The Good Girls

Chapter 6

EVIE PULLED INTO THE JUDY'S DINER parking lot on Tuesday night. It was pouring down rain, but the lights of the diner were warm, and the people inside looked happy and relaxed. Suddenly, a flash of auburn hair inside the diner caught her eye, and her heart seized in her chest. Was that Crystal? Evie hadn't seen her enemy since before the email went out, and she was still dreading the inevitable showdown.

But then she looked again. It was just another girl with similar-colored hair. She spooned what looked like rice pudding into her mouth and smiled at the guy she was sitting with. Evie breathed out. She so wasn't ready to see Crystal yet.

Someone tapped on her window, and she looked up with a start. It was Mal—the reason Evie had come to the diner—and she was soaked. Evie hit UNLOCK, and Mal threw herself into the passenger seat. "Didn't you see me waving?" she asked, sounding annoyed. "You could have pulled closer to the curb."

"Sorry," Evie said. "I thought I saw someone inside."

"Ashley?"

That was the thing about Mal—she knew Evie far too well. "Maybe," Evie muttered.

Mal gritted her teeth "I hate that girl. Like, really, really hate her."

"I know. I do, too."

"Yeah, but you're just rolling over and taking the abuse. Then again . . ." Mal homed in on Evie, staring at her lilac blouse, dark-wash skinny jeans, and high ponytail. "You have actual clothes on. You don't even seem that upset."

Evie wanted to tell Mal that it was because of Doug—he'd called her that day to check in, and they'd talked for almost two hours. But sometimes it was hard to tell Mal happy things, considering Mal's own troubled life. So she just shrugged. "I'm trying to cope."

"I think we should do something to Crystal in retaliation," Mal growled.

"Like what?" Evie asked as she pulled out of the lot. "Let air out of her tires? Post some mean stuff on Facebook? It'll just look like we're stupid high school girls trying to get revenge."

Mal slumped down in the seat and muttered something Evie couldn't hear. Evie stared at her friend for a moment. Mal was pale, and she looked exhausted and upset, probably for something more serious than Crystal.

The windshield wipers swished noisily. "So . . . where have you been anyway?" Evie had no idea where Mal had been sleeping. Before she'd received Mal's call this evening saying she was at the diner and needed a ride, Evie had almost been ready to report her to Missing Persons. Sure, Mal had disappeared before, but never for this long, and never without telling Evie where she was going.

Then again, they hadn't ever been wanted for murder before.

Mal shrugged. "Around."

Evie paused at a stop sign. "Just . . . around?" She wondered if that meant Mal didn't remember. A shot of fear spiked through her chest. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively.

"Not really."

Evie shut her eyes. She wished Mal would talk about it—about anything. It seemed like her friend was retreating more and more into herself, especially after Ben's death. If only the therapist she'd found for her had worked out. Instead, whenever Evie even thought of Elliot Fielder and what he'd done to Mal, she was seized with such crushing guilt she could barely breathe. She had made a lot of mistakes with Mal, horrible mistakes she couldn't undo. She would have to be very, very careful to take care of her from now on, she promised herself.

"So where are we going again?" Mal asked languidly, staring out the window at the passing redwood trees.

"Audrey's," Evie answered. "She called a little while ago. Her boyfriend was arrested for Jay's murder."