Laurel stepped even closer, and Emma flinched and looked away. “You’d better tell me what you’re up to soon, or I’ll really give you something to be scared about. You think the train prank is something to laugh about now? What if I tell Mom and Dad all about it? What if I tell them what really happened?”

Emma stepped back in surprise. Please tell me what really happened, she silently willed. But Laurel just spun around and marched up the stairs, leaving Emma alone in the darkness.

Chapter 12 - A Secret of a Different Kind

Chapter 12
A Secret of a Different Kind

“Ich war in Arizona geboren,” Emma whispered to herself, the German IV textbook in her lap and a series of note cards in her hands. She frowned at how the guttural syllables sounded. German reminded her of an old man hacking up phlegm.

It was Tuesday, and Emma was sitting at a round outdoor lunch table in the courtyard, which was reserved for seniors and a few cool juniors; everyone else had to sit inside the stuffy cafeteria, which had the unfortunate tang of fish tacos. Charlotte, Madeline, and Laurel were due to meet her any minute, and Emma passed the time by reviewing German notes for a big chapter test tomorrow. Even though Sutton had probably never studied a day in her life, Emma couldn’t blow off even the littlest quiz. She’d been a straight-A student since first grade, and she wasn’t going to stop now.

I chafed under my twin’s judgment. Maybe I was distracted with other things, too busy to study. Or maybe I was secretly smart but just didn’t see the point.

The German chapter test covered the stages of life: being born, living, dying. “Ich war in Arizona geboren,” Emma mouthed again. I was born in Arizona. That would be Sutton’s answer—but was it really true? Becky had always told Emma she was born in New Mexico—meaning Sutton had been, too.

“Sutton starb in Arizona,” Emma mouthed quietly, reading the next vocabulary word. Sutton died in Arizona. Just saying it, even in another language, made Emma’s stomach clench. She leafed through the glossary in the back of the book, but the German IV text didn’t offer a more accurate verb like murdered, killed, slaughtered, or strangled.

“Have you bought your tickets to the Homecoming dance?”

Emma jumped at the chirpy voice above her. A girl with green face paint, a fake nose, an Elvira beehive wig, and a long black dress that looked like it was infested with bedbugs pushed a flyer that said HALLOWEEN HOMECOMING DANCE! BE THERE OR BE SCARED! into Emma’s lap. When she saw who Emma was, her manic smile drooped and she stepped away. “Oh! Um, I mean, I’m sure you have, Sutton. Have an awesome time!”