Projection by Risa Green

it.”
    Gretchen chewed on her bottom lip. “Yeah, about that. You’re wrong.”
    Jessica cocked her head the way she always did when shewas confused, and Gretchen was struck by the strangeness of seeing her friend’s mannerisms in herself.
    “What do you mean? How do you know that?”
    “I was at the Club today,” Gretchen said, pausing to let Jessica take in everything that statement meant and implied. Jessica looked down at the floor. “Anyway, I went into the ballroom for something, and I found Michelle in there. With another man.”
    Jessica’s head snapped up. “
What
?”
    “I know. I’m sorry.”
    “Sorry?” A smile broke on her face. “That’s
awesome
. Maybe now she’ll leave Rob.”
    “Why do you want her to leave Rob?”
    Jessica rolled her eyes. “Because he’s never going to leave her. He’s too dependent on her. But if she leaves him, then I can live with him by myself, and I won’t have to deal with her anymore. It would be the best thing ever.”
    “What’s with you and Rob, anyway? He said something weird about how he needs you on his side. His side of what?”
    “Gretch, in case you haven’t noticed, Michelle is a total bitch. It’s me and him against her, always.” Jessica narrowed her eyes. “What did you do to make him say that?”
    “Nothing. I just, I don’t know, I guess I was acting more like me than like you. He thought it was weird that I was reading, and that I went to bed early, and that I didn’t want to play Halo with him. Oh, and that I cleaned up your room.” She allowed herself a little grin. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
    “Oh, God. How am I going to explain all of that?”
    “I told him that I’m starting high school in a few weeks and that it’s time for me to grow up a little bit.” Gretchen smiled. “So you’re going to have to start acting a little more maturewhen you get home, or he’s going to think something’s up.”
    “Touché,” Jessica said, dryly. “But wait, you didn’t finish telling me about Michelle. How do you know she wasn’t involved with the murder?”
    “Because when I caught her with that guy—his name’s Mike, by the way, and apparently, he’s a friend of my dad’s—I asked her how long it had been going on. And guess where it all started?”
    “Your party,” Jessica said, flatly.
    “Mmm-hmm. And she made me promise not to tell anyone, because she lied to the police about where she was when she heard the screams.”
    “She was with Mike,” Jessica said in the same tone.
    Gretchen nodded. “In the laundry room.” Jessica chewed on Gretchen’s thumbnail. “Can you not do that?” Gretchen asked, pointing to her hand. “It’s disgusting. Maybe you don’t mind your fingers looking like they’ve been through a meat grinder, but I do.”
    Jessica removed Gretchen’s hand from her mouth and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I don’t even realize when I’m doing it. But let me ask you something: do you believe her? About Mike?”
    “Of course I believe her. I
saw
them.”
    “No,” Jessica said, shaking Gretchen’s head from side to side. “I mean, do you believe her that she was with Mike the night of the party? How do you know she’s not just making that up?”
    “Why would she make that up?”
    “Why
wouldn’t
she?” Jessica asked. Funny: her voice cracked in the same way Gretchen’s did when Gretchen was upset. All of a sudden, Gretchen felt a palpable hunger to return to the body where she belonged. She’d go insane ifshe spent another second arguing with herself-as-Jessica or Jessica-as-herself. “You don’t know her like I do. She lies all the time. She’s a freaking news reporter; it’s her
job
. Look, maybe she thinks I suspect her. Maybe she’s trying to throw me off of her trail with this Mike story—”
    “Listen, Jess,” Gretchen interrupted. “I also talked to Ariel Miller. It didn’t go well. And that sucks for both of us. And I’m sorry. I thought that if I talked to her