Aside from the possibility of her friends calling, which would obviously result in an immediate confession…there were other horrors. Mrs. Amberson would probably try to call her today about something. That was extremely likely. Or what if Chelsea chose today to call and tell her all about her wonderful new relationship with her good friend Eric? Or Eric. What if he tried to call again and get it all off his chest?

Or Max. What if Max called? That seemed least likely, but held the most terror. What if he wanted to discuss what went on out there on the terrace?

What did happen out there on the terrace?

Well, what happened was that she made out with Max behind a wall of topiary for about a half hour, that’s what happened. And the only reason they stopped is that they were interrupted by a girl with a tray, who was startled by them and screamed.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that the phone was her enemy.

There was only one thing she could think to do. She picked up her phone and walked it down the hall to her parents’ room. On the wall just inside the door, there was a little chute that dropped five floors down to an opening in the basement ceiling. This is where they tossed sheets and towels; they fell into a wheeled bin that was usually positioned just under the chute. She opened the chute and tossed the phone inside, for a six-floor free fall. If someone had actually decided to wheel the bin over to the washing machine and do the wash, the phone was history. She stuck her head into the dank and stale void, but there was no sound, nothing to indicate that her phone had fragmented into a hundred pieces. It was probably alive down there somewhere. She hadn’t quite figured out what she would have done if it had broken.

Probably ask Lola to buy her a new one. Maybe that’s how things were done now.

As she walked back to her room, Spencer stepped out of the elevator. He also looked a bit lost.

“You didn’t take any deliveries, did you?” he asked.

“Deliveries?”

“My script. It’s not here yet. I called, and they keep saying it’s on its way. They won’t tell me what my call times are for this week.”

“No,” Scarlett said. “Sorry.”

He nodded absently.

“I just took my suit over to get it cleaned. Mrs. Foo got really excited when she saw it. She loves a challenge. What are you doing? You look spooked.”

“Studying,” she said. “I have a Biology exam tomorrow.”

He rubbed his unshaven chin, which was just starting to develop a shadow, and then poked a finger into his ear.

“Frosting got in there,” he said. “I can’t hear right.”