Say Her Name Read Free

fancied on TV were all fake because the actors were really in their twenties. Caine was different though: no acne, no braces, no ill-fitting sportswear – he looked like the guys on TV.
He mustn’t be able to move for girls hurling themselves at him at Radley High
, she thought, which made it even weirder that he’d go for Grace. She was certainly pretty, Bobbie mused, but then so were lots of poisonous flowers.
    ‘They never find the bodies? Well isn’t that convenient?’ Naya whooped. ‘
And there was never a shred of evidence!
’
    Equally unimpressed, Grace scowled. ‘Well, I’m
so
glad we stuck around for the ending. When’s the film version coming out?’
    Sadie folded her arms and pursed her lips. Somehow, Bobbie foretold the next sentence before it had even escaped her mouth. ‘Fine. You won’t mind doing it then, will you?’
That
was the true crescendo to her tale, the other ending a false finish, drawing them to this inevitable conclusion. You could have heard a pin drop at the far side of the hockey pitch.
    ‘What? Are you serious?’ Naya replied. Lottie watched the scene with bushbaby eyes.
    ‘I’ll do it!’ Caine offered at once, rubbing his hands together.
    ‘No! Don’t!’ Poor Lottie was on the verge of mental collapse, judging by the look on her face.
    Sadie stood, throwing down an invisible gauntlet. ‘Well if the story is total rubbish, you won’t have a problem summoning her.’
    ‘Go summon a clue!’ Naya snapped. Oh God. Bobbie had seen this happen numerous times … Naya Sanchez just didn’t know when to back down. She braced herself for the oncoming storm. ‘Why don’t you do it if you’re so tough?’
    ‘Sigh. Rewind – I already did!’ Sadie posed, hand on hip, every inch as stubborn as her frenemy.
    ‘Then why aren’t you dead?’ Bobbie finally spoke up, hoping to douse Naya’s fire. She pulled the sleeves of her heavy cable-knit jumper over her hands to keep them warm.
    Sadie stalled at the centre of the circle, her parade rained on. ‘I don’t know! It didn’t work. But Lottie will back me up, she saw me do it!’
    Every head in the smoky outhouse turned to waif-like Lottie, who, frankly, would go along with anything her best friend said. ‘It’s true. She did it three nights ago … and she did it right, but nothing happened. It was really scary though!’
    ‘You’re kidding? The fake ghost didn’t appear? Big shocker.’ Grace’s lips curled into an all-too-familiar smirk.
    Sadie stood her ground. ‘Okay. So do it. Or are you scared?’
    Grace shrieked with laughter. ‘Sadie, babe, do you really think that’s going to work on me? I
invented
peer pressure.’
    Sadie crumbled under the immense power of Piper’s Hall’s own Bloody Mary. That was the thing with Grace. She was like a cobra; she’d dance all night, but one bite and it was all over. Bobbie had no idea why Grace was as mean as she was – she must be pretty insecure to spend so much time picking on other people. Whatever the cause, Bobbie didn’t care enough to try to reach out to the human cactus, quite sure she’d only get pricked for her efforts.
    ‘Well I’m gonna do it!’ Caine rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie and did a merry warm-up jig, like a boxer psyching himself up for a bout.
    ‘What?’ Grace sprayed venom.
    ‘I’m gonna do it!’ he repeated. ‘It’s Hallowe’en. I ain’t afraid of no ghost.’
    ‘I’ll do it too.’ Naya rose to her feet and approached Caine. ‘What is it they say – “Everyone deserves one good scare on Hallowe’en”?’
    ‘Get in!’ Caine delivered a high five to Naya.
    This could not be happening. This night was turning into a repeat of the Spring Ball fiasco (identical-dress-faux-pas flashback) and Bobbie knew just what was coming next. Grace vs Naya.
    ‘You must be kidding!’ Grace said, nostrils flaring. ‘If you think you’re creeping off into the night with my boyfriend, those last few brain cells must have finally lost