Free Pretty Please (Nightmare Hall) by Diane Hoh Page A

“fair condition.”
    Oh, thanks a lot, Jo thought as she hung up the phone. That tells me next to nothing.
    But at least Tina was alive.
    Jo glanced out the window. They’d planned to return their costumes this morning. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was cloudless. Looked like a beautiful day—maybe her mood would improve.
    By the time she had showered and dressed, Kelly was awake. She asked about Tina right away.
    Jo shrugged. “Fair condition, whatever that means.”
    “I think it means she’s going to be okay. If she weren’t, she’d be in ‘critical’ or ‘serious’ condition,” Kelly said. “So, what are our plans on this beautiful Saturday?”
    Jo had awakened to find the stitches on her cheek bothering her, probably a result of wearing the mask the night before. They still hurt, and she found herself resenting the fact that Kelly, who hadn’t been awake more than a minute, looked perfectly gorgeous.
    Life just wasn’t fair. “I don’t have any plans,” Jo said irritably. “Except, we have to return our costumes.”
    “Are the guys going with us?”
    And then, for no other reason than the fact that Kelly Benedict looked far more beautiful than anyone had a right to look first thing in the morning, Jo snapped, “Can’t you go anywhere without a male by your side?”
    “Hey!” Kelly sat up in bed. “Ease up. What’s your problem, anyway?”
    Chagrined, Jo apologized. It wasn’t Kelly’s fault she looked the way she did. And not her fault that Jo had gone through that glass door. She hadn’t even been in that crowd at Missy’s party. “I’m sorry. Guess I got up on the wrong side of the bed. And yes, as far as I know, they’re meeting us down at the fountain at ten.”
    Kelly glanced at her alarm clock. “Ten? That’s only an hour away!” She threw the covers aside and jumped out of bed. Running for the bathroom, she called over her shoulder, “I’ll never be ready in time, no way!”
    Jo’s irritation melted. It was Saturday, it was gorgeous, Evan had kissed her last night, and she was going to see him again in an hour. Best of all, Tina was not in “critical” or “serious” condition; she was in “fair” condition. Maybe she’d even be up to a telephone conversation later today.
    Vowing to call the hospital when they returned from town, Jo got dressed.
    They were coming out of the costume shop in Twin Falls when she glanced across the street and noticed that the sporting-goods shop was flanked by a beauty supply shop on one side and a drugstore on the other.
    Beauty supplies?
    Evan must have been going into the drugstore the day they rented their costumes. What would he be doing in a beauty supply store? Jo smiled to herself. Evan certainly didn’t need any beauty supplies. He looked just fine the way he was.
    Suddenly, without warning, a vision of the little beige tube danced before her eyes. Ban-Blem. A special corrective makeup for scars and blemishes….
    Wouldn’t you buy that at a beauty supply store?
    She was instantly ashamed. Evan? Buying a tube of makeup and hiding it in her bag from the sporting-goods store?
    Never! He would never do anything so mean.
    Why would he?
    He had gone into the drugstore that day. Absolutely.
    She could ask him. But then he’d want to know why she was so curious. Maybe he’d even figure out that she was asking because of the Ban-Blem, and he’d be furious that she could think he’d pull such a rotten stunt.
    Jo tried valiantly to put the whole nasty business out of her mind. It hadn’t been Evan. Couldn’t have been.
    But she found herself watching him later, at Burgers Etc., while they were eating lunch. And then, because she couldn’t bear the thought that it might have been him, she found herself watching all of her friends. Reed and Carl, both so great-looking, so funny, so popular, calling out cheerfully to friends who entered the long, silver diner. Nan and Kelly, the perfect foils for Reed and Carl, with their