Free Second Nature by Ae Watson

very
serious.”
    She and Rita both looked
curious and disappointed as they walked over to where we were.
    “I could go for a toke,
so whatever this is—”
    “Do you think you could
make it in prison?” I asked boldly for effect and to shut Rita up.
    She snapped her mouth
shut as her gray eyes widened when she saw the state of Lindsey’s face.
    “What?” Sierra stopped
walking. “What’s wrong?”
    “We’re all suspects,”
Lindsey added. “The police found our blood at the scene. They don't know it’s
ours yet, but their reasons for bringing us in were pretty pathetic. The story
of the drunken forest expedition didn't go well. Sage and I were split up and
then questioned. She doesn't think she did very well. I know I didn't. I got
confused a lot. I tried saying we’d had some to drink, but then who drove home?
I got confused.”
    It dawned on me that
Sierra lied like a pro, Rita was drugged, and I knew
too many facts and didn't get confused. Lindsey was the weakest link
technically. She was a terrible liar. Sage was drugged, but her brother was
missing.
    It was possible the
police just wanted to see the two of them because they were hoping for more
answers. Maybe our guilty consciences made us link the DNA and the summons to
the police station. Maybe the two aspects weren’t connected at all.
    Sierra and Rita both
looked apprehensively at Lindsey’s puffy face.
    “Are you for real?”
    “Yeah.” She gave a grave
look to Sierra. “They think we did it. Even your dad thinks so.”
    Sierra swallowed hard.
“Fu—”
    “Stop!” I scowled. “We
need to think about how to solve this so the police know it wasn't us but without
endangering ourselves with the killer.” A soft sigh slipped from my lips as I
processed. “Rachel got that dress from New York when she was shopping with you,
Rita. She never told us she was going to the city to see you. She kept that
detail of being friends with you a secret. How long were you friends, and why
didn't she tell us?”
    Rita shrugged. “I don't
know. I never knew it was a secret. I thought we were put on playdates, if I’m
totally honest. Her mom and my mine organized it. I met her for brunch and then
we went to the show. It was supposed to be indie designers with a boho feel to
them.” She gave Lindsey a look. “Something you’d wear.”
    Lindsey rolled her puffy
eyes.
    “Anyway, it was really
shabby chic, and I didn't like it. I was polite and nice. The silver dress was
the only one that was something special in the entire collection. After the day
of shopping and that lame fashion show, her mom went through her bag of
clothes, taking away anything she didn't consider nice enough.” Rita wrinkled her
nose.
    “She did this in front of
you?” Lindsey asked, looking bewildered.
    “Yeah. They left after
that. Rachel seemed pissed. She texted me a few times after that, and we hung
out when her parents brought her to the city to see my parents. When I moved
here, she was up my ass from the moment I arrived. She was demanding, we did
all the things she wanted to do, and my mom made me hang with her.”
    “Rachel wanted to keep
you to herself until she knew you would be cool.” Sierra rolled her eyes. “She
always did that with new friends. In case you were a freak. Then she could say
she didn't know you, even though secretly I had seen her hang with pretty dodgy
people.”
    “Nice.” Rita was clearly
offended. “She really was a piece of work.”
    “Anyway.” You could tell
Sierra didn't appreciate that comment. “The dress should have been an early
release for Rach. If she got it from the designer, and he wanted her to strut
it around at some point this summer, advertising for him, then there shouldn't
have been a second dress.”
    “Right.” Rita nodded.
    “And yet, you saw a girl
in the exact dress?”
    I shrugged. “Identical.”
    Rita cocked her head to
the side. “I don't get eidetic memories, but what if you just didn't see it
clear enough