Surviving High School

smiled. “Don’t forget ‘and deadly.’ Now stop worrying so much, remember to smile, and mark your calendar. In a couple Saturdays, dress shopping at the mall. We can tell your dad we’re working on a science project.”
    “You think he’ll buy that?”
    “Of course he will,” said Kimi. “You’re his perfect little daughter. You never lie.”
    Kimi was right, of course. Emily’s dad would believe her, and he’d keep believing her over and over again. Until she got caught once.
    For now, the only thing Emily could do was make sure that never happened.
    Kimi sometimes asked Emily if she felt scared swimming alone in the pool after her dad left or jogging home by herself. In truth, Emily never felt unsafe. This was the kind of town where no one ever got mugged, and kids stealing alawn gnome topped the Crime Blotter section of the newspaper.
    That changed after school one night the next week, when Emily saw a lanky figure dressed in black on the other side of the indoor pool’s glass wall. The figure moved to the doorway, found it open, and slowly turned the handle as Emily swam to the far end of the pool.
    As the door opened, she got out and wrapped herself in a towel, figuring that if this guy was some kind of killer, she could run out the back. Then, as the door opened, she saw that it was Nick Brown.
    For a moment, they stared at each other from opposite sides of the pool. Though she was used to being in a bathing suit, Emily had never felt so naked.
    “What are you doing here?” she shouted after a few seconds.
    “I just—” he started. “I just—”
    “Get out!” she screamed. “Get out! Get out! Get out!”
    “Please,” he said. “Don’t—”
    But she didn’t want to hear it. She backed away and fled into the girls’ locker room, where she knew he wouldn’t follow. Once she was inside, she ran into a bathroom stall and tucked her feet up with her on the toilet seat so that even if he did come in, he wouldn’t find her.
    It was only after a few minutes had passed that Emily began to regret running away. Sure, he was a guy, but he hadn’t seemed hostile and he was far less muscular than she was—not much of a physical threat at all. And as much as she hated him, she had questions she wanted to ask.
    Like why had he given Sara a ride home that day?
    What had they talked about?
    And had she mentioned any boyfriends? Cameron Clark, for example? Something wasn’t adding up. Was Cameron somehow also involved in the crash? Maybe he and Sara had fought, which made her want to leave school with Nick, or maybe—
    Nick was right on the other side of the locker-room doors, Emily realized. She could get answers now.
    But by the time she walked back out, Nick was gone. The pool sat empty, its water still as ice.
    At lunch the next day, as Emily took her usual spot at the center table, Kimi gestured to the corner of the cafeteria. There, sitting by herself, wearing a thick pair of headphones and drinking a protein shake in place of her usual junk food, was Dominique. She wore no makeup, was dressed in a tracksuit, and looked like she hadn’t brushed her hair since last week’s swim meet.
    “Where’s her sidekick?” asked Kimi before noticing Lindsay at the next table over, talking with Spencer. “And what’s she doing over in our old spot? Did she take last week’s loss as a sign that she permanently belongs in Loserville?”
    “Maybe I should go talk to her,” said Emily. “I feel bad.”
    “Are you insane?” asked Kimi. “We finally get to enjoy a lunch in peace without her making fun of us every five seconds, and you want to go make nice?”
    “I’m just going to say hi.”
    She chose not to mention another agenda: finding outwhere Cameron was eating lunch today. She’d been wanting to track him down since Ben’s party, but the task had proved difficult, and Emily was beginning to suspect that he was avoiding her on purpose.
    Emily walked over to Dominique’s table only to find herself completely ignored. Dominique listened to her headphones, sipped from her shake, and stared into space. She didn’t notice Emily until she waved a hand in front of Dominique’s face.
    “What do you want, Kessler?” she asked.
    “I was just, uh, worried that you—”
    Dominique paused her iPod, took off her headphones, and sneered. “Good,” she said. “You should be worried.”
    “I should?”
    “You really taught me something,” said Dominique. “I used to make fun of you