Emma stared at the phone’s black screen. “A-and telling them what?”

Madeline, Charlotte, and Laurel looked at one another. A plan unfolded in minutes, the events rocketing forward out of Emma’s control. They turned to Emma and nudged their chins toward Sutton’s phone. Emma pulled her dark hair into a ponytail, scrolled to find Gabby’s number, and pressed CALL. When the line began to ring, she put the call on speaker.

Gabby answered. “Sutton! Have you been getting our tweets?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes. Madeline snickered softly. “Of course,” Emma said brightly, tucking her trembling hands under her butt. “They’re awesome!” This made Sutton’s friends shake even harder with silent laughter. “So, listen, Gabs. Can you put Lili on, too?”

Gabby rustled up her sister, and soon both Twitter Twins were on the line “So, I have some information about the Court Ceremony,” Emma said, glancing at Sutton’s friends around her. They nodded encouragingly.

“It’s about time!” Lili trilled. “This had better be good!”

“It’s awesome! Sort of a ghoulish Titanic meets Baywatch. Everyone will wear bikinis.”

“Baywatch,” Laurel mouthed, bending over in silent laughter.

“Bikinis?” Gabby sounded skeptical. “Is the school going to allow that?”

“Of course they’re going to allow it,” Emma cooed. “We’ve already had it approved.”

Charlotte swallowed a loud, snorting giggle.

“This ceremony is going to be fabulous, girls,” Emma went on. “Super glamorous in an old-school kind of way.” For a split second, she wondered if Sutton would be proud of her. If Sutton were here, would she be laughing, too, squeezing Emma’s hand and egging her on?

I would . . . and I wouldn’t. Not with what I now knew about the Twitter Twins. Emma was skating on thin ice.

“Nice,” Gabby and Lili said in unison.

“We’re going to tell the other nominees soon, but I wanted to let you guys know first so you could get a jump on them and be the most fabulous court girls up there,” Emma said. “Go out and buy amazing suits this weekend. The skimpier, the better!”

“We’re on it.” Lili’s voice sang through the receiver. “Wow, Sutton. You’re so good at this. Keep up the good work.”

As soon as they hung up, the girls collapsed into laughter. Laurel rolled off the couch onto the floor. Charlotte giggled into a throw pillow. Madeline kicked her legs in front of the TV screen, which now showed two hyenas perched on a rock. “They are so stupid!” she crowed. “They’re going to look like the biggest idiots!”

Emma tried to laugh along, too, but Lili’s words clanged in her mind. You’re so good at this. Keep up the good work. She was almost positive Lili’s voice had a sinister edge, an unspoken subtext: Keep up the good work . . . of being Sutton.