Deadly Little Lies Read Online Free PDF Page A

property, resulting in at least one week of mandatory suspension.
    But I decide to go with Ben anyway.

7

    Instead of heading to the cafeteria or the library, Ben leads us down the hallway behind the old computer lab. The corridors have pretty much cleared out, but I spot Debbie Marcus hustling toward the art room door at the very end, probably worried about making it in before the bell rings. She sees me, and then she notices that I’m with Ben, and a scowl forms across her face.
    Last semester, Debbie was stalked as well. Everybody blamed Ben, but it turned out that her friends were the ones responsible. Like many of the clowns at this school, her friends thought it would be funny to take advantage of Ben’s mysterious past. They spread a rumor that he was following her, hiding in the bushes in front of her house, and staring at her in class. They fabricated threatening notes, promising Debbie she’d be his next victim.
    Eventually Debbie’s mind started playing tricks on her. On a walk home from a friend’s house one night, she imagined Ben was following her. She kept looking over her shoulder, stumbling out into the street, not really paying attention to where she was walking.
    A car ended up hitting her as a result, and Debbie went into a coma that lasted ten full weeks. This is the first time I’ve seen her since the accident.
    She looks different somehow—harder, thinner, a little less vulnerable maybe. Her auburn curls are held back in a barrette, and her eyes look tired; dark circles ring their steel-blue color.
    After her accident, everybody assumed Ben was responsible, that he’d hit her with his motorcycle. But a witness came forward saying it was, in fact, a car that struck her, not a motorcycle. Unfortunately they never caught the driver.
    I wave, but Debbie isn’t looking at me. She’s glaring at Ben. Finally the bell rings and she slips inside the classroom.
    “What was all that about?” I ask Ben as he leads us away.
    “I don’t know,” he says, shrugging it off. He steps into a storage room and opens the door wide. “I thought this might be a good place to talk. It’s private, so there’s less chance of you getting caught for skipping.”
    I hesitate a moment, noticing how dark the room is, but then I spot Principal Snell down the hallway, and quickly duck inside.
    Ben closes the door behind us and tugs a chain, turning on an overhead light. The room is small, packed with shelves full of old computer printers, various cables, and reams of paper.
    “Is this okay?” he asks.
    I give a reluctant nod. “How do you even know about this place?”
    “When people hate you as much as they hate me, you find any hole to hide in that you can.”
    “They don’t all hate you.”
    “Oh no ?”
    I shake my head and meet his gaze. “I missed you,” I say, surprising myself.
    Ben’s lips part, then quiver slightly, as if maybe he wants to tell me the same. Or maybe my honesty makes him nervous.
    “So,” I say when it’s just awkward silence between us. I bite the inside of my cheek, almost wishing I could take the words back.
    “Relax,” he says, noticing maybe how my face is burning hot.
    “I guess this is a lot harder for me than I thought. I mean, just being here . . . with you . . . trying to talk about important stuff when I really can’t—”
    “Concentrate?” he finishes for me. His eyes are wide and searching.
    “Yeah,” I say, wanting more than anything to press my face against his chest, to feel his heart pulse beneath my skin.
    Ben must sense it, because he takes a couple steps back, against the opposite wall now—as far away from me as he can get.
    “What’s wrong?”
    He looks away, as if facing me is way too hard for him. “We can’t do this.”
    “We’re not doing anything. We’re just talking.”
    “You don’t honestly believe that.”
    I start to tell him I do, but then stop just short of the lie.
    “So, you wanted to talk?” he asks, getting right down to