The Girl In White (A Madison Meyer Mystery Book 1)

Part 3

FIVE

My heart skittered in my chest. Fear wrapped its arms around me. I didn't know why. All I knew was that something was wrong.

I rolled over in bed and let out a groan. It was too early. Why had I woken up?

Then it came again, the beep of an alert on my phone. I pulled the pillow over my head but couldn't resist the curiosity that filled me. Nobody texted me anymore. Why would they? The only two friends I had in Pittsburgh lived in the same house as me.

I pulled the pillow carefully away from my eyes and jerked as a gasp escaped me. Someone was there. They stood next to my bed.

My fear melted into irritation when I saw it was Serena. She stood next to me wearing a big t-shirt and boxer shorts, her hand extended toward me with a glass of juice.

"Wake up, little dreamer. You have details to share with me," she said and stepped onto my bed. She shifted around so her back rested against the wall and her bare foot pushed me toward the edge of the bed.

It was comical to sit next to her like that. The difference between us was like night and day. Her long, mocha-toned leg set next to my shorter, pale leg was like a study in contrasts.

I moved so she could extend her legs out, then leaned against the wall next to her and took the juice. She brought her mug of coffee up to tap against my juice and took a drink. I did as well, every part of me still convinced something was wrong.

It was all too clear what Serena wanted to know about. I was not in the mood. Morning chats were not my thing. It took me far too long to muster up the energy for conversation.

So I reached out to pick up my phone. The texts were all from Serena, telling me she was coming to wake me up. Why hadn't I locked my door?

I drank more juice as my mind spun. I felt like somebody stood behind me with a blade pressed to my spine? All I wanted was to burrow under my covers to hide from the creepy-crawlies like a little kid.

Serena took another drink of coffee before she bumped her foot into mine. "Okay, so why didn't you ever tell us you had a connection to the two hottest guys who go to Duquesne?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the cup of coffee in her hand.

I looked at my juice, my head bowed. "I moved away from here when I was fifteen. I don't know them anymore," I evaded, sure she wouldn't let me get away that easily.

I was right.

Serena reached over to pinch my arm. "Madison, you may be the computer genius in this house but I am very good at Googling things that interest me. When I got home last night, that's what I did and let me tell you, there are a LOT of pictures of you in a group of very hot people when you were younger. Ian and Dylan are both in those pictures."

I didn't look at her, didn't speak. Those pictures were probably from the party Emma had thrown when Ian was a senior. We'd been sophomores a few months from our sixteenth birthdays. It had been one of the best nights of my life.

The day following that party, my mom had told me she and I would be moving to Philadelphia. It had been only a four-hour drive but it had felt like I had been transported to a foreign planet.

Emma had been heartbroken when she found out. She had made me accounts for every social media site known to man and talked Ian into creating a blog where she could post pictures and tell stories. She hadn't been about to let me miss out on anything.

That must have been what Serena had found. Ian had gone all out. He had called the blog Inseparable and for the first few months, it had helped me get through the adjustment between life in Pittsburgh, to my new home in Philadelphia.