“That’s not true!” She looked at her friend in dismay. “I like you.”
“Sorry.” But Orchid didn’t look sorry. She looked amused. “I meant to say you don’t like anyone you don’t find useful in some way or another.”
Peacock laughed as she stood up to go wash out the glasses. “That’s so true.”
Scarlett crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s . . .” Huh. “Okay, that’s accurate, in the sense that it’s better to spend time with people you enjoy spending time with, or have something in common with. That’s just . . . friendship, though. That’s not using them. No one is just nice to people for no reason at all.”
Orchid stared at her in wide-eyed disbelief. “I mean . . . nice people are. That’s kind of how it works.”
“I was being nice to her!”
“Were you, though?”
Scarlett rubbed her temples. Someone bring her back to her practice tests, where she only had to choose between A, B, C, and D.
There was a pressure on her shoulder. Orchid’s hand. “Hey. I’m sorry. I know you were only trying to help.”
“Do you think we’re just friends because now I know who you really are?”
Orchid shot a quick look over at Peacock, who was grinding up kale stalks in the garbage disposal loudly enough that Scarlett could have screamed her words and the tennis star wouldn’t have heard.
And she hadn’t screamed them. She wasn’t stupid. She was keeping Orchid’s secret.
But not—ugh—because she thought it was useful! Or not only because of that, at least.
“Look what we survived together,” Scarlett said. “We were living in a house with a murderer. It could have been us she went after next, not Karlee and Kayla. We’re all that’s left, Orchid. We have to stick together.”
If she’d wanted to befriend someone really useful, she’d be finding out who was going to proctor their tests this weekend.
“So we’re really the Murder Crew, huh?” Orchid said.
“Yeah.” Scarlett nodded. “Only, we’re definitely all done with murders.”
4
Peacock
From: [email protected]
Subj: Re: Not Sleeping
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been having problems sleeping in your new residential quarters, but, given all you’ve told me about your history in the house, I can’t say I’m surprised.
First, I’ll ask you: have you had any gluten today?
Remember: houses aren’t haunted—people are haunted. The unease you feel is actually your own energy being reflected back onto you. The memory of what happened there last term is living in your mind, and, if you aren’t careful, it will start to have an effect on your body as well. We would not want it to impact your game.
One method that I think might be impactful for you here is to do a bodily inventory as you tour each room in the house. Go into each room and sit with your feelings, then report back to me what is happening there—what you remember about that room, what it’s being used for now, who is living there, and how you feel about all of that.
I look forward to reading your thoughts. Remember: you are stronger than what happened last term. We are making you the architect of your own house of success!
I am honored to share with you the illumination within,
Ash
From: [email protected]
Subj: Re: Not Sleeping
Dear Ash,
No, I haven’t had any gluten at all! I’ve been sticking pretty firmly to the smoothie cleanse you gave me. I even got some of the girls in the house to share with me tonight. (Well, not the new girl, Rosa. She’s apparently allergic to nuts.) So it can’t be that.
Letting this sleep issue affect my game is exactly what I’m scared of. I’m already having that shoulder rotation issue, and Coach doesn’t seem to take it seriously. What do you suggest?
Okay. I did the house tour. Here’s what I ended up with.
TUDOR HOUSE TOUR
Ballroom: The last time I was in here was for the freshman winter whirl. I came with my ex, Finn. That’s what I think of when I’m in here. I remember I had on a pink dress. It was before all that “Peacock” stuff really got started. Right now they are using it for music classes, which gets kind of annoying for the people living here, but the arts building was damaged in the flood so .
Conservatory: Can’t go inside. Big padlocks on the doors. Something about it being a crime scene, but everyone knows Mr. Boddy died in the hall. Finn told me there was a secret passage here, but I don’t think it was the one where . . . well, you know.
Library and billiards room: I couldn’t go inside these. They are being used as bedrooms right now, since the girls’ dorm was so badly damaged by the flood. Dr. Brown, our interim headmaster, is staying in the library, and the new girl, Rosa, is in the billiards room. I guess they had a hard time getting volunteers, because of the murder. The rest of us are all sleeping upstairs.
Study: Dr. Brown has started mandatory study hours in here every night for the Tudor House residents, so I spend a lot of time in here. It’s really cozy, with the fireplace and all. They said there’s an entry to a secret passage in here. I don’t know where, though—maybe behind one of the bookshelves?
Kitchen: That study passage comes out here. The entrance is in the back of the pantry. It’s where Mrs. White kept the people she kidnapped. I can’t believe all of that was going on during the storm. I can’t believe people blamed ME! They’ve sealed it off too, now.
Dining room: No one uses this room as much now, because if we want to eat here, we have to do the cooking ourselves. When I stand in this room, all I think is that this is where they all started blaming me. I think I still hold some anger at Finn. I know he came after me and all that, but . . . I don’t know. Also, it makes me think I should try to talk to Mustard again, too. I reached out to him like you said, but he never answered me. I’m really, really sorry I punched him. I don’t want people to think of me as violent. I don’t think I am violent. I’ve never even broken a racket. It just makes me think of how angry I was about that letter the other players sent to Boddy, about me lying about the tournament faults. I’m not a cheater. I’m not!
At least that appears to have gone away. Dr. Brown hasn’t said a word about it.
Lounge: This is where Headmaster Boddy spent his last night. I used to be a lot more freaked out in here, but we’ve been watching movies and stuff here at night, so I’m getting used to it. The fireplace still doesn’t work, though. Scarlett said it’s because of how they sealed off the entrance to that secret passage. Isn’t it wild that they were here all these years and no one but Mrs. White knew about them?
Hall: It’s a lot brighter here, now that they have the new window that’s just plain glass. It doesn’t look at all like it used to. Which is good, I guess. Harder to remember that this was the place Boddy died. That this was the place I almost killed Mustard.