Read Online Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sara Shepard
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hefted open the window. Mrs. Mercer hadn’t locked it yet, and it gave easily. The night air was stiflingly hot without the faintest trace of wind.
“Have you heard of using your phone instead of a rock?” she called softly.
Ethan squinted up at her. “Can you come out?”
Emma listened for sounds in the hallway—a toilet flushing, Drake’s jingling tags, anything. The Mercers would kill her for sneaking out the very day she’d been caught stealing. But there was only silence. She lifted the window higher and shimmied out.
A thick tree branch extended toward the roof; Emma grabbed it easily and swung to the ground. No wonder Sutton used this as an escape route. She dropped to the gravel and headed toward Ethan, a smile on her face.
But Ethan wasn’t smiling back. “What on earth got into you? Have you lost your mind?”
“ Shhh .” Emma glanced around. The neighborhood was eerily still, all lights off, cars silent in driveways. “It was the only way I could get into the police station.”
“Why did you want to do that ?”
Emma sat down on the big boulder in front of the Mercers’ house. “I had to see Sutton’s police file.”
As Emma told Ethan about the police report and the incident at the train tracks, his eyes bulged wider and wider. “Sutton put everyone’s lives at risk,” Emma finished. “And something happened to Gabby that night. She went to the hospital.”
“Whoa.” Ethan sank down on the boulder next to her. “And no one told on Sutton?”
“According to the report, no.” Their legs were just barely touching; Emma could feel the tough fabric of his jeans through her thin pajama pants.
Ethan turned his phone over in his hands. “Why do you think they kept quiet?”
“I don’t know. The train prank was serious. They all could have died,” she said, watching a shadow pass across the window of a neighboring house. “Maybe they wanted to give Sutton a taste of her own medicine?”
“Through a prank . . . or something else?”
A chill coursed through Emma’s veins. “You said yourself that Sutton’s friends looked like they wanted to kill her the night of the snuff film, right?”
Ethan gazed down the street, his top teeth sinking into his bottom lip. “That’s what it looked like to me,” he finally said. “Even though they said it was a prank, Sutton seemed really scared.”
“Sounds like payback,” Emma said.
Ethan had a better memory of that night than I did. When I’d seen Ethan standing over me, I’d felt woozy and vulnerable. If only I could remember the hours and days after the strangling incident . . . had I really resumed normal activities with my friends as if it hadn’t mattered? Had I been able to shake off my fear that easily?
“But I’m not sure we should write off the Twitter Twins either,” Emma said. “Gabby went to the hospital, after all—maybe she was really hurt. They were at Charlotte’s sleepover, too. And I’ve seen them driving up and down this street, watching me. Plus they’ve been giving me really weird looks in school.” She shut her eyes, thinking about Garrett. “Then again, a lot of people have been giving me weird looks.”
Ethan nodded. “You can’t write off any of them until they have a clear alibi.”
Emma arched her neck up to the sky and let out a groan. Everything felt so . . . difficult . “Sutton’s parents would kill me if they knew I was out here,” she said, eyeing the dark windows in the house. “I’m already grounded for life.”
Ethan shifted in the gravel. “So this is your only night of freedom?”
“You could say that. Tomorrow there will probably be a big bolt on my window.”
Ethan smiled. “We’d better do something more fun than talk about Sutton’s murderer, then.”
Slowly, Emma raised her eyes to his. “Like what?”
“There’s a pool in your neighbor’s yard.” Ethan gestured over the block wall that separated the Mercers’ house from the neighbors’.
“Have you heard of using your phone instead of a rock?” she called softly.
Ethan squinted up at her. “Can you come out?”
Emma listened for sounds in the hallway—a toilet flushing, Drake’s jingling tags, anything. The Mercers would kill her for sneaking out the very day she’d been caught stealing. But there was only silence. She lifted the window higher and shimmied out.
A thick tree branch extended toward the roof; Emma grabbed it easily and swung to the ground. No wonder Sutton used this as an escape route. She dropped to the gravel and headed toward Ethan, a smile on her face.
But Ethan wasn’t smiling back. “What on earth got into you? Have you lost your mind?”
“ Shhh .” Emma glanced around. The neighborhood was eerily still, all lights off, cars silent in driveways. “It was the only way I could get into the police station.”
“Why did you want to do that ?”
Emma sat down on the big boulder in front of the Mercers’ house. “I had to see Sutton’s police file.”
As Emma told Ethan about the police report and the incident at the train tracks, his eyes bulged wider and wider. “Sutton put everyone’s lives at risk,” Emma finished. “And something happened to Gabby that night. She went to the hospital.”
“Whoa.” Ethan sank down on the boulder next to her. “And no one told on Sutton?”
“According to the report, no.” Their legs were just barely touching; Emma could feel the tough fabric of his jeans through her thin pajama pants.
Ethan turned his phone over in his hands. “Why do you think they kept quiet?”
“I don’t know. The train prank was serious. They all could have died,” she said, watching a shadow pass across the window of a neighboring house. “Maybe they wanted to give Sutton a taste of her own medicine?”
“Through a prank . . . or something else?”
A chill coursed through Emma’s veins. “You said yourself that Sutton’s friends looked like they wanted to kill her the night of the snuff film, right?”
Ethan gazed down the street, his top teeth sinking into his bottom lip. “That’s what it looked like to me,” he finally said. “Even though they said it was a prank, Sutton seemed really scared.”
“Sounds like payback,” Emma said.
Ethan had a better memory of that night than I did. When I’d seen Ethan standing over me, I’d felt woozy and vulnerable. If only I could remember the hours and days after the strangling incident . . . had I really resumed normal activities with my friends as if it hadn’t mattered? Had I been able to shake off my fear that easily?
“But I’m not sure we should write off the Twitter Twins either,” Emma said. “Gabby went to the hospital, after all—maybe she was really hurt. They were at Charlotte’s sleepover, too. And I’ve seen them driving up and down this street, watching me. Plus they’ve been giving me really weird looks in school.” She shut her eyes, thinking about Garrett. “Then again, a lot of people have been giving me weird looks.”
Ethan nodded. “You can’t write off any of them until they have a clear alibi.”
Emma arched her neck up to the sky and let out a groan. Everything felt so . . . difficult . “Sutton’s parents would kill me if they knew I was out here,” she said, eyeing the dark windows in the house. “I’m already grounded for life.”
Ethan shifted in the gravel. “So this is your only night of freedom?”
“You could say that. Tomorrow there will probably be a big bolt on my window.”
Ethan smiled. “We’d better do something more fun than talk about Sutton’s murderer, then.”
Slowly, Emma raised her eyes to his. “Like what?”
“There’s a pool in your neighbor’s yard.” Ethan gestured over the block wall that separated the Mercers’ house from the neighbors’.
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