabby. “You remember how to get there, right?”

“Yeah. We just went camping there with our dad.” Gabby’s voice was languid and happy, as though she’d just spent hours at the spa. “He didn’t want us to swim in them, but we did when he went to sleep.”

“That’s not true,” Lili said sharply. “Dad didn’t care if we swam in it.”

“Yeah, he did,” Gabby said. “He thought we’d drown.”