We all played a board game after dinner, then went into the living room to set out our sleeping bags and watch the moon documentary.
“Did you know when the moon is full, the sun, the moon, and the earth are in a perfectly straight line?” Sam asked. “And the average time between full moons is 29.53 days?” She turned the TV to the correct channel and stepped back. “I was going to do a moon trivia contest tomorrow but decided on the nature walk instead.”
“Smart move,” Cassie said. “I’m no moon expert.”
“I have a book,” Riley said. “Mom and Dad got it for me.” She frowned. “They made me read it, but I forget stuff.” Riley had changed into the cutest pajamas. They were pink and frilly. Not like toddler cute but sophisticated and fashionable. There was a matching bathrobe and slippers. Riley had swept back her hair to look like a movie star settling in for the night.
“I forget stuff too,” I said, supporting her. “I bet if we did trivia about fashion you’d win.”
Riley smiled at me, then twirled. “I’m going to be a model, a fashion designer, a makeup artist, and a hair stylist when I grow up.”
“Is that all?” I chuckled.
“I might also want to be a veterinarian, but I haven’t decided on that.” Then she asked, “Want me to help you pick an outfit for tomorrow, Emma?”
I knew she meant that the outfit that had been rescued from cleaning Mrs. L’s floors needed help. Baggy sweatpants paired with Mom’s old college T-shirt weren’t going to win anything at a beauty pageant. “I didn’t bring much,” I told her. “But you could do my hair if you want.”
Riley’s eyes lit up. She turned to Sam. “Can I do yours too? We can dress up for the moon celebration!”
“I’d love it!” Sam cheered. “That will make tomorrow even more special.”
“How about you, Cass?” Riley was really excited. “You too? Please?”
“Riley…” Cassie started, but then stopped. For a flash, I was sure she was about to reveal her true self, but she bounced out of it. “That sounds like a great idea.”
I was on guard; she couldn’t keep this nice act up forever. I’d be there when she snapped, and then Sam would believe me!
Her cousin was keeping some major secret. I just had to prove it. Scientifically. With evidence. No problem. It was going to happen.
I snuggled down into my sleeping bag. It was warm and cozy. I could easily fall asleep before the movie ended.
Sam pressed play.
Space-themed music started when Riley popped up out of her own sleeping bag. “I forgot to brush my teeth,” she said. “Mom made me promise to brush them every night.” She skipped toward the stairs. “And no midnight snacks!” She laughed.
Sam paused the movie while we waited for Riley to come back from Sam’s room, where all our bags were stashed.
“Riley, where are you?” Cassie called up the stairs after a few minutes had passed.
“Boo!” Riley popped up from behind the couch, which made us all jump. “Gotcha!”
It was a small scare, but I jumped at least a foot off the floor. Had the whole thing with Duke not just happened, I might have pelted oranges at Riley instead. I was so on edge, thinking something was going to drop at any second. No matter how much I told myself to keep calm, I couldn’t. My heart was stuck in my throat, and my legs were twitching.
In my head, I begged my heart to beat normally. I didn’t want to draw attention to my nuttiness again.
Cassie and Sam laughed with Riley, so I laughed too.
“That was a good one,” I said. “Yep. You got us.” I added, “Ha-ha,” but worried it sounded hollow.
“Look!” Riley gnashed her little white teeth together. “Aren’t they shiny?” I could smell the mint. Her hands were behind her back. “I brought my new best friend her toothbrush too.” She looked at me. “And I found this cool book in your bag.” Riley pulled her hands out and held them in the dim glow of the TV.
It was the journal from school. I could see the leather cover and little metal clasp.
“What?!” I jumped out of my sleeping bag and grabbed it from her.
“Whoa,” Cassie said, coming to Riley’s side. “She was just being nice.”
“But I didn’t pack this!” I peeled back the cover and looked. The first page still said, Tales from the Scaremaster.
“I peeked inside. Emma wrote a story about us,” Riley told Cassie.
“No. I didn’t,” I protested.
“Let’s see it.” Cassie held out her hands toward me. “I want to read your story, Emma.”
I did not like the way she said my name. It was slow and even, like “Emmmmmaaaaaa.”
I shoved the book behind my back. “I’m telling you, this isn’t my book!”
Sam got up. She circled behind me but didn’t try to take the journal. “Isn’t that the same notebook you had in class?”
“Yes,” I said. “The librarian gave it to me.”
“Mrs. Frankle?” Sam asked.
“No, the other librarian.”
She looked at me like I was crazy, and honestly, I felt nuts.
“I know,” I said, flustered. “We don’t have another librarian. Mr. McCarthy said that too. But she was there at recess and gone after class.” The look on Sam’s face said clearly that she didn’t trust me. “She gave me this journal.”
“So it is yours,” Cassie said.
“No,” I replied. “Yes.” This was hard to explain. I had picked it and taken it, so… “I mean—sort of.”
“I didn’t mean to make trouble,” Riley said, feeding off the growing tension in the room. “I found the journal next to the toothbrush. It looked like the one in my movie, so I opened it.”
“That’s snooping,” I told her, feeling suddenly snappy, responding as if I was being attacked. “I didn’t give you permission to go through my things.” The instant the words tumbled out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back.
I sounded:
Then there was something else that made me pause. “Wait. Riley, what do you mean it looks like the book in your movie?”
“Weren’t you watching?” Riley put her hands on her hips. I noticed that she, Sam, and Cassie were all standing around me now in a tight circle.
“I didn’t see a book,” I said. I mentally reviewed the vampire story and the werewolf interview. I hadn’t seen the zombie one. But honestly, I couldn’t remember any details. I’d been too distracted by the banging in the basement. “Which story was it in?” I asked.
Riley let out a long, annoyed sigh. “You really should have paid attention,” she said. In that moment, cute little Riley, my newest best friend, turned against me. “It’s your own fault you don’t know. I’m not telling you anything.” She zipped her lips with her fingers.
“Enough stalling.” Cassie took a menacing step toward me. “Hand over the book, Emma.”
Again, like with the heavy trunk, it was a demand, not a question. Dinner-making-and-cookie-baking Cassie was gone, and the creepy, mean one reemerged with a vengeance. She was bossy again, her eyes flitted from side to side, and that attitude, the one she’d had with the cab driver, oozed out. Back on the driveway, I thought I’d have given in and run away, but after everything that had happened, I felt bolder than that. I geared up for an argument.
“Can’t you see?” I flipped around to face Sam. “There’s something strange about Cassie.”
Sam stared at me. “You’re the one making trouble,” she said. “Give Cassie the book. We all want to hear what you wrote about us.”
“But I didn’t write anything!”
They all had their hands on their hips now. They looked so similar, these cousins.
“Fine,” I said, backing down with the sad realization that my instinct to argue didn’t last long. “I’ll give you the book. But I am telling you, whatever it says is as new to me as it is to you because I DIDN’T WRITE A STORY!”