“And then”—Becki pauses dramatically, knowing full well basically everyone in the kitchen is listening to her—“she told Kaitlyn that her brother’s the one who killed her boyfriend’s dad, and that she’s not afraid to murder someone too! She said, and I quote, ‘We’re a family of killers.’”

Family of killers?!

My blood is practically boiling. What is wrong with people? Who says that?

I’m about to step in and tell them exactly what I think about their family of killers when some other girl in the kitchen beats me to it.

“That can’t possibly be true,” the girl says to Becki and Sara. “You know how Kaitlyn is.”

Yes! Thank you.

“No, no.” Becki rushes to back up her claim. “Aliyah was there and heard it all! She’s the one who told me.”

Everyone gasps, even the other people in the kitchen. A collective acceptance settles over the room, as if Aliyah is the fucking oracle of truth and if she said it, she must not be lying.

I can’t take it anymore. “That is not what happened. I was there. People like to twist the truth to make things more dramatic when they’re telling a story.” The girls in the kitchen stare at me.

“My friend Riley was there too,” some other girl pipes up, “and she told me that Anna almost knocked Kaitlyn out for no reason when they were talking.”

“Everyone has a reason to want to punch Kaitlyn out. Come on now, you guys are being dramatic,” I say. “Anna is not a murderer! I can’t believe I actually have to say that out loud.”

Just then, Annalisa enters the kitchen, and everyone stares at her with wide eyes. Perfect, she can settle these stupid rumors.

“Anna, would you honestly kill Kaitlyn? Like, straight-out murder her?” I ask, prompting her to reassure everyone that she’s not part of a “family of killers.”

Annalisa shrugs. “If she pissed me off enough, sure.”

Murmurs spring up around us, and everyone rushes out of the room to apparently get as far away from Wacko Anna White as quickly as possible.

“She’s just joking! She doesn’t mean that! Come on, guys!” I call after them, then turn to face Annalisa, who’s unfazed by everyone running away from her. Soon it’s just Annalisa, Charlotte, and me left in the kitchen.

“You’re not helping here!”

“What? It was a joke.” She pours herself some vodka and cranberry juice.

“Yeah. We know that, but they’re just going to use that to add more fuel to the rumor mill.”

Annalisa shoves a chip in her mouth. “What rumors?”

Charlotte and I tell her what we heard Becki and Sara saying. Annalisa’s face is normally pretty pale, but it gets even paler as we get to the family of killers part. Her fist smashes down on the bag of chips, turning the snack into little pieces of dust.

“Where’s Aliyah?” she manages through gritted teeth.

“Anna, if you beat up Aliyah it’s just going to make things worse.” Charlotte warns her.