Page 83 of Good Girl, Bad Blood

‘What is it?’ Connor asked.

Pip unwound her earphones, jamming them one by one into Connor’s pointy ears.

‘Ouch, be careful, would you?’ He closed his hands around his ears to keep the sound in as Pip held up her phone for him and pressed play. A tiny smirk flickered across his face. ‘Wow, that’s embarrassing,’ he said after a few seconds. ‘Is that why you wanted to show m—’

‘Obviously not,’ she said. ‘Wait for the end.’

And when it came, his eyes narrowed and he said, ‘Stella Chapman?’

‘Yep.’ Pip tugged the earphones out of his ears too hard, making himouchagain. ‘Stella Chapman must be the “someone” he spotted at the memorial and followed to the party.’

Connor nodded. ‘So what do we do now?’

‘Find her at lunch and talk to her. Ask how they know each other, what they talked about. Why Jamie followed her.’

‘OK, good,’ Connor said, and his face changed slightly, like the muscles beneath had shifted, loosened. ‘This is good, right?’

‘Yeah,’ she said, thoughgoodmight not be the right word.

But at least they were finally getting somewhere.

‘Stella?’

‘Oh, hi,’ Stella replied, mid-mouthful of Twix. She narrowed her brown almond-shaped eyes, her perfect cheekbones made even sharper by the bronzer she’d swiped over her tanned skin.

Pip had known exactly where to wait for her. They were locker neighbours, Chapman just six doors over from Fitz-Amobi, and they greeted each other most mornings, their hellos always book-ended by the awful screech of Stella’s locker door. Pip was ready for it this time, as Stella opened the door and deposited some books inside.

‘What’s up?’ Stella’s eyes trailed away, over Pip’s shoulder to where Connor was standing, boxing her in. He looked ridiculous, hands on his hips like he was some kind of bodyguard. Pip flashed him an angry look until he stepped back and relaxed.

‘You on the way to lunch?’ asked Pip. ‘I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.’

‘Er, yeah, I’m heading to the cafeteria. What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ Pip said, casually, walking Stella down the hall. ‘Just wondered whether I could borrow you for a few minutes first. In here?’ Pip halted, pushing open the door of a maths classroom she’d already checked was empty.

‘Why?’ The suspicion was clear in Stella’s voice.

‘My brother’s missing,’ Connor butted in, hands going to his hips again. Was he trying to look intimidating? Because it wasn’t working for him at all. Pip glared at him again; normally he was good at reading her eyes.

‘You might’ve heard that I’m looking into his disappearance?’ Pip said. ‘I just have a few questions for you about Jamie Reynolds.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Stella shuffled uncomfortably, picking at the ends of her hair. ‘I don’t know him.’

‘Bu—’ Connor started but Pip cut him off.

‘Jamie was at the calamity party on Friday. It’s currently the last time he was seen,’ she said. ‘I’ve found a video in which Jamie comes over to talk to you at the party. I just want to know what you talked about, how you know each other. That’s all.’

Stella didn’t answer, but her face said everything she wouldn’t: her eyes widened, lines disturbing her smooth forehead.

‘We really need to find him, Stella,’ Pip said gently. ‘He could be in trouble, real trouble, and anything that happened that night might help us work out where he’s gone. It’s . . . it’s life or death,’ she said, refusing to look Connor’s way.

Stella chewed her lip, eyes spooling as she made up her mind.

‘OK,’ she said.