Free Dead Is the New Black by Marlene Perez Page B

her mother?
    "You don't like it?" Samantha asked, hiding a smile.
    "Heavens no," Mrs. Devereaux replied. "The next time I'm in town, I must take you shopping for something decent."
    "Next time?" Samantha said. "You're leaving already?"
    "I'm afraid I must," her mother replied. "I have a fund-raiser to attend this evening."
    The smile left Samantha's face for a second, before she plastered it back on. "It's okay," she said airily. "I have lots to do, too, but I did need to ask you just one thing. Daisy, if you'll excuse us?"
    They walked to one end of the locker room and stood there talking for a few minutes. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could tell from their body language that Samantha was asking for something and her mother was saying no.
    After their low-voiced conversation, Mrs. Devereaux turned and left, not even bothering to hug Sam good-bye or tell her when she'd see her again.
    As nasty as Sam could be, it was impossible not to feel bad for her at that moment, as she stared at the door her mom disappeared through.
    After a few seconds, she turned to me. "Daisy, quit staring," she snapped. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
    I shrugged and gave her a sympathetic look, but she turned up her nose. Sam was trying to hide the hurt, but I could see it. The girl was full of secrets and I'd get them out of her eventually.
    That's what friends were for, right? To be there when you needed them? Whether Samantha Devereaux and I could be considered friends was debatable, but I had a feeling that she needed me, even if she wasn't ready to admit it or to tell me what was going on.
    Sam cleared her throat noisily and then changed the subject. "Can you believe that show-off Chelsea Morris?"
    "No, not really," I answered her, but my mind was whirling. Besides rejoicing in the fact that I'd made it through my first pep rally without throwing up, and worrying about Sam, I also wondered where the red-haired girl had gone. Had she been a figment of my imagination?
    "I bet she's trying to steal our routine. When we were in cheer camp..." Sam continued her story, but I had tuned her out. She thought her life was something out of Bring It On, but I had bigger things to worry about. Like finding the dead girl who was walking around Nightshade.
    "I can't believe she had the nerve to show up at our pep rally," she said.
    "What did you say?" I asked, suddenly homing in on what she was saying. "You know that girl?"
    She put her hands on her hips. "That's who I've been talking about for the last five minutes. Honestly. Yes, Chelsea Morris. From cheer camp. Goes to San Carlos High. Haven't you been listening at all?"
    "What else do you know about her?"
    This time, I listened while Sam filled me in on everything she knew about a dead girl.

Chapter Ten
    The football game against Quail Hollow followed the pep rally. After the game, Ryan went off with the rest of the guys to celebrate. With all the excitement, I hadn't had any time alone with Ryan to tell him what I had found out about the identity of the dead girl, and the weekend ended without a call from him. Samantha seemed to think Ryan and I were locked down as a couple, but I had my doubts.
    After my last class on Monday, I hurried to my locker to meet up with Ryan for a few minutes.
    I wanted to catch him before the squad showed up to drag me off to the hospital. Not that I didn't want to visit Rachel. I did, but I didn't want to go with the whole squad, like I was some sort of creature who could travel only in a pack.
    Visiting Rachel was a kind, considerate thing to do. So how was it that Samantha was the one who thought of it? She didn't have a kind bone in her body. Did she? Or maybe she was just visiting to make a withdrawal, like a selfish, soul-sucking fiend. Now that sounded more like the Samantha I knew.
    I was going up the stairs, headed for my locker, when someone grabbed me and pulled me into the shadowy stairwell. I was not in the mood to become some vamp's