Torie spun, eyes wide. “Is someone there?”
No answer. But the air felt disturbed—like someone had moved a second too soon.
She slammed the notebook shut, shoved it into her bag, and ran. She stopped midway and sat with her back against the wall, her eyes closed. She was a mess. When her legs could hold her again, she went straight to Janet’s.
Janet answered after several knocks, hair mussed from sleep. Torie burst inside.
“I have proof!” Torie gasped. “Harmony isn’t who she says she is.”
“Torie, it’s three in the morning.”
“She knows things she shouldn’t.”
Janet rubbed her eyes. “What proof?”
Torie opened her bag—and went still. The notebook was gone. She emptied the bag, hands shaking. Nothing.
Janet checked the hallway. No one was there. No one was leaving. But Torie swore the front door had been locked behind her.
“Are you sure?” Janet asked softly.
“I’m not crazy!” Torie shouted, pacing. “I held it in my hands. It was real.”
“Maybe it got dropped—”
“I didn’t drop it.” Torie’s voice cracked. “Someone took it.”
Janet’s worry deepened. “Torie, you’re scaring me.”
“I’m scared, too,” she whispered.
Janet moved closer, gentle now. “You need sleep.”
“They’re all in on it,” Torie said. “Candy. Harmony. Tosh. Zach. Mary. Janie. All of them.”
“What are they in on?”
“Pretending,” Torie said. “All of them are pretending to be something they’re not.”
Her gaze drifted to the window—to the dark ocean glinting under the bright moon.
“They know things. I believe they have something planned.” Her voice dropped. “I’m going to find out.”
Janet swallowed. “Torie—”
She was already walking away, murmuring beneath her breath. “No one makes a fool of me twice.”
“Torie, what will you do?”
Torie stopped for a moment. “Pretend to still be one of them. That’s the only way I can figure out what they’re up to.”
She didn’t let Janet answer. She simply walked away.
Torie didn’t sleep that night. She couldn’t. Thoughts churned too loudly.
When dawn broke, the Chimes Tower rang, the sound drifting across the cliffs. Janet found her on the balcony, barefoot and pale, staring at the horizon.
“Did you sleep, Torie?”
