A Dangerous Thing to Discuss
Knowing that she’d secured an invite to the most exclusive party in SPLuM’s history did something funny to Molly. She held her head higher as she walked through the hallways, feeling smug as she listened to the panicked conversations of those who’d been snubbed.
Ada noticed her improved posture and asked if she’d been taking tips from the Instagram influencer who said you should stuff slices of bread in the heels of your shoes so you walked taller. Molly loved being able to tell her that no, it was because she’d somehow gotten them invited to the end-of-semester party at 9 Second Street. Ada squealed like a banshee at the news and immediately began to plan potential outfits.
At lunch, Molly ate with Ada and the Populars, who now took over two big cafeteria tables to accommodate the Waverleys and their entourage. Cute Steve and Penalty Pete were embroiled in a heated conversation about some kind of soccer match, and Felicity, Jenna, and Briony were in low talks about something inaudible. Molly really hoped it was about Felicity’s mom. She deserved to have friends she could talk to about what she was going through.
Finn and Serena were airily discussing how they were settling into Little Marmouth, and their entourage was lapping it up. Their fans included Cauliflower Ears, who was staring lovingly at Finn as though a rainbow shone from his mouth, and a few other twelfth graders. Finn was talking about their old school. “We miss our old friends, obviously. We’re hoping the party will help us make new ones.”
“What about your boyfriend?” asked Cauliflower Ears in a gruff, brazen way, and Finn smirked playfully at him. “Will he be at the party too?”
“And we miss our grandparents,” Serena added. “They live farther down the coast. We miss them a lot. Especially Nana’s sea-salt fudge.”
“My dad makes fudge,” said a sparkly legged senior Molly didn’t recognize. “I’ll bring you some.”
Serena didn’t even notice that Sparkles had spoken. Instead, she turned to Molly, a weird expression on her pretty Viking features. “Do you ever miss Murielle, Molly?”
Molly froze, a forkful of chili con carne halfway to her mouth.
How did Serena know Murielle’s name? Molly herself had never heard it until a few weeks ago. She racked her brains. Had she used the name when they were at the clamdunk match?
In any case, it was a dangerous thing to discuss at school, and Molly did not recover very quickly. “I…erm?”
“That is your grandmother’s name, isn’t it?” Serena asked innocently.
Molly swallowed. Ada was looking at her weirdly, having no doubt never heard Molly talk about her grandmother. “I think…yes, yes it is. I didn’t hear you correctly. I actually haven’t seen her in years.” Well, ever.
Serena gave a conspiratorial smile. “You should really make the effort to visit.”
Molly felt a spike of fear. There was something about the sickly-sweet expression on Serena’s face, the slightly smug look on Finn’s… Was she walking into a trap?
She couldn’t be. The Waverleys couldn’t out the Seabrooks without outing themselves too. They were just being playful, poking fun at the ignorant humans’ expense. Talking in subtext and secrets just because they could.
Even when the conversation moved on, the hot, prickly feeling stayed with Molly. Sooner or later, Ada was going to start piecing all these shards of information together. Even if she didn’t guess exactly what was going on, she would surely know that Molly was hiding something from her. Something big.
She couldn’t fight the feeling that this was all about to blow up in her face.
And soon.