The Third Lie's the Charm by Lisa Roecker

yearbook should be in here somewhere.”
    I steeled myself for whatever we might find in that box and prayed she’d return upstairs so we could at least have the freedom to make fun of some of it.
    â€œI’ll leave you and this young thang to it.” Mrs. LuvR pointed a long, acrylic nail in Liam’s and my direction. “Seth? How about helping me out upstairs?”
    Seth looked from the box to Liam, from the box to me, from the box to Mrs. LuvR, and his face fell as though to say, “I quit.” If Seth’s loyalty to me and my endless battles could be summed up, it would look a little like the rueful resignation on his face. He patted the box and walked up the stairs with his plus-sized cougar, leaving Liam and me to fight back both laughter and fear for our friend.
    We tore through the box with careful precision to avoid things like gray, cotton somethings (we could not bring ourselves to investigate), dried flowers that disintegrated with one touch, chewed pencils, crumpled papers, even a journal, which would have been fascinating to read if we had more time. Finally, at the bottom of the second box, which was full of maternity clothes and yellowed pacifiers, Liam unearthed the old yearbook.
    â€œI need to wash my hands,” he said, handing it over with two fingers.
    I pulled the card stock from my blazer and flipped to the page scrawled in the message.
    A boy cradled a girl in his lap, her cheek resting on his shoulder, smile stretched wide. The boy’s brittle smile and flinty gaze made it easy to identify him as ex-Headmaster Sinclair. I pulled the yearbook closer to my face to get a better look at the girl perched on top of him. Her hair spilled over her shoulders in a pin-straight waterfall. She was pretty, but there was something familiar about the way she looked at the camera, hard eyes beneath lowered lashes.
    We gasped at the same time, even though we shouldn’t have been surprised.
    Ms. D.

Chapter 19
    â€œHoly sh…” But before I could spit out the rest, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
    Taylor.
    Headquarters. 6 a.m. Emergency Meeting.
    â€œShit.” I slipped the phone back into my pocket and looked at Liam.
    â€œYeah, yeah. What happens if you don’t show? Will the queen have you beheaded?”
    I gritted my teeth. He had no right. “First off, that was a private text. Second off, she’s not my queen and you have no idea how any of this even works. If you’d just take a minute and let me…” But I stopped myself right there. I didn’t owe Liam an explanation anymore. He didn’t get a vote about where I went and what I did. I grabbed the yearbook and made my way toward the stairs.
    â€œI’m trying, Kate. Trying to be your friend. But it’s not working. I’m sorry.”
    I tried to think of a good response, but I came up completely empty. He was trying and I was being a huge bitch. No way around it. No way under it. Only thing I could do was get through it. To figure out who killed Alistair and to end the Sisterhood. Based on this most recent snippet of information, it looked like I might get lucky and end up killing two birds with one stone.
    â€œI’m sorry too.” I turned around to look at Liam. I had to say this face to face. “But maybe we’re just not meant to be friends right now.” Maybe we’re meant to be more. And maybe after I figure all of this crap out, I’ll actually be able to give it to you. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words to him because I knew five seconds later I’d be thinking about Bradley-freaking-Farrow and would be more confused than ever. I had some major work to do before I’d be ready to say anything out loud.
    We made our way slowly, silently up the stairs, only to find that Mrs. LuvR had Seth cornered in the kitchen and appeared to be trying to feed him some type of quiche. The fact that Seth had his lips pursed and his head turned to