The next morning, she waited on her front porch for Darcy. Anxiety crested in her chest as she thought about the upcoming school day. As usual, her best friend was late.

Calm yourself. You can only do what you can do.

These were her mother's words, a reassuring phrase that her mom had often said while stroking her daughter's long hair, or when wiping tears from the little girl's face. "You'll get through this," she would say.

When Darcy's car screeched to the curb, she rambled down the porch steps and got in.

"Sorry. I couldn't get out of bed," said Darcy as Lyla fastened her seatbelt. "I was up late studying Trig. I need to retake the exam. Totally biffed it."

She didn't respond. Darcy needed conversation. "So, did you finally finish the book?"

"Yeah, weird ending."

"I know, right?" She paused. "The classroom discussion was all about Edna's desperate need to be free. Like she felt like she couldn't escape her miserable life or something. Why didn't she vent to her bestie?"

Lyla shrugged. "Did she even have a best friend?"

"See how lucky you are?"

"Appreciate you, girl, but I'm not feelin' so lucky right now," she replied and gazed out the window with blank eyes.

"So? You worried about school?"

"I'm not gonna lie. I'm not looking forward to it."

"There's more to this story, am I right?" Darcy knew her friend all too well.

Lyla heaved a heavy sigh. It would be an enormous relief to share her burden. Darcy would believe that Keenan's death had been an accident and that he deserved his fate. She would understand why Lyla made the decision to dispose of the body. Maybe it was a stupid decision, but she would support her best friend.

Darcy had said on many occasions that she would do absolutely anything for Lyla. Would she be willing to hunt for a decaying corpse along a deserted country road? Would she be willing to help her deliver Keenan's body to its final resting place and assist her in digging the grave?

No, Lyla chastised herself. No one in her right mind would do something like that. And no sane person would even consider asking her best friend to be an accomplice in such a grotesque scheme.

"So you're not gonna tell me," Darcy pushed.

"Okay." She extracted the serpent ring from her pocket. "This."

"What the hell?!" Darcy's mouth fell open. "That thing should be somewhere out on the New Jersey Turnpike."

"It showed up in my room." She tossed it out the window. "I told you. It keeps coming back."

Neither spoke a word until they arrived at school.

Darcy eyed her friend with concern as she drove into the student parking lot. "You sure you're ready to do this?"

Lyla stared at the school building. In a cheesy crime drama reporter's voice, she narrated, "Here in this very building, Lyla Perry was torn to shreds by the mean girls and served in the cafeteria with a side of mac and cheese."

Darcy sighed, "Okay, girl. You need to rehearse these things in your head before you say them out loud."

........

During the school day, the air was so thick with tension that Lyla could barely breathe. She felt the cutting glares, she heard the whispered insults. But since her attackers had been suspended, no one dared lay a hand on her.

In Ms. Okumura's class, she sat behind Alison who shot a nasty look over her shoulder then gathered her books. As she made her way to an empty seat across the room she said, "I'm gonna sit here. Something stinks over there."

A cloud of giggles engulfed Lyla.

A particularly awkward moment occurred when she wandered into the hall after Spanish class. Carissa and her pack were strutting in Lyla's direction, laughing playfully. When Carissa spotted her, she stopped in her tracks and turned her back. Her cheerleader fangirls did the same. Lyla was being shunned. She put her head down and proceeded to the cafeteria.

When she carried her tray to the table, students at surrounding tables rose from their seats and moved away.

Darcy tore open her cheese and crackers. "They'll get over it," she said.

"Not according to this." She slid her phone across the table revealing an unending list of troll texts.

JUST DIE.

EVERYBODY HATES YOU.

WE USED TO THINK YOU WERE JUST UGLY. NOW YOU'RE AN UGLY ***HOLE.

DRINK GASOLINE AND EAT A MATCH.

Darcy grimaced. "Try to ignore them." She munched a cracker.

"I'm not built that way," she sighed.

Richie read the texts over Darcy's shoulder. "The kids in this school don't have a single original thought in their combined heads. If you're gonna troll someone, step up your game, for God's sake," he huffed dramatically. "I don't see anyone using 'trollop' or 'harlot.' Change things up a little."

"Thanks for the humor," Lyla said to Richie. "Feels good to smile."

"Buy me a chocolate milk and we'll call it even."