Best Friends Never, #1 in Cherry Grove series out now
Lexi Welks wants two things—respect and a college acceptance
letter that’ll get her out of too-good-to-be-true Cherry Grove. The problem is
that the nasty, life-ruining secret she shares with Monica Sanders is about to
go public. If their ugly truth comes out, her plans for college—not happening.
And that’s only the beginning of her end.
Monica is the kind of student teachers adore—well-behaved,
hard-working and always following the rules. She’s the kind of friend other girls
follow—well-dressed, popular and always knowing the right thing to do. If only
they knew the truth about her. The truth Lexi found out the hard way, after
spending the past summer letting Monica talk her into doing things she knew
could come back to ruin her.
Now it’s the first week of school and one of the seniors is
missing. Lexi knows a thing or two about the circumstances of his
disappearance, but she’s not talking. Neither is Monica. But wicked truths have
a way of crawling to the surface and tearing through the most careful plans.
~~~
~~~
Want a taste? Here's an excerpt:
Blood red.
And death black.
Whoever picked out Cherry Grove High’s school colors was an
idiot.
Either that or a serial killer.
The hideous color combination blurred across the gym floor,
spinning in the cheerleaders’ skirts, bouncing in the pom squad pom-poms and
slicing through the air in the quivering band banners. Except for the bizarre
Goth meets Glee effect, the scene was flawless. Even the shouts echoing off the
walls were just right.
Outside, beyond the gleaming floor-to-ceiling windows and
careful flowerbeds, past the student parking lot dotted with Nissans, Volvos
and European SUVs, early autumn trees shaded the tidy streets with the first
brush of rust, orange and red leaves. It was Cherry Grove after all—anything
less than perfection would be inconceivable.
The bleachers were jammed with students, some actually
excited about the annual back-to-school pep assembly, the rest just screaming
like mad, glad for the chance to be crazy on the first Friday afternoon of the
new school year.
From her spot at the boosters table, Lexi Welks could see it
all. The teachers huddled in the corner by the wrestling mats drinking Diet Pepsis
and eating popcorn, the basketball players lined up under the net, shoving each
other, wanting to be the one standing closest to the podium, and the mini-mob
of freshmen trying to squeeze themselves into the tiny niche that led to the
empty space behind the bleachers. Apart from the chaos stood the football team,
arms folded over their Cherry Grove jerseys and looking like they’d rather be
anywhere but where they were—right in the center of the attention.
“Here’s your baseball fundraiser auction sign-up sheet.”
Monica Sanders, coming up out of nowhere like a giant weed
that not even the deadliest dose of Roundup could get rid of. One of the wicked
plants from Little Shop of Horrors.
Only this plant had a nonstop figure wrapped up in a
come-screw-me black turtleneck. Half the guys in the school wanted a piece of
her. The rest wanted her ACT scores.
Lexi?
Up until a week ago, she and Monica had been friends. And
now Lexi was paying the price for what had seemed like fun at the time.
Monica looked over Lexi’s shoulder, waved at basketball
center Eric Watson, then came back with a careful smile, showing off her
bleached teeth as she slid into an empty chair. “Not that the sign-up is going
to do you any good. You know, with next year.”
Lexi took the sheet, dropping it onto the table as though
she wasn’t the least bit concerned. Which, of course, was a huge lie. Because
getting the right names on that single sheet of paper would change her whole
life.
“Can I have your attention? Students?” Dr. Guerra, the
superintendent, tapped on the microphone, sending out a series of
heart-thumping thuds.
It worked—even the cheerleaders shut up, dropping to the
floor to sit cross-legged like a row of overgrown preschoolers. “We need a
moment before we get started with the pep assembly. Could everyone please
welcome Officer Davenport from the Cherry Grove Police Station?”
“Where else would he be from?” one of the newspaper nerds
muttered. “7-Eleven?”
The cop slid behind the mic, adjusting his navy blue uniform
tie while he waited for the losers in the back rows to catch on to the idea
that he had something other than the D.A.R.E. essay winners to announce. Once
the room fell silent, he started talking about Jon Eagle, the kid who’d gone
missing a couple of days before. Each word out of his mouth made the knots in
Lexi’s stomach pull tighter as images of that night skittered through her mind.
“We’ve been checking leads and retracing Jon’s steps. We’re
in constant contact with his family—they’ll be informed as we uncover
substantial information.” He flattened his square palm across his jacket lapel,
pausing dramatically as he looked out at the faces. “We know how distressing
this is for you all, for all of us. For those of you who’d like someone to talk
with, your lead counselor, Mrs. Howell, has added appointments before and after
school. She’s assured me and all your parents that she’ll do anything she can
to help you through this difficult time.”
Monica took out her pretty pink leather-bound planner and
wrote down the officer’s name. Then she waited, pen poised, for anything else
noteworthy.
“Please keep in mind,” he continued, “that we have no
evidence of foul play at this time. There is no reason to believe that anyone
else is in danger.” He went on to add that the detective in charge thought that
Jon had been in touch with kids who, for some reason, were choosing not to tell
anyone.
“If that’s the case, we urge you to come forward at this time.” Contact
information flashed from the huge ceiling-mounted projector onto the wall
behind the podium. Lexi barely held in her roll of nausea as Monica jotted down
the counselor hours, the hotline phone number and email address with one hand,
all the while texting with her other.
But that was Monica Sanders. Smart. Capable. Efficient. And
a real self-serving jerk. Too bad it had taken Lexi three months to figure it
out.
“Thank you for your attention.” Dr. Guerra was back at the
mic, struggling to say something press and parent friendly. “If we all work
together, we might… Maybe we’ll… Jon might…” Thank God she finally gave up,
because while two band geeks in the front row were snapping pics, some of the
yearbook girls over by the art teacher were starting to cry. A cloud of awkward
silence filled the gym, everyone’s face tense. Everyone’s except Monica’s. She
was dumping her stuff back into her bag and getting to her feet, all while
looking as fresh and fantastic as ever.
“Taylor told me to ask you if you had questions about the
sign-up,” she said as she pushed the chair back. This time she wasn’t even
bothering to hold on to that flawless, fake smile.
“You mean like why are you even bothering with yours?” Lexi
tapped her own sheet with her finger. “Because all the names that matter are
going right here.”
Monica practically snorted as she spun on her heels,
swinging away without a reply.
Lexi watched the girl’s model-perfect ass until she ducked
through the red and black cluster of drumline kids clogging the double doors at
the end of the gym.
Once she was sure the girl was gone for good she picked up
the sheet, staring at the empty rows and imagining the names she needed
scrawled across those blank lines. Planning how she’d get them there. And
fighting back the fear of what Monica would do when she did.
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