I mean aside from all the obvious things,” Bonnie said, licking chocolate frosting off her fingers. “What?” said Elena dully. “Well, the way she ended up, in her slip. She looked just like she did when we found her on the road, only then she was all scratched up, too.” “Cat scratches, we thought,” said Meredith, finishing the last bite of her cake. She seemed to be in one of her quiet, thoughtful moods; right now she was watching Elena closely. “But that doesn’t seem very likely.” Elena looked straight back at her. “Maybe she fell in some brambles,” she said. “Now, if you guys are finished eating, do you want to see that first note?” They left their dishes in the sink and climbed the stairs to Elena’s room. Elena felt herself flush as the other girls read the note. Bonnie and Meredith were her best friends, maybe her only friends now. She’d read them passages from her diary before. But this was different. It was the most humiliating feeling she’d ever had.
