Pretty Little Devils (7 page)

“Hey,” Matty said.

“Hi,” she said softly. He tentatively put his arm around her and Hazel leaned into him. As they passed by a group of senior girls, Hazel noticed them whispering, shooting her envious glances.

This is what it's like being a PLD. You get the most attention, the hottest guys. And I'm one of them now!
Hazel realized, amazed.
I'm one of them and there's no way I'm ever going back!
She gazed up at Matty and smiled.

“Jenna Babcock's skirt is way too short today,” Carolyn said. “She looks like a total
salope
.”

“Mais oui,”
Sylvia replied. “And good usage,
ma cherie
.”

“Wait,” Ellen ventured. “Is that a new word?”

“Bien sûr,”
Sylvia replied.

“Bien sûr,”
Carolyn said.

“Well, what does it mean?”

Sylvia only laughed. Ellen looked from Carolyn to Megan. They both shrugged.

Finally, Ellen turned to Hazel. “Do you know what it means?” she asked.

“Of course she does,” Sylvia informed her.

Ellen suddenly looked panicked. “What did I do? Is it my hair? I'm getting a new cut, I swear.”

“Don't be silly,” Sylvia drawled. “But if you want to know what the word means, maybe you should ask Brandon.”

She chuckled as Josh wrapped both his arms around her waist and murmured,
“Salope,”
in her ear.

Ellen stopped dead in her tracks. She wore a strange expression.

Was it sadness? Concern?

“Ellen?” Hazel asked. “Are you okay?”

“Sure,” Ellen whispered. She stared as Sylvia and the rest of the group strolled away with Josh.

No one looked back.

 

After school the PLDs met Hazel at her locker. “We're going to Starbucks,” Sylvia said. “Time to give you our last gift.”

The group settled around a table by the window. Hazel offered to order everyone's drinks, but Sylvia waved her hand. “Don't be silly. When you're a PLD, the drinks come to you.”

As if on cue, one of the counter people—a good-looking college guy—approached the table. Sylvia flirted with him for a minute or two, leading him on just enough to give him a tiny bit of hope. Soon after, each of the PLDs was gifted with the Frappuccino of her choice.

Hazel took a sip. It was a small thing, she knew, but real evidence of the kind of influence a group like the PLDs could have.

Everyone chatted for a while, eager to let off steam about school before getting down to PLD business. Hazel stirred her Frap with her straw. She glanced up when the door opened.

And swallowed when she saw who walked in.

Lakshmi.

What was
she
doing here?

Hazel knew Lakshmi wanted to be in with the popular crowd—maybe even more than Hazel did—but didn't she know how pathetic she seemed, following the PLDs around like a puppy?

Lakshmi caught sight of Hazel. Her face broke into a broad smile. She waved and started to approach.

Oh God,
Hazel thought.
Don't come over here. Not now.

She frowned at Lakshmi and shook her head subtly—almost imperceptibly—hoping she would get the hint.

Lakshmi stopped, confused. Then realization dawned. She changed course and made her way to the register to order her drink.

Whew,
Hazel thought.
That was close.

“And now, Haze, it's time for your final present,” Sylvia announced. She pulled out a small, rectangular package in purple wrapping and placed it in front of Hazel.

“You guys know you didn't have to do this,” Hazel gushed. “All the gifts were so unexpected.”

“Just open it,” Sylvia commanded. “This one is the most important of all.”

Hazel unwrapped the package and found that it contained a small purple notebook. It had been carefully decorated with stickers, mostly of purple flowers. The center of the cover read:

 

PURPLEHAZE

PLD HANDBOOK

 

Hazel opened it. There was a sparkly pen topped with a purple feather lying on the first page, which read,
RULES
.

“It looks silly, but we wrote these up in middle school, so we tried to make yours look like a little replica of the originals,” Sylvia explained. “We've made a few amendments, but the rules are basically the same ones we started out with.”

The others nodded, Carolyn chuckling as if at a private joke.

Sylvia held up a finger. “Rule number one?” She looked at the three PLDs.

“PLD loyalty,” Ellen quickly replied. “Before guys and anyone else.”

“That's our most basic rule,” Sylvia said. She looked back at Hazel and leaned forward on her elbows. “Think about a herd of animals. Gazelles. Predators pick off the weak ones, the ones on the outside. The ones who stay close together survive.”

“We've been through a lot,” Megan elaborated. “We've tried to have outside friends, and it just doesn't work. We stick together, and it makes us solid.” The others nodded.

“That means you're free of those hangers-on,” Sylvia whispered, “from this point forward.”

She didn't need to explain. Hazel knew she was referring to Lakshmi, who was now seated a few feet away, pretending to read a gossip magazine.

“The second rule is, you have to uphold the PLD standards,” Sylvia went on. “We have to look good, be united. Support each other. There are people who would like nothing better than to see us fall flat on our faces. Which is why we need to let each other know if we're slipping.”

She placed a hand on Ellen's shoulder. Ellen's cheeks colored.

It was a harsh rule, Hazel knew, but it was true. Here at the top of the food chain, it was survival of the coolest.

“Here's some important info,” Sylvia explained, flipping toward the center of the notebook. “Basic info. Our phone numbers, birthdays, locker combinations, stuff like that.”

“Locker combinations?” Hazel echoed, a little uneasy.

“Sure. We leave things for each other,” Ellen replied. “Like, when one of us is down, we surprise her with a little something to cheer her up.”

“Oh. Um, that's nice.”
Nice,
Hazel thought,
until the PLDs get you busted by vice principal Clancy.

“Needless to say, you cannot lose this notebook,” Carolyn pointed out. “If you do, people who are jealous of us could use it against us.”

“And while we're on
that
subject,” Sylvia continued, “I know you had a class with Breona. She's gone, but all her little friends are still around. You cannot speak to any of them under any circumstances, all right?” She gave Hazel a hard stare.

“No problem,” Hazel said.

“Good. Moving onward.” Sylvia turned a page to show an elaborate spreadsheet. Each of the PLDs' names was printed there, in a column. Sylvia's first, then Megan, Carolyn, Ellen, and Hazel. The days of the week headed the rows. Each day was divided into thirds, labeled
AFTERNOON, EVENING
, and
NIGHT
.

“This is how we keep track of our sitting jobs,” Sylvia informed her. “I'm in charge. The parents call me to set up appointments, and I distribute these sheets every week. You're going to take the Darlings tonight. I already arranged it with Cynthia, their mom.”

“Oh. Um, isn't that kind of short notice?” Hazel pointed out. Last night, she had barely made a dent in her homework, despite staying up till one-thirty working on it. She was still behind in her reading for econ, and she'd planned on catching up tonight.

Sylvia frowned. Hazel saw a flash of displeasure in her eyes. “Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No, no,” Hazel covered. “I just…I need to make sure it's all right with my parents.”

“Well, it has to be,” Sylvia said pleasantly. “I already set it up. Okay, the details. The Darlings are twins.”

“And not exactly ‘darlings.'” Megan snickered. “You'll need the squeezy brain.”

Sylvia gave her a cold look. Megan lost her smirk and said, “You'll be fine.”

“We turn in our books once a week,” Sylvia said. “On Mondays. I keep track of the sitting jobs and the pay. We usually just pool the money, but sometimes there are exceptions.”

“Plus, there are fines,” Ellen said.

“Fines?”

Sylvia nodded. “Of course. Like, if you show up late for a sitting job or whatever. All of us shouldn't suffer because one person acts irresponsibly.”

Hazel took that in. “Well, I'll really do my best. I'm just—I'm grateful that you guys invited me.”

“You seemed like PLD material,” Sylvia said. “We think you're really going to work out.”

“Um…there's one other issue,” Megan broke in. “Do you like scary movies? Because they're kind of our thing.”

“We started out renting them when we babysat. Now we play them at all our parties. It helps everyone…get a little closer,” Sylvia explained.

“Oh. Sure,” Hazel replied. “I'm totally obsessed with all the
Friday the 13th
movies. They're cheesy, but I love them.”

“Yeah,” Carolyn added, “the night we rented
Halloween
, like, six people paired up. That's when we knew we were on to something.”

Hazel nodded. “I guess everyone likes being terrorized.”

“Oh, you won't when you meet the Darling twins.” Sylvia laughed. “You need to be there at seven. Sharp.”

Avenida Escondida—Hidden Avenue—divided Brookhaven into two sections, east and west. The west side of town was the ritzy part. The Darlings lived on a hill
overlooking
the ritzy part. Meaning they were even richer than the rich people.

Their house was a mansion. The floors were hardwood, and all the furniture was cutting-edge modern: everything was done in bold, bright, jarring colors. There were paintings on the walls that were taller than Hazel, all of them abstract—people with blank cube faces or swirly, desolate landscapes…. They creeped her out.

If Hazel was honest, the entire house creeped her out. The twins lived there with their mother, who was divorced, but the place was too big for just three people. It had an empty, isolated feeling. When Hazel walked on the wooden floors, her footsteps echoed hollowly back to her.

The front of the house was nothing but glass, and tonight fog had crept up the hill, slithering over the vast, manicured lawn.

A scene right out of one of the PLDs' horror movies,
Hazel thought.

As soon as Hazel arrived, the twins had told her how much they loved playing “ghost in the graveyard,” a game that required turning out all the lights in the house and then searching for each other in the dark.

Hazel was hiding, crouched behind the home entertainment system, nearly pressed up against the wall of glass. While she waited to be discovered, she watched the swirling fog and concentrated on keeping perfectly still.

“Where are you?” Katie Darling called in a spooky voice. Her flashlight moved across the window. Hazel watched as the silhouette of a gnarled tree caught in Katie's light. It waved in the wind like a skeletal hand—its bony fingers reaching out for her.

The light moved away and Hazel's hiding spot fell back into shadow. She sighed. Should she make it easier for them to find her? At least then the game would be over.

She glanced at her watch. It was only eight, and she was dragging. Nine was the twins' official bedtime. She had tried to get them to put on their pajamas and brush their teeth, but they'd refused. That was when all the lights-out games started. It seemed like everything they wanted to do was in the dark.

Pain shot through Hazel's calf. Her muscles were beginning to cramp, and she was getting sleepy.

That's it. Time to call it quits.

“Katie?” Hazel called softly. “Chrissie?”

There was no answer. No sound at all.

Gingerly she rose, half expecting one or both of them to jump out and spook her. She tiptoed through the cavern of a living room toward the hall that led into their bedroom.