Paper Flowers (Pretty Plastic People) ★

027. The Anonymous Duo

027. The Anonymous Duo

At Aquino High, secrets ruin everyone.

After frozen yogurt the girls and I head over to my house to prep for Liam's typical Monday night party. My homework is shoved in my backpack and tossed on the living room couch; for once, I don't think about staying in and working on it. Figuring out what my anonymous caller means has suddenly become more important, and the only way to expose a secret is to spend time with its keeper.

While everyone rifles through Allison's and my closets looking for dresses to wear, I study the paper flower on my nightstand. The memory of me receiving it is tarnished by the expression on Taylor's face as he'd watched me from around the corner. He'd looked regretful, almost ashamed.

The shadow of our kiss still burns on my lips. Abruptly, I head into my bathroom to find some lipstick to cover it.

"Erika, you're wearing this green dress right?"

I turn around with my lipstick still in one hand to see Brynn holding up an emerald green bandage dress. When I don't say anything she presses, "You have to wear it. It'll look so good on you."

She tosses it onto my bed and then sticks her nose back in my closet to continue rummaging. Setting the lipstick tube down on my bathroom counter, I walk over to the dress and pick it up.

"Change, now," says Brynn from inside the closet. "And wear your gold shoes."

I roll my eyes but obey, shimmying into the dress before she has to tell me again. It's sort of refreshing to put on the dress and have the promise of the whole evening ahead of me, but I have to remind myself that I'm not going to have fun. I'm going to do what I must to protect myself and my friends.

Before I can worry about the call anymore, Brynn emerges from the closet in a rose gold shift dress. She scans me, nods approvingly, and then hands me my gold shoes. "Hurry up," she says. "Everyone else is probably already waiting downstairs."

I'm in a trance all the way to Liam's party, sandwiched in the backseat of Cassidy's car between Brynn and Allison. My fingers keep finding my phone in my clutch and grasping it as if it's my lifeline; I'm so paranoid that it's going to vibrate with another message from my blackmailer. I want to tell my friends about her, but something tells me that would be a disaster. I assume the girl wants this all to be kept a secret.

Secrets again, I realize. At Aquino High, secrets ruins everyone.

The bass from the party is audible the second we turn onto Liam's street, creating a beat in my head that matches that of my heart. The second Cassidy parks a few houses away, I hurry down the street to his house, my shoes stabbing the pavement with each step. I just want to get in, find out what I need to, and get out.

Already, Liam's living room is packed. I squeeze past throngs of people on my way to the kitchen, where I set Liam setting out more beers in a cooler. Sweat is glistening at the crown of his forehead from the intense heat in the room, but he couldn't look more in his element.

"Hey," I say, sidling up beside him.

He shuts the lid on one of the coolers and shoves it back on the counter. "Hey. Have you seen Celia yet?" His words are running together a little, like he's already had too much to drink.

"She just got here with me. She's probably in the living room still—"

He starts to head away before I can get another word out. Frustrated, I follow him, bumping into several people as I make my way back to the foyer. An opening in the crowd emerges just in time for me to see Liam and Celia slipping off.