Mortal Kiss (7 page)

“Hey, Faye! Liz!” Jimmy Paulson called from the steps, waving as the two girls approached. “There you are! You’re late!”

“That would be
fashionably
late, Jimmy,” Liz told him breezily as she headed up the stairs.

“Um … uh …” Jimmy’s face fell, and he began to stutter. “Of—of course, be-be-being late is far better than be-be-being on time.…”

Faye gave Jimmy a quick hug. They worked on the
Miller
together, and she’d gotten to know him a lot better in the past year—so she knew he had a little crush on Liz. Jimmy might have looked like a bit of a geek—Faye kept telling him his glasses were too big, and the backpack he carried everywhere was a longstanding joke at Winter Mill High—but everyone loved Jimmy. Well, everyone except Liz, who just couldn’t see him as anything other than a lovable loser, and had often told Faye as much.

“S-so,” said Jimmy, bravely trying to engage Liz in conversation again, “have you two heard about the B-Battle of the B-Bands? It’s c-coming to W-Winter Mill! It’s g-going to be a-amazing!”

“What is it?” Faye asked, watching out of the corner of her eye as Liz scanned the crowd of kids, obviously searching for Lucas Morrow.

“I-it’s great! I-it’s this big competition that tours high schools—”

Jimmy stopped as a new sound was heard over the noise of the party. It was a finely tuned engine, making its way up the track to the cabin. The noise grew louder and louder, and as everyone turned to look, a flash of red could be seen moving through the trees. A car appeared, sleek and fast-looking.

“Oh my g-goodness!” exclaimed Jimmy, pushing his glasses up his nose. “That’s a Ferrari. A four-five-eight. You can’t get them in the U.S. yet—they have to be specially ordered from Italy.”

The car swung in a tight arc and backed smoothly into an open space. Faye looked up at Liz. Her friend’s eyes were as big as saucers. There was a ripple among the gathered partygoers as the Ferrari’s door opened and Lucas Morrow stepped out. He wore slouch jeans and a crisp white shirt, open at the collar. He’d spiked his hair into an amazing style. Even Faye had to admit he looked incredibly gorgeous. Faye pulled out her camera, framing a shot of the scarlet car’s smooth lines against the haphazard roughness of the snowy trees behind it.

She felt Liz grip her arm in silent excitement as Lucas walked through the crowd, nodding at people as he went. He glanced up to where the two girls were standing—and then headed straight for them! He jogged up the steps, stopping in front of Faye.

“Hey, Flash,” he said, smiling his charming smile. “How’s the party?”

“It—er—it’s great, I think. We only just got here ourselves,” said Faye, trying to involve Liz, who was digging her fingers into Faye’s arm.

“Great,” Lucas said, blue eyes sparkling in the party lights. “Then I guess you and I can find out together!”

Liz couldn’t believe it. This evening was supposed to have been the most fun she’d had all year, but it had turned into a massive, humiliating disaster. She should have been getting to know Lucas, chatting with him, maybe even dancing with him by now. But instead, she’d had to watch as Lucas and Faye got closer and closer. Sure, at first Faye had tried to involve her … but as the evening had gone on, Faye had obviously decided that she wanted Lucas for herself.

Liz swallowed the lump in her throat, searching in her purse for her mirror to hide the tears that suddenly threatened her makeup. Snapping open her compact, she checked her mascara, relieved to see that it hadn’t run.
There’s no point in crying
, she told herself harshly.
You just have to do something about it
. She stared at her reflection in the little mirror so hard that she got dizzy. For a second, it felt as if she were falling. Then a knife of anger stabbed through her. She snapped the compact shut, looking around for her so-called best friend.

Faye and Lucas were standing together, sipping drinks, chatting as if they’d known each other their whole lives! It wasn’t fair. Lucas had totally ignored Liz since he’d arrived. It was humiliating.

“Hey, Liz!” Candi Thorsson slipped up behind her, giving her a quick hug. “Thanks so much for coming! The necklace you bought me is gorgeous! Are you having fun?”

Liz forced a smile onto her face and hugged her friend back. “Oh yeah—this is the most amazing party I’ve ever been to!”

Candi laughed. “I think my mom and dad feel bad for not being around that much. What do you think of the band?”

“Er—they’re great.” Liz turned to look at the five-piece rock outfit that had been playing since she arrived. To tell the truth, she really hadn’t noticed them, being too preoccupied with the Lucas and Faye situation.

“Are you OK?”

At Candi’s question, Liz looked up and smiled again. “Sure. Why?”

Her friend smiled back and shrugged. “Never mind. Hey, doesn’t Lucas look great? He’s like my star guest—everyone wants to talk to him! How amazing would it be to be that popular?”

Liz actually laughed for real at that. “Candi—you
are
that popular!”

“Yeah, but he’s like mega-popular. It’s a kind of popular that you and I can only dream of, Liz. I wouldn’t have thought he was Faye’s type, though.” Candi nodded toward where the pair was still chatting. “They’ve been talking for ages.”

Liz felt the knife twist again and turned away. “I think she’s writing a piece on him for the
Miller,
” she muttered.

#

“I don’t get it,” said Faye. “If you’ve got an amazing car like that, why does that man drive you to school every day?”

Lucas shrugged. “It’s Mom’s car, not mine. I’m not supposed to have it.”

Faye raised her eyebrows. “Will you get in trouble?”

Lucas shrugged again. “So, what’s your favorite band?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking you the questions,” laughed Faye. “And you haven’t given me an answer to any of them yet!”

Lucas grinned. “Well, maybe the ones you’re asking just aren’t any good,” he suggested.

“Hey!” Faye feigned outrage. She had to admit, an evening in Lucas’s company had changed her mind about him. He could be sarcastic, but he was charming and funny, too. She made a mental note to tell Liz as much when her friend appeared from wherever she’d disappeared to. “I’ll have you know I’m a brilliant school journalist. I’ve won prizes and everything.”

“Oh yes? Let me guess—for that amazing story you did on Farmer Giles’s giant potato last year?”

Faye felt her mouth drop open. “The farmer’s name was Baxter, actually. And you’ve been researching me?”

Lucas shrugged. “Well, you were so angry with me for that
National Enquirer
joke I made when we first met, I thought I’d better see who I was dealing with, Flash.” He glanced at her, serious for a second. “We didn’t really get off on the right foot, I guess.”

Faye shrugged. “Maybe not.”

“I’d like to be friends now, though,” Lucas added, clinking his glass against hers. “I could really do with some fun people to hang out with here.”

“Ah, then you really need to meet Liz,” said Faye, looking around for her best friend. “She’s the most fun person I know.”

“Is that the pretty girl you hang out with a lot?”

“Yeah—she’s been my best friend since we were, like, three. She’s fantastic.” Faye smiled. “You think she’s pretty?”

Lucas shrugged. “Sure. I mean, it’s not an opinion or anything. She just is. I like her outfit tonight. It’s different than what she usually wears.”

Faye nodded, pleased that Lucas had noticed—Liz would love that! “She looks gorgeous. Look, I’ll go find her so you two can get to know each other. I don’t know where she’s disappeared to.…”

#

Jimmy Paulson was going on about something to do with the International Space Station, and Liz had had just about enough. She kept staring at him, wondering if he was actually cute, as Faye seemed to think, or just stupid. But thinking about Faye took her back to Faye and Lucas, which was just too awful to contemplate. She’d had to go stand someplace where she at least couldn’t see them being together, so it wouldn’t hurt so much.

This was the worst party
ever
.

“Liz!”

Liz looked in the direction of the voice and saw Faye pushing through the crowd. She’d like to turn her back and make it clear that her
former
best friend was the last person she wanted to talk to right now, but she already had her back to the wall.

“What?” she said brusquely instead, pulling out her mirror again and making a show of reapplying her lipstick. Her reflection stared back, and she could see the hurt in her own eyes. Anger surged through her. She shoved the mirror back into her purse, stepping a little closer to Jimmy as if the two of them had been in an intense personal conversation.

“I’ve been looking all over for you! Where did you go?” Faye looked perfectly happy, as if she was having the time of her life.
Which she probably is
, Liz thought, furious,
since she’s spent all evening with Lucas Morrow!

“Oh, you’ve been looking all over, have you?”

“Yeah.…” Obviously picking up on her sarcastic tone, Faye looked at her strangely. “What’s the matter?”

“So, when you were looking all over for me, Faye—was that just in the ten seconds this evening when you haven’t been glued to Lucas Morrow’s face?”

Faye looked shocked. “What?”

“It’s disgusting,” Liz stormed. “You’ve been all over him. Everyone’s talking about it!”

Jimmy tried to interject, timidly putting up his hand. “Um, I’m not—”

“Oh, go away, Jimmy,” Liz snapped.

“Don’t talk to Jimmy like that!” Faye protested. “Stop being an idiot, Liz—come on, come talk to Lucas. He thinks—”

“Oh, so now I’m an idiot, am I?” Liz’s rage was beginning to bubble over. “Some best friend you turned out to be, Faye McCarron.”

“Liz, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. One minute we were both talking to Lucas, and the next minute you’d vanished. I only stayed there because I wanted to talk to him for the article. And it was a good talk, I think.”

“Sure,” spat Liz. “It looked really good from where I was standing—good for you, that is. You knew I liked him, Faye. And now you’re going after him yourself. How could you?”

“I’m not! We were just talking!”

Liz had had enough. She pushed off from the wall and shoved Faye out of the way, spilling some of her drink in the process. “Well, don’t think you’re getting a ride home from me, McCarron. You can walk, for all I care!”

Faye couldn’t believe what had just happened. How on earth could her best friend think she would do such a thing, especially when Liz had made it so clear that she was totally head over heels for Lucas?

And then, as Faye thought about it, anger began to take over. What sort of friend thought about another friend like that, period? And over a stupid boy! And even if Faye had wanted Lucas for herself, what right did Liz have to get upset about it? As if she’d somehow put a label on him saying
TAKEN
, or something? Unbelievable!

Faye looked at her watch. It was 10:30 p.m.—early, considering the party was due to go on until midnight and Aunt Pam had told her she could stay to the end. But she was no longer in the party mood, and anyway, she’d just lost her ride. She didn’t feel like going around to all her friends, begging them to drive her. She’d have to explain why she wasn’t going back with Liz, which would just be embarrassing and would add fuel to whatever rumors were already going around the party. Anyway, Faye didn’t really feel like spending any more time in the same room as Liz. Even if she hadn’t been doing what her friend had accused her of, Faye had to admit that she’d had fun talking to Lucas—which only made her feel more confused and angry. She just wanted to go home, alone, right away.

Making up her mind to walk, Faye was about to search for Candi to say goodbye when she spotted Liz. She had her arms around Lucas’s waist and was pulling him toward the dance floor. Faye turned away, feeling something suspiciously like jealousy. She had to get out of there.

Heading for the door, she slipped out of the cabin unnoticed and made her way into the woods.

Though it was dark, the sky was so clear that the moon shone silver on the snow, lighting her way. Faye set off in the direction of Winter Mill, avoiding the track and instead cutting through the trees, heading for the road into town. She wasn’t worried about getting lost—she’d spent so much time up here as a child, exploring with her father, that she knew the forest as well as she knew the town itself. The music and chatter followed her for a while, but soon it faded until all she could hear was the crunch of her boots on the undisturbed snow.

She had just topped a small ridge when a horrible noise shattered the quiet. It was a raw, animal howl—a noise unlike anything Faye had ever heard before. She froze, terror gripping her heart and thumping it against her rib cage.

She waited there, not daring to move, but after several minutes there were no more awful sounds. Her heart calmed, and her fear gradually faded away.

It must have been an owl
, she thought to herself.
Or maybe someone up at the party, making stupid noises. You weren’t listening properly, that’s all. There’s nothing scary in these woods
.

Faye began to move again, more quickly. Her party clothes really weren’t that warm, and standing still had chilled her to the bone. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms to warm herself. Maybe walking wasn’t such a great idea after all.…

Then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Or at least, she
almost
saw it, a fleeting movement among the trees to her left, too quick to pin down. She kept going, hoping she was imagining things. Instead, to focus her thoughts, she concentrated on where she put her feet among the hidden, snowy tree roots, wishing now that she hadn’t worn heels. But then she saw it again—a fluid shape, sliding swiftly between the tree trunks. She shivered as a cold slice of fear went down her spine.