Truth or Dare . . (4 page)

“What?” Chloe cried as she grabbed the phone from Leah.

“Somebody get the lights,” Nora said nervously.

In the darkness, Leah stumbled over to the stairs and flipped the light switch—but the soft glow from the lamps didn't make the text any less scary. One look at her friends' faces told Abby that they were as terrified as she was.

“Who sent that text?” Abby asked as she reached for her phone, her hands shaking so much that she almost dropped it on the floor. “I don't know this number. Do you guys recognize it?”

One by one, her friends stared at the screen, then shook their heads.

“Did you—did you do anything to upset anybody?” Nora asked, her voice unsure. “Whoever sent this text sounds mad—
really
mad.”

“No—I mean, not that I know of,” Abby replied, her eyes glued to her phone, reading the creepy text again. “And if I did, I would want somebody to, you know, tell me—not send some freaky message in the middle of the night.”

“Why would someone text you at four o'clock in the morning, anyway?” asked Leah.

“And why would they say
that
?” Chloe chimed in. “I mean, who is ‘him'?”

No one answered her—but Abby could tell that they were all thinking of Jake. Could it be a coincidence that she'd received this strange message just hours after she had confessed her crush?
I wish I'd kept my mouth shut
, she thought with regret.

Abby wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “This doesn't make any sense,” she said. “What was my phone doing over there on the table? I
always
sleep next to it. And how did it get turned on? I
know
I turned it off before we watched the movie. I don't understand—did one of you—”

“I'm sure nobody messed with your phone,” Nora tried to reassure her. “Maybe you just forgot about checking it before bed, and you accidentally left it on the table or something.”

Abby shook her head. “No, I don't—”

“You know what?” Leah said suddenly. “Maybe it was a wrong number.”

“Maybe,” Abby said slowly. “But that still doesn't explain why . . .”

She trailed off, and Leah spoke up. “Listen, here's how I
know
it's a wrong number. Because you're, like, the nicest girl in the world, and nobody who knows you would
ever
send you a message like that.” Leah smiled at her friend.

Abby tried to smile back.

“I mean, it's actually really funny, when you think about it,” Leah continued. “Since this is obviously a wrong number, whoever sent it thinks she told somebody off—when she really didn't!”

Leah was on a roll. “Oh, I told
her
,” she said in a silly high-pitched voice as she imitated the anonymous girl who'd sent the text. “That girl will
definitely
leave my guy alone now!”

There was a brief pause, and then everybody started to giggle.

“You really think it's no big deal?” Abby asked.

“Of course,” Leah said confidently. Then she yawned loudly. “Come on, let's go back to sleep. The sun's not even up yet.”

Abby turned her phone off and held it for just a moment. Then she put it back on the table by the stairs before returning to her sleeping bag.

For some reason she couldn't quite explain, Abby didn't want to sleep anywhere near it.

The sun was shining brightly when Abby and her friends finally awoke for the day. As the girls ate waffles and strawberries for a late breakfast, Chloe suddenly said, “Maybe it wasn't a wrong number. Maybe it was a prank!”

“Huh?” asked Leah sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.

“That weird text Abby got last night,” Nora reminded her. Then she turned to Chloe. “What do you mean?”

Chloe shrugged. “Well, Abby was texting Jake last night, and Jake was hanging out with Max and Toby,” she explained. “Maybe one of them thought it would
be funny to send her a scary message in the middle of the night. You know those guys. They can act like total idiots sometimes.”

“Maybe it was Jake!” Leah exclaimed.

“No,” Abby said, shaking her head. “Jake's too nice. He wouldn't do that.”

“He might be nice, but he has a wicked sense of humor,” Leah said knowingly. “Remember when he and Max convinced Joey Abrams that everybody was going to do the wave in math class, and Joey had to start it since he sat in the first desk? And then Joey jumped up with his arms in the air, but nobody else did?”

“And Ms. Garcia was all, ‘Joey? Are you okay?'” remembered Chloe as she cracked up.

“Oh, and remember that time when they broke into Brandon Murphy's locker and covered all his books in sparkly pink wrapping paper? And he had to carry them around like that all day, until he could go home and re-cover them!” added Nora.

The girls laughed at the memory of Brandon shuffling from class to class with his shiny pink book covers grabbing everyone's attention.

“Those pranks were pretty intense. And Joey and
Brandon are some of Jake's best friends!” Leah continued. “Yeah, I totally wouldn't put it past Jake to prank you. After all, you
did
text him first last night! And maybe this is his way of telling you that he likes you.”

Abby blushed at the thought that Jake liked her, too, but she wasn't convinced that it'd been him who texted her last night.

Chloe recognized the look on her friend's face. “Don't worry, Abby, I don't think Jake did it. He doesn't seem like the type of guy who would do something like that to a girl, you know? I still think it was just a wrong number.”

“Well, there's one way to find out,” Leah said. “Why don't we call the number back and see who picks up?”

“No way,” Abby said at once. “Whoever sent that text was obviously really upset. I don't want to make them any madder.”

“We could ask Jake if he sent the text,” suggested Nora. “Come on, Abby, aren't you curious?”

“Nope,” Abby replied, shaking her head. “Not that curious, anyway. I don't want anyone to know about it. I'm serious.”

Her friends exchanged a glance.

“What would be so bad about that?” asked Nora.

“Because it was weird,” Abby said. “Even if it was just a wrong number, even if it was just a prank, it was creepy, and I don't want anyone else to know about it, okay? From now on, consider it a secret. It doesn't leave this house. Just like you swore you wouldn't tell
anyone
that I like Jake. Swear it, okay?”

“Sure,” Nora replied, as Chloe nodded in agreement. Then all eyes turned to Leah.

“Leah?” Abby asked.

“Whatever you want, Abby,” Leah said loudly. “I swear I won't tell a single, solitary soul!”

“Won't tell what?” asked Mrs. Miller as she walked into the room. “Good morning, girls.”

“Oh, I can't tell you, Mrs. Miller,” Leah said, widening her eyes innocently. “What happens at Abby's sleepover,
stays
at Abby's sleepover!”

Everyone laughed as Mrs. Miller poured herself a cup of coffee. “Sounds serious,” she joked. “I hope you all had fun last night.”

“We did,” Chloe replied. “Thanks for letting us sleep over.”

“Oh, anytime!” Mrs. Miller said.

Just then a car horn honked outside. Chester barked in reply, and Abby peeked out the window. “Hey, Chloe, your mom is here,” she said.

“Ack! I still have to pack up my makeover kit!” Chloe cried as she scurried downstairs.

“I'll help you,” Nora said, following her.

“So what are you doing today?” Leah asked Abby. “Any awesome plans? Any awesome plans that would be even more awesome with me?”

“Nope,” Abby said. “Homework. I have a ton, and I haven't even started yet.”

“Boo! You're no fun,” Leah said, pouting.

“What about you?” Abby asked. “Did you finish all your homework already?”

“No,” admitted Leah. “But that's what Sunday
night
is for—not Sunday
day
.”

“Yeah, well, I'll probably still be working tonight,” Abby said. “I've barely started my English paper.”

“Oh, good, neither have I,” Leah said brightly. “I'll text you when I get writer's block!”

There was another honk outside. “That's my mom,” said Leah, picking up her plate and putting it in the sink. “Thanks for an awesome sleepover, Abby!
Let's do it again next weekend!”

“Maybe,” Abby said with a smile. “I'll talk to you later, okay?”

“You know it,” Leah said, grinning over her shoulder at Abby.

After all her friends went home, Abby trudged down the hall to her first-floor bedroom to start her homework. But her bed looked so comfortable that she decided to lie down for just a moment. The next thing she knew, she heard her mother calling her for dinner.
Oh, man
, Abby realized as she blinked her eyes sleepily.
I slept all afternoon! Now I'm going to be up late doing my stupid homework.

Abby ate dinner as quickly as she could, then hurried back to her desk and logged onto her computer. Just as she opened a new document to start writing her report, an instant message flashed onto her screen. It was from Leah.

Leah601:
HEY!!! HOW IS YOUR HOMEWORK GOING? ALMOST DONE?

AbbyGirl:
UGH, NO. I FELL ASLEEP AND HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED YET.

Leah601:
WELCOME TO MY WORLD.

AbbyGirl:
DID U SLEEP ALL AFTERNOON TOO?

Leah601
: NO . . . I JUST COULDN'T GET STARTED. I WASN'T IN THE MOOD.

AbbyGirl:
WHEN ARE YOU EVER IN THE MOOD FOR HOMEWORK?

Leah601:

Leah601:
I JUST COULDN'T STOP THINKING AFTER LAST NIGHT . . . 

AbbyGirl:
?

Leah601:
I WAS THINKING ABOUT HOW YOU LIKE JAKE.

AbbyGirl:
WHAT ABOUT IT?

Leah601:
IT MADE ME THINK ABOUT . . .

Abby frowned at the screen.
What's up with Leah?
Then she heard a
ping
; Leah had sent her a link. Abby clicked on it and waited for the website to load. When she saw what was on the website, her heart sank. She knew exactly why her friend had sent her that link. The
ping
of a new message rang through Abby's room.

Leah601:
WELL? DID U CHECK IT OUT?

AbbyGirl:
YEAH.

Leah601:
AND?

AbbyGirl:
I KNOW WHAT U MEAN.

Leah601:
IT'S STILL SO SAD.

AbbyGirl:
DEFINITELY.

Leah601:
ANYWAY, I BETTER GO. HOMEWORK CALLS. SEE YA TOMORROW.

Abby closed the IM window, but she didn't start her report. Instead she found herself clicking back on the website Leah had sent her: the homepage for the Sara James Memorial Scholarship Foundation. As Abby looked at the large picture of Sara on the website, she felt a strong pang of sorrow. She remembered when that picture was taken—almost one year ago, on last year's school picture day. When Sara sat on the metal stool and smiled for the camera, she didn't know that it was the last picture anyone would ever take of her. She didn't know that she had just weeks to live.

Sara and her family had moved to Riverdale two years ago. At a large school like Riverdale Middle, a new student wasn't usually a big deal, but Sara was special. With her long red hair, sparkling green eyes, and mysterious smile, everyone was fascinated by her—especially the boys. It seemed like everybody wanted to
get to know her, but Sara was totally into Jake. They had become a couple almost immediately, and Abby hardly ever saw them apart. Abby could still remember them sitting together at a corner lunch table, Jake's head bent low as Sara whispered a secret into his ear, her sleek red hair brushing against his cheek. While most of the other guys in their class were goofing off and acting totally immature, Jake seemed to really be falling in love.