TweetyGram

14 - #BandMeeting

"Not necessarily." I shifted in my seat, irritated by the loud crunching of potato chips. "I spoke to some of the victims, and I have a hunch the Wolf went to Rietveld-Beaumont like us. Plus, they know about Nat's eighth-grade art project, so they must be someone close to her. I've checked the whereabouts of every Rietveld-Beaumont alum in this photo, and by process of elimination, we have four suspects."

Nat sat up straight, her expression tensed. "Who are they?"

I hesitated. "Are you sure you want to know about it? Maybe you should just leave this to—"

"Linds." Fierce determination shone in Nat's eyes. "Who are they?"

I exhaled a heavy breath. "The first one is Charity Mayberry. I don't think it's a coincidence this wolf appears after she joins the cast of Malibu."

Nat pulled her mouth into a straight line. "But I've never told her about my art grade."

"Yes, but she's best friends with Harriet—"

"We're talking about Harriet Honeysuckle, right?" Paris interrupted.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Speaking of Charity and Harriet, since when did they become BFFs?"

"Eleventh grade," Nat answered.

"Uh-huh. Harriet turned pretty after the summer holiday, and poof." Paris closed and opened her hands in front of her for dramatic effect. "Charity took her under her wings—"

"More like horns," Nat interrupted, and the three of us giggled.

"And the rest is history," Paris continued.

"So that's it?" I placed my elbows on my desk and rested my chin on the back of my hands. "She became pretty and Charity just befriended her?"

"She also did most of Charity's homework." Nat lifted her glass of wine to her lips and sipped, her hands had stopped shaking.

"Yeah, I never get why Harriet wants to suck up to a mean girl who used to bully her like Charity," Paris mumbled in between munching her chips. "Harriet's the one with the brain, and it's not like she isn't a beauty herself. Even now, I'm pretty sure she's the brain behind most of their TweetyTube skits."

"True, but she wouldn't have gotten far without Charity, remember?" Nat poured more wine into her empty glass. "They're famous because they like to invite famous people to their show, and it's no secret Charity's dad pays for those celebs to do it."

I clicked my tongue. "The things people do for fame, huh?"

"Yep," Nat and Paris said in unison.

"Anyway." I returned my gaze to Nat. "Although you've never told Harriet about your art grade, she liked to eavesdrop on our conversation. She could've heard about us talking about your art grade."

"Mm-hmm." Paris slurped her tropical boba smoothie through the straw. "Plus, Mrs. Lemmon used to spend lots of time in Harriet's house because of her affair with Mr. Honeysuckle, right? Harriet could've easily peeked into Mrs. Lemmon's gradebook."

"Yep," I agreed.

"Okay, but what's Charity's motive?" Nat asked. "The Mayberrys are rich. Charity doesn't need to scam my fans for a few thousand dollars."

"She's always been jealous of you, Nat. Remember when she ruined your seventh-grade science project?" I argued. "That woman is a psycho. I wouldn't be surprised if she's doing this only to get a kick out of it."

"But . . . the Mayberrys are rich," Nat insisted.

"Actually, they might not be rich for very long," Paris chipped in, her eyes sparkling with gossip. "Rumor has it Mr. Mayberry's real estate business is on the brink of bankruptcy, and he owes a huge sum of money to a mobster."