Fittingly, Halloween night had, indeed, been a nightmare. She was definitely too sick to go to school, and it wasn’t because of the alcohol. Or puking at the party. It wasn’t from the monster fight that she’d had with Olivia or Brianna after the hostess with the killer party had stolen Olivia right out from under her nose. It wasn’t any one of those things but surely the combination of all of them that had kept the sixteen-year-old home. The sum of each item had conspired to make her feel sicker and sadder than she had in a very long time. Above all of it was Olivia’s murder. Olivia Grant was dead. Beth was sick, devastated, and sad. Beth never, ever wanted the world to see that side of her. She was Tough Beth. Unpredictable Beth. Retrendy (a word she’d tried—and failed—to coin to describe a mash-up of retro and trendy) Beth. She was the girl who didn’t ever want anyone to see the hurt behind her lovely almond eyes. Luckily, Hayley and Taylor knew that about her and always, no matter what, just let her be.
