I really wanted to have lunch with my friends. But Mom needed me to do some paperwork and filing in the principal’s office. So I grabbed a tuna fish sandwich and a bottle of ice tea and ate while I worked.
I felt jumpy and out of sorts, like I wasn’t really myself. I tried to force all the sad thoughts from my mind, but I just couldn’t. The words from the TV news story this morning kept repeating in my mind. No way I could block them or erase them from my memory.
Someone had leaked that the Linden press was calling what happened the Vampire Murder. The news story said that Winks’s body had been examined and it was totally drained. No blood.
A police officer denied the whole thing. But there was the story, and someone—whoever examined Winks’s body—swore it was true.
Now, how do you stop thinking about that?
Especially when it was one of your best friends who was murdered.
The town of Linden is peaceful and small. And when something truly horrifying occurs, I think people are more shocked, more shaken—because it’s just not supposed to happen here.
A “vampire” murder? Not in Linden. No way that could happen in our little town.
As you can tell, I was awake all last night, thinking about all this. And now, I was still in such an unhappy haze, I realized I’d been putting the files I was collecting in the wrong cabinet.
I was still moving them to the right drawers when I looked up and saw Morgan Marks walk into the office. She wore an emerald sweater that matched her green eyes, over tight-legged black denims. The bright office lights made her creamy skin glow.
Normally, I wouldn’t think things like that. But she really was, like, perfect. And she gave me a smile, a warm smile, maybe the first one since I met her that night in the comedy club.
“Hey. Hi,” I said, setting a stack of files down on the front counter. “How are you doing?”
She shrugged. “Trying to keep it real.”
I nodded. “For sure.” Then there was an awkward pause.
“We missed you at lunch,” Morgan said. She snickered. “I freaked out your friends.”
I leaned on the high counter. “What do you mean?”
“I told them I confessed to the police that I killed Winks and drank his blood. It was a joke, but you should have seen the looks on their faces. Like maybe they believed me.”
I felt a chill at the back of my neck. “It wasn’t a very good joke,” I said.
She nodded. “Everyone always tells me I have a twisted sense of humor.”
“Yeah. Well. That was pretty sick,” I said. “Maybe this isn’t a good time for jokes.”
“I think I was just trying to cover up how scared and upset I am about Winks. You know. Like when people laugh or say stupid things at funerals?
I stared at her. “I guess.” I heard Mom on the phone in the inner office behind me. She was apologizing to some parent about something.
I glanced at the clock. Almost time to go to class, and I hadn’t finished my tuna fish sandwich.
“After my stupid joke, Amber mentioned that you are looking for volunteers,” Morgan said, sweeping back her hair off her shoulders.
“Volunteers?” I had to think hard. “Oh. You mean for the alumni carnival?”
Morgan nodded. “Yeah. But I have one question. What’s the alumni carnival?”
I laughed. “Didn’t Amber tell you? It’s a big party. They hold it here in the high school, and they invite more than a hundred Linden graduates to come.”
She shifted her backpack on her back. “It’s like a party?”
“You know, they have a DJ and there’s dancing. And there’s food, and an auction to raise money for the high school. And sometimes people perform.”
“Can I help?” Morgan asked. “I love being on committees and things.”
I tried to hide my surprise. Morgan didn’t seem like the committee type. But here she was volunteering. Maybe I had her all wrong. Maybe since she is so beautiful and seemed like such a flirt, I misjudged her.
“Sure,” I said. “That’s awesome. I’ll put your name down on the list.”
Morgan smiled, but her gaze was on someone behind me. I turned and saw my mom walking over to us from her office. “Morgan, just the person I wanted to see,” Mom said cheerily.
Morgan slid her backpack to the floor. “Seriously, Mrs. Hart?”
Mom nodded. “We’re having a little trouble gathering your school records. It turns out there were three Morgans in your class at Shadyside High.”
“Yeah, I know,” Morgan replied. “Two girl Morgans and one boy.”
“I think it’s caused some confusion,” Mom told her. “And I think it’s why we haven’t received your records.”
Morgan nodded. She didn’t reply.
“The school asked if we could send them a photo of you to help straighten it all out,” Mom said.
Morgan thought about it for a moment. “No problem,” she said. “Shall we take it right here?”
“Sure. Just stand against the wall,” Mom said. She turned and started back to her office. “I’ll get my phone.”
Morgan backed up to the wall. “This is weird,” she muttered to me. She straightened her hair with one hand and adjusted her sweater.
Mom returned with her iPhone. “You take it, Julie. You know I’m a klutz when it comes to this phone.” She shoved it into my hand.
I gazed at it. “Mom, you’re three phones behind. You need to upgrade.”
“I need to downgrade,” Mom said. “These phones are just too complicated.”
I turned to Morgan. She was still fiddling with her hair. “It doesn’t have to be perfect,” I said. “They just want to identify you.”
She laughed. “So now you think I’m vain?”
I didn’t answer. I leaned my elbows on the counter, raised the phone, and centered Morgan on the screen.
“Smile,” Mom said.
I laughed. “Why should she smile? This isn’t going in the yearbook, Mom.”
I clicked the screen.
“I should turn sideways,” Morgan said. “You know, like in a police mug shot.”
“Why? Have you done something wrong?” Mom asked. I think she meant it as a joke, but it didn’t come out funny.
“I’ll take one more,” I said. I clicked another one. Then I handed the phone back to my mother.
“I’ll send it to Shadyside right away,” Mom said. “And we’ll straighten out this whole thing with your missing records.”
The buzzer blared right above our heads. “We’re late,” I said. I spun around, trying to remember where I left my backpack.
“Catch you later,” Morgan said. “And thanks for letting me be on the alumni party committee.”
“It’ll be fun,” I said. But she had already disappeared into the hall.
I found my backpack where I’d tossed it against the back wall. I hoisted it up and started out of the office.
“Hey, Julie,” Mom called from her desk. “Come here a minute. There’s something wrong.”
“Something wrong?” I turned and strode back to her office. “You mean with your phone?”
She nodded. “Look. Look at Morgan’s photos.”
I took the phone from her and glanced at the first photo. “Hmmm . . .” I slid my finger over the screen, flipping to the next photo.
“Totally weird,” I said.
The office wall was clear and sharp. But Morgan was a complete blur of green and brown. I couldn’t see her face at all.
