PEDERSON: Like Adam. Ariana was spreading word that he was a bad hookup. That embarrassed him. Killed his rep with other girls. Plus, she was blocking his texts day after day, ignoring him at school. He didn’t show the slightest remorse about her death.
CHANG: He didn’t do it, Callum. We have proof he didn’t do it.
PEDERSON: And Naveen—he might be a good guy, but Anika Gelt rejects him for prom. A “wench.” The lowest of the low on Chaminade’s scale. That stings Naveen hard. He tells everyone she’s racist. That’s how he gets over it. But then she takes a black guy to prom. A black guy the killer fakes a note from to send a poisoned cake to Anika . . . It all points at Naveen.
CHANG: He didn’t do it either.
PEDERSON: And Phillip too. Kelly Blake figured out that he and Luke Stoeckel were hooking up. She texts him that she knows his secret . . . Maybe Phillip even hooks up with her, too, just to put her off. But Phillip’s still nervous. All this time, he’s gone to such great lengths to act the prince, making a play for half the girls in school. Suppose Phillip’s dad finds out? The deacon of a gay-hating church? But then Kelly ends up dead . . . It has to be Phillip. Same story with Kristoff, who had that ugly history with Madelyn, a girl who made him feel like garbage, no matter how cool Kristoff plays it . . . Of course he’d want her dead. And Eric—Charlotte Lawson cheated on him after he betrayed her trust.
CHANG: None of them did it, Pederson.
PEDERSON: Which is why a catcalling drifter’s taking the fall.
CHANG: Callum. I’m begging you. Let it go.
PEDERSON: They acted as if none of it ever happened. When I was at school, there was always a distance between us. But it was different on Saturday. The scrimmage was a shit game, but Eric let me score the last goal, right when he could have had it. He said something after: “Princes save each other.” Like I was part of their club. Like I was finally one of them. The guys even asked me to a party last night, but I said no. It’s strange. I wanted to say yes so bad. To be one of them. Maybe I should have said yes. Maybe this is the world giving me another chance. To be a real man. To have real friends. Princes who save each other. That’s not so bad, is it?
CHANG: If only these girls had Princes to save them. Alright, let’s get this paperwork over with.
PEDERSON: Kristoff said something like that. About the girls. Remember?
CHANG: No idea. FBI has the tapes.
PEDERSON: I do too. Backed them up on my phone.
CHANG: Which is completely illegal, and now I’ll have to impound it.
PEDERSON: (Tapping sounds) Here. Right here. Listen: “Five dead princesses. No prince to save them. Fairy tales end with a moral, don’t they? Well, these girls are trying to teach us one. You just got to figure out what it is. Then you’ll find who’s responsible.” No prince to save them. That’s what he said. “No prince to save them.” What’s the moral of the story, then? There’s no prince to save them, because—
CHANG: “Princes save each other.”
PEDERSON: Princes save each other.
(Silence)
CHANG: Impossible. What you’re saying is impossible.
PEDERSON: Then why are you thinking it too? They each had motives. And they each had alibis. Flynn even said it in his statement: the idea that “one of them” was the killer was laughable. But it wasn’t one of them. It was never one of them. It was all of them.
CHANG: Callum . . .
PEDERSON: Hiding each murder by having a friend do it instead. Loyalty put to the test. Kill a Princess for another Prince. To be a Prince. The ultimate club.
CHANG: No one would pay that price.
PEDERSON: That was the game, Chang! The way it was at school! Score with the Princesses. Not for the sake of the girl. For the sake of the guys! Proving yourself to them. Being a man. And the girls were starting to fight back. The Princes were going to lose the game. They were going to lose everything! Unless the Princes did something . . . That’s why they started. Every girl who dared to cross a Prince, taught a lesson. Every girl who stepped out of line, punished. That’s why they hung out together, to give themselves alibis. That’s why Naveen pointed the finger at Adam, knowing Adam couldn’t have done it. To make himself look like a “good guy” helping us out, when he was just another Prince. And now I’m one of those Princes. Just like I always wanted to be. I’m part of their game . . . Don’t you see? Eric said it himself. “Princes save each other.” And now I’m a Prince. Only I’m not, because there’s no way I could ever . . . (softly) Chang?
CHANG: (Gasps.) No . . . no no no . . .
PEDERSON: Wait . . . wait, Chang . . . no!
CHANG: I told you to let it go, Callum. I told you—
PEDERSON: She’s the body, isn’t she . . . She’s the one they found . . .
CHANG: Oh God, Callum!
PEDERSON: Adam kills Charlotte for Eric. Naveen kills Ariana for Adam. Phillip kills Anika for Naveen. Kristoff kills Kelly for Phillip. Flynn kills Madelyn for Kristoff. And now someone kills . . .
CHANG: Rebecca . . .
PEDERSON: For me.
CHANG: We’ll go to the chief! We’ll go to the feds!
PEDERSON: (Rasps.) The party last night. I told them I wouldn’t go . . . I don’t have an alibi, Chang . . . If I pin it on them, they’ll pin it on me . . . They’ll call me the liar . . . Pinocchio. That’s how they killed her . . .
CHANG: To keep you quiet. To warn you.
PEDERSON: No . . . More than that. They killed for me, Chang. But that’s not the real Princess Game. The real game is what I’m willing to do for them. What every boy is willing to do for them. To be one of them. To be a Prince. They’re not warning me. They’re asking me . . . “Who’s next?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2019 Steven Gray & Chad Wagner
Soman Chainani is the New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil series, which has sold nearly three million copies, has been translated into thirty languages, and will soon be a film from Netflix. A screenwriter and director, Chainani was also named one of Out magazine’s Out100.