Pretty Dead Girls

by Monica Murphy

  I chance a glance at Cass, who’s frowning at me. He looks just as disturbed as I feel. Courtney’s not acting right.

  Not at all.

  “Please, sit down.” She indicates the couch with her hand and I sit, Cass joining me. We’re close, our arms brushing, and Courtney notices. I see the way her gaze lingers as she sits in a high-backed chair across from us. She crosses her legs, her skirt riding up to mid thigh, and I wonder if she did that on purpose.

  “Are you coming back to school soon?” I ask her.

  “Oh, I’m not sure.” She shrugs. “Mother thinks I should stay home and recuperate first.”

  “Are you hurt?” Cass asks.

  “Yes, I am. Right here.” She rests a hand on her chest, over her heart, her expression solemn.

  Okay. That was creepy.

  “Finding Dani like that was—horrible. One of the worst things I’ve ever experienced, and I will never forget it,” she continues, her voice even, her expression blank. “I don’t know if I can ever un-see that moment. It’s embedded in my brain forever.”

  Maybe she’s on drugs?

  “What exactly happened when you found Dani? Was she already there in the hallway?” Cass asks.

  “Yes.” Courtney nods continuously, like she’s a robot stuck on repeat. “I went upstairs because Brogan sent me a text, asking me to meet him there.”

  “Wait a minute…Brogan?” Well, that’s new information.

  “Uh-huh. We were flirting the entire night.” It takes everything within me not to say something. Cass looks like he wants to burst, too. That was some serious flirting going on with Brogan in her room. “I mean, I know he and Dani were kind of a thing, but it wasn’t real, you know? Not like what Brogan and I have. I adore him. And he adores me.”

  She was so rude to him that night. Or is she forgetting?

  “Brogan sent you a text to come meet him in the east wing upstairs hall?” Cass asks, his voice full of disbelief.

  “He did. And so I did. I went up there, ready to sneak a kiss with him or whatever.” She giggles, then sobers quickly. “I shouldn’t laugh. It was a terrible night. One I won’t ever forget.”

  She’s repeating herself. I feel like some of the stuff she’s saying to us is rehearsed. Like someone had her practice saying it before she came downstairs to talk to us.

  “Have you seen Brogan since that night?” Cass asks her.

  She shakes her hair back from her shoulders and plasters a phony smile on her face. “No. I haven’t. But I’ve missed him. I don’t know what’s going on.” Her eyes light up and she leans forward on the edge of her chair. “Have you seen him? Did he go to school today?”

  “I didn’t see him,” I say.

  “I didn’t, either.” This is from Cass.

  Courtney’s face crumples. “I hope he’s okay.”

  “I’m just glad you’re okay,” I tell her.

  Her face brightens once more. “I’m fantastic. Well. As fantastic as I can be, considering what’s happened.”

  “We’re having a candlelight vigil for the girls tomorrow night,” I say. “You should come. If you’re up for it.” Yikes, why did I tell her? We don’t need a repeat performance from the last candlelight vigil.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Last time I went to one, I sort of made a fool of myself.” Well, at least she’s honest. Her smile is sweet and she shakes her head, like she’s so saddened by her actions. The Courtney I know doesn’t give a crap. “But thank you so much for the invite.”

  “The Larks want you there, Court. I hope you can go.” It’s weird, how my anger toward her has evaporated. I think it’s because of her odd demeanor. How spacey she’s acting, like she’s hopped up on a load of prescription pills.

  “Oh!” She claps her hands once, startling us both. “The Larks! I miss them. How are they?”

  “We are…” How do I tell her that we’re temporarily disbanding? “We’re doing the best we can considering the circumstances.”

  “I’m sure. Well, now that we’ve lost three girls and I won’t be around much, it sounds like we don’t have much of a group anymore.”

  “We don’t,” I assure her. “In fact, we took a vote and decided to stop meeting until the spring.”

  “What?” Courtney leaps to her feet, her face red with anger. “Are you serious? You’re shutting down the Larks?”

  “We’re not shutting down,” I say as I rise to my feet and go to her. I want to touch her, hoping it will calm her down, but she seems too agitated. “It’s just a temporary thing. I’m the only senior left, and then the juniors, and we don’t think it’s proper to continue on, what with everything that’s happened. It doesn’t feel right.”

  “Maybe it doesn’t feel right to you. But for the rest of us, it’s everything. The Larks are everything! How dare you close them down? What gave you the right?”

  She rears back her hand and slaps me soundly across the face. So hard, the impact jars my teeth and my head bounces.

  Yeah. Bounces.

  “Court, what the hell!” Cass rushes to my defense, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me away from her. “Why did you hit her?”

  “She doesn’t care about anything or anyone but herself! Can’t you see? She’s destroying everything! The Larks are the only thing keeping us together, keeping us alive, and she’s tearing it down!” Courtney is screaming at the top of her lungs, her face tomato red, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I hate you, Penelope! I hate you!”

  Mrs. Jenkins bustles into the room, her face full of horror and shame. “Courtney! What in the world? Are you all right?”

  “Get her out of here.” She points a shaky finger right at me. “I never want to see you again, Penelope!”

  A man in a black suit strides into the room. I’ve never seen him before, but he sends me a glare as he places his arm awkwardly around Courtney’s shoulders and steers her out of the sitting room.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Jenkins says the moment they’re gone, her eyes full of sympathy as she watches me. “She’s been having…outbursts ever since Friday night. I don’t know what brings them on.”

  “She’s mad at me, I guess.” I gingerly touch my cheek. It’s warm. I bet she left a mark.

  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” The pleasant smile on Mrs. Jenkins’s face feels as false as the emotion Courtney displayed those first few minutes she spoke to us.

  Once she became angry, though, it felt like the real Courtney came out.

  “No problem,” Cass says with a curt nod. Anger radiates from him, making his movements stiff. He curls his arm around my shoulders and guides me out of the sitting room. “We’ll see ourselves out.”

  “Thank you for coming,” Mrs. Jenkins calls after our retreating backs.

  So. Weird.

  The moment we exit the front door, Cass comes to a stop, making me stop too. “What the hell was that?” He examines my cheek, his fingers gently pressing into my skin. “Are you all right? Does it hurt?”

  “Not anymore.” I lift my gaze to his. “I can’t believe she hit me.”

  “I can’t believe she did, either,” he says grimly. “I wanted to hit her, too.”

  That shouldn’t make me feel good, but it does. “She acted so strange. Not like her normal self. I think she’s pumped full of prescription drugs. Maybe anti-anxiety stuff.”

  “Probably,” he mutters, shaking his head. “You ready to go?”

  “Definitely.”

  We’re almost to his car when he speaks again.

  “I have another idea.”

  “What is it?” I ask warily.

  “Do you know where Brogan Pearson lives?”

  “Kind of. Not exactly, but I could find out.”

  “Let’s try. I want to talk to him.” His expression is serious. “I have a few questions I’d like to ask him.”

  Chapter

  Thirty-Three

  We find Brogan’s house after I do a little internet sleuth
ing. He doesn’t live too far from Cass and Courtney, though he’s in a smaller gated community up off Hot Springs Road. The small neighborhood isn’t as exclusive, not as ritzy, though the view is amazing, just like everyone else’s is up here. When we pull into the driveway, Brogan is outside, shooting hoops by himself in the driveway. Cass parks the SUV on the street in front of Brogan’s house.

  I get out of the car and start walking toward him. “Hey, Brogan.”

  “What are you doing here, Penny?” He throws the basketball and it hits the closed garage door, the metal clanging loudly.

  “We wanted to talk to you,” I say as I approach him.

  His gaze flickers to Cass, who’s coming up behind me. “Why are you with this freak?”

  Why’s Brogan being so awful? “Don’t be mean,” I tell Brogan, automatically irritated.

  “Aren’t you the guy whose mom killed your dad?” Brogan asks, a giant smirk on his face.

  “Aren’t you the guy whose recent hookup most likely killed the girl who’s crushed on you for years?” Cass throws back at him.

  Brogan’s anger is immediate. He tosses the basketball to the side, so it lands in the front yard, and starts for Cass, his expression thunderous. Like he wants to throw down on him. “What the hell did you just say?” he says between clenched teeth.

  Oh God. Here we go with the macho showdown. I am totally over this and we’ve been here less than a minute.

  “You heard me.” Cass’s voice is eerily calm despite Brogan thrusting his face in his. They’re standing so close to each other I’m afraid Brogan’s going to chest bump him. Or Cass might chest bump Brogan. And then the fight will be on.

  I so do not want to deal.

  “Stop it, you guys,” I tell them, but they’re not listening to me.

  They don’t even look in my direction.

  “We just came from Courtney’s house,” I tell Brogan, hoping that will ease the tension simmering between them.

  Thankfully, it works. Brogan turns away from Cass, stepping closer to me. “You did? Is she okay? Does she look all right?”

  “She looks good, but she’s…very upset.” Understatement. My cheek still tingles where she slapped me.

  The misery on Brogan’s face is immediate. “Did she ask about me?”

  “She talked about you,” Cass says. “Mentioned something about you texting her to meet upstairs that night.”

  Brogan frowns, looking at Cass then back to me. “What night are you talking about?”

  I send him a duh look. “Friday night, when Dani…died.” I struggle with the word. It’s still hard for me to believe she’s really and truly gone. “Courtney said she received a text from you. Said you asked her to meet you upstairs.”

  “We did meet upstairs, but that was before the—thing—with Dani.” Brogan at least has the decency to look sheepish, even though he doesn’t know we know all about that meeting in Courtney’s room. “Yeah, it was definitely before she found Dani. We, uh, went up to her room.”

  “You and Courtney?” Cass asks. Our gazes meet for a quick moment before we look away.

  I can’t believe he’s being honest.

  Brogan nods, his cheeks turning red.

  “What did you two do up there?”

  “Messed around a little. We were drunk.” Brogan shrugs. “Then we came back downstairs. I never talked to her again. I still haven’t.”

  Wait a minute. “So you didn’t text her to meet you in the east wing?”

  “I don’t even know where the east wing is. Her house is so freaking big, I get lost in there. That’s why most of the time I just stay outside. It’s easier,” Brogan explains.

  Cass and I share another look before he continues. “You sure you didn’t text her?”

  “What are you, the police?” Brogan makes an irritated face. “Those assholes kept coming around over the weekend asking me a bunch of questions, but I haven’t seen them at all today.”

  “Why weren’t you at school?” I ask.

  “Didn’t want to. My mom’s worried about my mental state or whatever, so she kept me home. I’ll be back tomorrow,” he says just before he goes to the front yard and grabs his basketball. He starts dribbling it on the driveway, the rhythmic thwap of the ball bouncing again and again setting me on edge.

  “We’re having a candlelight vigil for Dani tomorrow,” I tell Brogan, wishing he would stop dribbling that basketball. “Actually, it’s for all three girls. I hope you can make it.”

  “I’ll be there. For sure. Will Courtney come?” He looks so hopeful. I almost feel sorry for him.

  “I don’t know,” I tell him. “I mentioned it to her, but I’m not sure when she’s returning to school.”

  “You should try to reach out to her,” Cass suggests. “She might like to talk to you, or even see you.”

  Brogan’s entire face brightens, and he stops dribbling the ball. Thank God. “That’s a good idea. I’m gonna go Snapchat her right now. Talk to you later, bro. Maybe she’ll let me come over.” And with that, he dashes inside, the front door slamming behind him.

  Cass and I turn to look at each other, the both of us still standing in the middle of the driveway. “That was weird,” I say.

  “Sometimes I wonder if that guy had a lobotomy.” Cass shakes his head. “He acts like he’s brain dead most of the time.”

  “I know. I don’t get what Courtney sees in him.” Or Dani.

  We walk back to the SUV and climb inside before we resume our conversation.

  “Do you believe him when he says he didn’t text Courtney to meet in the east wing?” Cass asks.

  “Yeah, I do. I think he would’ve admitted it if he did. He doesn’t think about what he says. Like, ever,” I say. “Plus, someone texted Gretchen about that emergency Larks meeting the night she was killed. That’s too similar if you ask me.”

  “You’re right.” Cass shakes his head as he starts the SUV. “That was a lead that went nowhere.”

  “There’s still something to consider, though,” I say. Cass glances in my direction. “Either Courtney is lying and no one sent her a text to meet up, or someone pretended to be Brogan to lure Courtney upstairs.”

  “But who? Could it have been Dani? Maybe she was angry. She could’ve found out that Courtney and Brogan were hooking up, and she got pissed off. So maybe she got a hold of Brogan’s phone and sent a text to Courtney?” Cass slowly pulls out into the street, frowning. “Do you think Dani would do that?”

  His theory has merit. I can almost envision Dani doing exactly that. “Maybe. She’s been after Brogan for so long. Everyone knew she had a major crush on him. I wouldn’t blame her for getting mad at Courtney for moving in on him.” I stare unseeingly out the passenger-side window, my mind going over everything that happened Friday night. Most of it I would rather forget, but I need to remember.

  I need to figure this out. For Dani.

  “She was so drunk,” I finally say. “I don’t know if she was capable of grabbing Brogan’s phone and sending Courtney a text to trick her to come upstairs. He said he left her on the lounger passed out. Besides, Court scared Dani. Everyone is pretty much scared of Court, except for me.”

  “She doesn’t scare you?”

  “Court’s all bark and no bite.” Most of the time.

  “Did you just compare the beautiful Courtney Jenkins to a dog?” Cass shoots me a grin.

  I don’t particularly like that he just called Courtney beautiful, even though she is. I’m still a little jealous over what went on between them. Is he downplaying it? Were they more involved than he’s letting on?

  A realization hits me and I turn to look at him. Really look at him. “You said to me last night that you couldn’t believe you were with me. That you were actually kissing me.”

  His grin fades and his gaze meets mine for the briefest moment before he returns his attention to the road. “Yeah, so? It’s true.”

  “But you’ve been with Courtney.”

  He starts
to look uneasy.

  “And you had a…what? ‘Special friendship’ with Gretchen, too?” He says nothing, so I continue. “You try to act like you’re some quiet weird guy or whatever, but you’ve been with a few popular girls. More than a few.” I almost say, I don’t get it, but I stop myself in time.

  Seriously, though. I really don’t get it. I mean, Cass is nice. He’s good looking. But he has this way of blending into the background. At least, that’s how I viewed him for the longest time. But maybe I’m a recovering narcissistic bitch who never paid him much attention before. Maybe he’s been on everyone else’s radar and I missed it. Missed him.

  Why didn’t I see him until a few weeks ago? He sort of forced himself on me, if I’m being truthful. Did he do that on purpose? Was there some sort of plan put into place? Did he want to get to know me for ulterior reasons?

  I watch him, fighting the unease that seeps into my skin, sinks into my bones. It’s already getting dark outside, and the looming storm clouds put me in a dark mood. I remember what Cass told me about his past. I think of all the things I’ve seen these last few weeks. The things I’ve heard, I’ve been told, and my three friends who died…

  What-if. What-if—Cass is the one who did it? What if he’s the killer? It’s not too farfetched. He has a connection to Gretchen. He also has one to Courtney—but she’s not dead. He didn’t really know Dani. What about…

  “Were you friends with Lex?”

  He’s quiet for a moment.

  Too quiet.

  “Were you?” I ask again, my voice sharp.

  “Sort of.” He exhales loudly. “We kind of hooked up. Once.”

  “What?” I might’ve screamed the word. Actually, I’m pretty sure I did. He’s looking at me like I lost my mind, and he pulls over near the front gates of Brogan’s neighborhood so he can turn to look at me.

  “It was the very end of our freshman year at some stupid party. She was drunk. I was drunk. We kissed. That’s it. It was nothing. She barely remembered it,” he explains.

  “But you remembered.” Oh. My. God. It all makes sense. It all makes total freaking sense. He has reason. He has motive—all the popular girls who get with him and then dissed him over the years. He’s exacting his revenge. “You hooked up with all of them.”