Lessons from a Dead Girl(12)

She pulls her hair back with her hands, piling it on top of her head, then looks at herself from side to side to study her profile. “There’s a lot more serious stuff to worry about,” she says, still looking at herself. “Trust me.”





At the end of the school year, Leah sends out invitations to a swimming and slumber party for her closest friends. It’s early June, and the water is sure to be freezing. But Leah says anyone who won’t go in the water is a wimp, so none of us complain.

We meet at her house on Saturday afternoon. The Greenes’ house is on a small private lake that can only be used by residents who live on the road that surrounds it. There’s a beach house and a raft you can swim to.

None of the girls act surprised when Paige Larson gets dropped off in a rusty Ford pickup, even though we’re all in shock, which I’m sure is exactly what Leah was going for.

I don’t like it. I have a bad feeling.

Paige Larson isn’t popular. She’s hardly even known, except to be made fun of for coming to school wearing the same thing almost every day. Or smelling like stale cigarettes and sweat.

Paige Larson doesn’t say much. I think she tries to stay invisible. She hasn’t lived here that long, and no one knows where she came from. I don’t think anyone has ever asked.

Not long after she moved here, Paige and Charlie Briggs were paired up as lab partners in science. Charlie is another kid no one really likes for the same reasons they don’t like Paige. He smells and he’s poor. I hate to admit that those are the reasons, but I know it’s true. Paige laughed because Charlie dropped the earthworm they were dissecting and he screamed. When she opened her mouth, her lips stretched out across her brown and yellow teeth. She quickly covered her hand with her mouth, but it was too late.

“Look at Paige’s teeth!” Charlie squawked — probably because he wanted to divert attention from his own embarrassing scream.

Everyone started urging her to open her mouth. “Come on, Paige — show us!” they taunted. Paige looked like she was going to cry. She pushed back her stool at the lab table and took off for the bathroom.

Ever since that day, Paige only smiles with her mouth closed.

She smiles that way now as she says good-bye to her mother.

“Be good,” her mother says in a gruff voice. Paige nods and watches her mother drive away. She looks scared. I don’t blame her.

“Hey, Paige,” Leah says, almost skipping over to her. “Ready for some fun?”

I catch the other girls exchanging looks. I’m sure, like me, they’re wondering what the joke is.

“Let’s go, girls!” Mr. Greene calls from his giant SUV. We climb in with our towels and flip-flops, nudging each other and giggling.

At the beach, Leah parades around in her new white terry-cloth robe that her mother gave her for an early birthday present. All the girls carefully take off their clothes and pull self-consciously at their new bathing suits. I frown at the thought of revealing my faded hand-me-down suit that Christi wore two summers ago.

Paige stands off to the side, smoothing the sand with her toes.

Leah notices her the same time I do. “What’s wrong, Paige? Didn’t you bring a suit?” she asks.

They stare at each other. Paige seems to say something, even though no words come out. Leah nods, then turns to her mother.

“Doesn’t the beach house have extra suits?” she asks.

“Of course,” says Mrs. Greene, almost too sweetly. “Come with me, Paige. I’m sure we can find something that will do.”

The other girls look curious, but they don’t ask Leah why she invited Paige to the party. It’s clear Leah has chosen Paige to be in our group, and none of us are going to risk Leah’s disapproval by making some snide comment.

That’s when it occurs to me that when I first became friends with Leah, I wasn’t all that different from Paige. I didn’t have any friends. I was quiet. Unpopular. We weren’t as poor as Paige seems to be, but we obviously didn’t have anywhere near what the Greenes did. Back then, no one seemed to like me any more than they like Paige now.

Is Leah planning to replace me?

We stand around quietly, as if the party has to go on hold until Paige returns.

She comes back a few minutes later, following Mrs. Greene. She’s holding a clubhouse towel tightly around herself.

Comfortable to continue the party now that Paige is back, the other girls start shouting, “Let’s go! Last one in is a rotten egg!” as if we’re in the first grade.

But Leah, Paige, and I just stand there. I wait for Leah to go first, knowing full well that if I go anywhere near the water before Leah, I’ll get splashed.

Paige stands awkwardly behind us.

“Does the suit fit OK?” Leah asks.

I’ve never seen Leah show so much concern for someone before. I don’t even recognize her tone of voice.

“Come on — it can’t be that bad,” she says gently, reaching for Paige’s towel.

Paige looks pale. More than that, she looks scared.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” Leah says lightly. Before Paige can answer, Leah pulls off her new robe and hands it to me.

“Come on,” Leah says again. “Trust me.”

Paige clutches the towel tightly to her body, then takes a deep breath. Her bottom lip quivers as she slowly lets Leah take the towel from her.