It was a smell I knew so, so well. A wave of grief pounded my body until I felt like I would wash away. What I wouldn’t give to hug my dad one more time. As I watched their embrace, a dark image surfaced in my mind. My dad’s eyes widening when he turned and spotted me. Betrayal surging through me like he’d driven a stake through my heart. But before I could delve deeper into the memory, it submerged once more.

Chapter 17 - Tremors and Treachery and Threats, Oh My!

Chapter 17
X Marks the Spot

Thursday afternoon, during the last period of the school day, Emma, Charlotte, and Madeline stood backstage in the auditorium, dressed in black cocktail dresses and high heels. Old play props and sets, abandoned scripts from last year’s production of Oklahoma!, and several full-length mirrors were littered in the otherwise barren space, but the situation on the other side of the curtain was another story. That morning, with the help of the committee’s party planners, the girls had transformed the stage into an elegant, ghostly replica of the Titanic, complete with chandeliers, a sweeping faux-staircase, gilded fixtures, and tables set with fine china.

Emma shook her head in awe. “This is really beautiful.” It was too bad this couldn’t be the décor for the dance Friday night. But that would be held in the gym, not the auditorium.

Charlotte paced back and forth, tapping a clipboard. Her type-A personality made her the perfect detail-organizer. “Okay,” she said. “So after everyone files into the auditorium, we’ll announce the court nominees’ names. They’ll walk in and waltz with their escorts. The party will last until the late bus is called.”

Madeline gestured to the caterers in white uniforms scurrying around backstage and setting chrome tureens, platters, pitchers, and glasses on a long folding table. “We’ve got sparkling cider, hors d’oeuvres, cheeses. Non-dairy stuff for Norah, gluten-free stuff for Madison.”

“And don’t forget about Alicia Young,” Laurel said, smoothing a nonexistent wrinkle on her cocktail dress. “She’s on that grapefruit-and-cayenne-pepper cleanse.”

Charlotte looked like she was going to explode. “That diet is nasty. She’s just going to have to suffer.”

A pang overcame me as I watched the preparations. I vaguely remembered planning last year’s Homecoming Court party. The theme and decorations were no more than wisps, but I remembered the moment I’d stepped out to announce the winners, knowing I looked more glamorous than all of them combined. And I remembered a faceless guy—my date—catching my arm afterward and telling me that I was the most gorgeous girl on the stage. “I know,” I’d replied, shooting him one of my signature Sutton Mercer smiles.