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Several sighs of relief were heard.

‘Right, next question. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?’

The question went around the room, and now that people were starting to drink, they were loosening up, ready to get into it.

Purple-hair boy confessed that he had strung two girls along at the same time, though the way he told it, you could tell it was more of a confession than a brag.

Then, one of the girls said she’d cheated on an exam. Everyone was a bit more impressed by that one.

Another girl confessed to stealing money from her parents to buy a super soaker when she was eleven. Everyone laughed at that and called her a choir girl.

When it got to Alex, she thought it over and remembered something she supposed she could share. ‘I accidentally murdered the school hamster when I was eleven.’

‘What?’ Purple-Hair asked.

‘It was my turn to have him for the weekend, and I left his cage open while I went to the bathroom. Well, he crawled onto the windowsill and fell out. My mum discovered him outside. He was a pancake.’ Alex sighed. ‘Poor Romeo. He never stood a chance.’

Leigh put a gentle, soft hand on Alex’s shoulder. ‘You couldn’t have known that would happen.’

‘I guess, but I’ve always felt bad anyway,’ Alex admitted. Though she was a little sad about Romeo, Leigh’s touch drove her slightly wild.

‘Maybe it was suicide. Did he seem despondent before it happened?’ one of the girls asked.

Alex looked at the girl in wordless amazement.

One of the other boys—Alex thought his name was Jacob—cleared his throat. ‘Well, tough to top. Leigh, what you got?’

‘Pour me a shot,’ Leigh said instantly.

Alex looked over at her with interest. What had she been up to?

‘Whoa! The good girl’s been naughty,’ Jacob said.

Leigh still didn’t speak.

‘What was it?’ Alex heard herself say.

‘This is truth or drink. And I’m gonna drink,’ Leigh said quickly.

‘Was it that bad?’ Alex said.

She didn’t know why she suddenly felt stuck on this. She’d been no angel in her life. But if Leigh didn’t tell the room what she’d done, then there was darkness waiting to jump out and surprise Alex. That scared her. She wanted Leigh to be better than her.

Leigh looked at her freshly poured shot. But she didn’t pick it up. ‘OK, then,’ she sighed. ‘I’ll tell you what I did.’

Eighteen

Leigh looked at the fancy invitation she’d found in the pile of post on her desk this morning in astonishment. ‘She’s got to be kidding me!’ she exclaimed.

Her assistant, Henry, walked in. ‘Sorry?’

‘Sorry, I was just talking to myself. But since you’re here, look at this!’ She held up the invite. ‘She’s taking the piss!’

‘Who? What piss?’

‘Alex Walker. She’s doing an award campaign party at some swank hotel. I mean, she’s calling it ascreeningof that Amelia Earhart thing Isabelle did. But it’s obvious what itreallyis. It’s got to be against the rules.’

He shrugged. ‘I can make some calls and find out?’