“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Hold on, let me ask.” Rose cups a hand to the receiver and tugs me away from the bar, separating from Daisy a little, but she joins us, curious. I would be too if I was her. “Did you mail a package to the Villanova house?” Rose asks. Villanova…my parent’s house? Why…
“Why would I do that?”
Rose’s bony shoulders stiffen in sharp angles.
“What package?” Daisy asks.
“Here talk to her.” Rose hands me the phone.
I press the cell to my ear, my nerves spiking. “Hey, Poppy. What’s going on?”
“Lily, I’m at the Villanova house for Maria’s birthday party,” she explains in a hushed tone, as if she’s afraid someone will hear. “Harold just brought the mail in, and there’s a package addressed to you. It’s from a website calledKinkyme.net. There are literally X’s all over the box. He was going to give it to Mom, but I stopped him before he could.”
“I didn’t order that,” I say quickly, my heart beating out of my chest.
“It’s fine if you did,” Poppy says gently, “I’m just wondering why you would mail something like that here. Mom would have your head.”
“Honestly, I really didn’t.”
Rose seems a little skeptical, and I wonder if she thinks I sent the package there to hide it from her and Lo or something. She trusts me about as much as Ryke trusts Lo.
I make a sudden decision. “Poppy, can you open it and see what it is?”
Rose’s eyes go wild, but now she can’t possibly believe I sent the package.
“Yeah, hold on,” she says. I hear her fumbling around and then the rip and tear of tape. Her voice lowers to a whisper. “It’s a dildo.”
I grimace.
“Wait, there’s a letter.” She pauses and the silence is agonizing. “Oh my God.”
“What-What does it say?” I stammer.
Rose taps her foot, annoyed that she can’t hear. Daisy rests a hand on my shoulder, comforting me even though she’s blind about the origin of my distress. The guilt startscreeping in almost immediately.I should have told her.Maybe not.Yes.No…I don’t know. My head hurts.
Poppy reads quietly, “‘Dearest Lily, here’s something to keep you full at night.’” She pauses. “There’s no signature. Is it from Loren?”
“Why would Lo buy me a dildo?” I say out loud, unthinking.
“Dildo?” Daisy’s mouth falls open, connecting some of the dots.
“Who else would send something like this to you?” Poppy asks.
“It must be a stupid prank,” I say. From the blackmailer. “Can you throw it out before anyone else sees it? And can you tell Harold not to mention it?”
“Of course,” Poppy says. “If you’re having problems making friends at school?—”
“It’s not prep school, Poppy. It’s college. No one is stealing my lunch money.”
“Then why would someone do this?”
“They must think it’s funny. I don’t know,” I say quickly. My throat is starting to close up with a lump and my voice threatens to shake. “Hey, do you want to talk to Rose?”
“Sure.”
I hand the cell to Rose, and she engages in a cordial conversation.
