The Dark Deception by Morgan Baden

Author:Morgan Baden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

AS SOON AS VELMA danced off with Fred, Nisha and Shawna accosted me.

“Girrrrrrl! This party, though!” Nisha said, air-kissing me.

“We never see you anymore,” Shawna pouted. “Now that you have that ‘important’ job.”

I ignored the way Shawna used air quotes around the word important and plastered on a smile. “Yeah, my internship is keeping me pretty busy.” I left out the more important truth, which was that, even if I hadn’t scored the internship, I’d have found some way to limit my time with Shawna. She and Nisha—and, come to think of it, a lot of my so-called friends—were part of my social circle mostly by default. We hung out together because we were all popular; we were all popular because we hung out together. It was a real chicken-or-the-egg situation.

I distracted myself by picturing Nisha and Shawna dressed up as chickens so as not to get annoyed at the way they were making fun of Velma as she danced with Fred.

“Oh. My. God. Are my eyes deceiving me?” Nisha mock-gasped.

“Did Detective Dinkley get contacts? Oh, that is too much!” Shawna giggled.

“All the better to see ghosts with,” Nisha cracked.

“Ugh, don’t say the G-word,” Shawna cried. “Something creepy is happening here, and I don’t like it.”

“Speaking of creepy, have you seen that new kid?” Nisha rolled her eyes.

“How could I not? The girl is constantly staring at everybody!” Shawna mimicked what could only be Taylor Burnett by pulling her bangs over her wide eyes, ducking down to appear shorter, and making a goofy face at Nisha, who cracked up.

“Daph, please tell me you’ve noticed her,” Nisha said through giggles. “What a freak!”

I mean, freak was a little harsh, but Shawna’s impression did make me smile. As usual, though, Shawna took it a step further than necessary by adding, “She’s so obsessed with Shaggy. Can you imagine them hooking up? She’d need a stepladder, she’s so tiny!”

I rolled my eyes. They landed on Taylor, who was—no surprise—standing nearby, watching us.

And she’d surely overheard every word.

“Wait,” I called out weakly as she flushed, ducked her head, and ran away, practically diving under bodies to escape.

“Well, she needed to hear it,” Nisha said, shrugging.

“Rude,” I muttered, grabbing my phone at the first hint of a vibration. They were so not worth the fight. I checked my text alert and then double-checked it, certain I was hallucinating.

It was Ram. Daphne, just wanted to thank you again for your advice today. You were right! You free tomorrow for a coffee?

“Hey.”

I’d gotten so lost in reading—and rereading—Ram’s words that I hadn’t realized Velma was back, or that the song had changed. Or even, I realized, glancing around, that Nisha and Shawna—and Taylor, of course—were gone. Good riddance.

Velma looked much less dreamy than I’d anticipated she’d look after her first dance, her first anything, with Fred, whom I knew for a fact she had a crush on. Then again, half of my brain was still absorbing that text message, wondering whether Ram was asking me for a coffee, or a coffee date.

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