Free Hide and Seek by Sara Shepard Page B

you sure you want to do that?” The last thing she wanted was for Ethan to get in trouble just to make Sutton’s friends like him.
    Ethan shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Honest.”
    Suddenly, a shadow fell over Emma. A girl with dark, curly hair in a side ponytail stood in the aisle. Tiny yellow shorts barely covered her thin thighs, and a white T-shirt showed off the outline of her bra. It took Emma only a few seconds to realize it was one of the members of the Devious Four—Bethany something.
    “Hi, Ethan,” Bethany said, staring at him and only him. She hitched her shorts even higher.
    Ethan blushed, clearly not used to the attention. “Um, hi?”
    I rolled my eyes. I was dead and practically memory-less, but even I knew that you never, ever talk to a freshman. You pretended you were too busy to realize they exist, even if you were related to them.
    “What are you up to this weekend?” Bethany asked.
    Madeline’s and Laurel’s eyes widened. Lili and Gabby already had their phones out, texting furiously.
    “Um…” Ethan stalled, glancing at Emma.
    It was all Emma could do to not laugh. “He’s hanging out with me,” she said, looping her arm in Ethan’s elbow.
    Madeline leaned in. “Why? Does your mom need someone to babysit you?”
    Bethany’s cheeks flushed scarlet. She slunk away back to her friends, who surrounded her and started whispering.
    Charlotte shook her head. “We definitely need that video footage.”
    “Agreed,” Emma said. “Those girls need to go down.”
    “Consider it done,” Ethan answered.
    “Our hero,” Madeline swooned.
    Thayer looked more and more annoyed. He leaned over and stared at Ethan. “Landry, when did you become the man?”
    For a second, Ethan looked caught off guard. Then he took a deep breath. “I guess when I started dating the hottest girl in school,” he said smoothly.
    Thayer focused his brown eyes on Emma, like he was looking at her for the first time that night. “Yeah, can’t argue with you there,” he said in a wistful tone.
    Next to him, Laurel choked on the Diet Coke she was drinking. Thayer spun around instantly and clapped her on the back. “Are you okay?”
    Laurel nodded frantically, but she couldn’t breathe for a few more seconds. “Could you get me water?” Laurel spluttered, her eyes tearing up.
    “Sure.” Thayer struggled to get up, then limped down the bleachers.
    Laurel kept coughing until he was out of sight, thencalmly took another sip of her soda, angling a sidelong glance at Emma. It was a look that said, You’re not the only one who has him eating out of your hand.
    To me, there was something extra to the look, too. It also said, Stay away. Or else.

SMOKING GUN
     
    People in the Mercers’ neighborhood took Hollier soccer seriously. Following the school’s victory, horns were honking down the street, and the Wessmans, who lived two doors away, had put a Hollier banner on their garage.
    Emma pulled into the driveway and heard a ping on her phone. It was Ethan. TONIGHT WAS UNEXPECTEDLY FUN , he wrote. OR IN THE WORDS OF THE DAILY EMMA: SHY BOY SCORES BIG AT SOCCER GAME.
    Emma flushed, loving that Ethan had picked up on her headline habit and was writing some of his own. NOT TOO BAD, RIGHT? she typed back, feeling a warm, happysensation all over. Besides the minor blip with Thayer, Ethan had been awesome: He’d charmed Sutton’s friends and even made a couple of hilarious jokes. By the looks Madeline and Charlotte had given her at the end of the game, Emma knew they’d accepted him. It was nice to know Ethan had accepted them, too.
    Emma cut the engine and looked around. Surprisingly, she’d beat Laurel back, even though Emma had driven Ethan home after the game. The Mercer parents’ cars weren’t there either, and though Grandma’s car was parked outside the garage, the house was dark.
    She stepped through the front door and fumbled for the light. Her footsteps echoed loudly in the silent house. She made her way