Killer's Kiss (2 page)

Karina should be ready for a hug, he thought. Ready to forgive me. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

With an angry groan, Karina yanked herself away from him. “Delia only likes you because she knows you're mine. She wants everything I have. My grades. My clothes. My friends. She even wants
you.”

Vincent watched in surprise as Karina's eyes grew bright with tears. He reached out for her again. Karina pushed him away.

“I'm sick of Delia!” Karina cried. “I hate her! I won't let her win this time!” Karina pulled open the front door and raced outside.

Vincent's mouth went dry. He stared at Karina's back as she ran out to her car.

The car door slammed shut. The headlights flicked on. The engine roared to life.

“Hey! Karina!” Vincent called finally. “Wait!”

He started to run, waving wildly to her with both hands over his head.

The car backed out of the driveway at top speed. The tires squealed against the pavement.

Vincent sprinted across the front lawn. “Karina! Stop!” he called.

The car didn't slow. Vincent caught a glimpse of Karina's furious face as she pulled away.

The tires squealed again as she sped around the corner. He couldn't stop thinking about Karina's face.

So angry.

So out of control.

What was she planning to do?

Chapter

3

“I
t says here that the winner of the Conklin Award has to show ex … ex …”

Delia glanced over at her best friend, Britty Myers. Britty chewed on a strand of her long, honey-colored hair as she tried to figure out the word in the brochure. “The winner has to show ex …”

“Exemplary school spirit,” Gabe Denver read over her shoulder. “It also says the winner has to be an outstanding all-around student, an accomplished performer, and a talented artist.”

He raised his eyes from the brochure and stared at Delia. His cheeks turned red. “Sounds like you've got it made, Delia,” he said.

“For sure,” Delia murmured, rolling her eyes.

She and her friends perched on one of the top rows of bleachers in the gym, watching an intramural basketball game. They had almost the whole section to themselves.

Delia wasn't paying much attention to the game. She didn't want to think about anything but Vincent. She remembered the touch of his kiss. Just imagining Vincent's arms around her made her feel like she was about to go into a nuclear meltdown.

I wonder why he got rid of me so fast last night, she thought. One second he was begging me to stay. The next he was shoving me out the door.

Delia shook her head, tossing her long, dark curls over her shoulder. She smoothed the skirt of the dark-orange shirtdress she'd found at the local thrift shop. It had big, bright yellow flowers embroidered all the way around the hem. She loved it.

I'm probably the only girl at Shadyside High who would wear something like this, she thought.

And that's why she bought it. She didn't like blending into the crowd.

Delia noticed Gabe staring at her. He reminded her of a puppy waiting for a dog biscuit. She controlled the urge to pat him on the head.

She knew Gabe had sort of a crush on her. She wished he would at least ask some other girls out. She bet there were a lot of girls at Shadyside High who would like to hang out with Gabe.

Maybe even Britty? Delia gazed back and forth
between her two friends. They would make a cute couple.

I doubt Gabe would appreciate me trying to fix him up, Delia thought. But I have to do something nice for him. He's such a great guy.

Who else would have enough patience to help Delia with her homework almost every night of the week? Who else would listen to her talk about Vincent for hours at a time?

Delia thought it was sweet of Gabe. Especially since she knew he didn't like Vincent. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. Gabe felt jealous.

“Hey! Earth to Delia!” Britty bounced up and down beside Delia. She waved her hands in front of Delia's face.

Britty was short and athletic—the best gymnast at Shadyside High. She couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes at a time.

“Sit down, will you?” Delia asked. “I want to fix my lipstick.” She reached for her tube of Midnight Wine and touched up her lips. Then she tossed the tube back into her purse and glanced around, searching for a blotter.

Britty's notebook lay on the seat next to her. Delia ripped a page out of it and blotted her lips against the paper.

“Delia!” Britty yelped. She popped back on her feet again. “I have to buy a new notebook practically every week because of you.”

“Oops. I know it's a bad habit. Your next notebook is on me,” Delia said. She stared down at the deep purple lip print she had left on the sheet of paper—a smiling lip print. Smiling because I was thinking about Vincent, she decided.

Britty dropped down on the seat. “You've been out in the ozone somewhere since we got here. What's your problem, anyway? We were talking about the Conklin Award. I know you're interested in
that.”

Thoughts of Vincent vanished. “I'm sorry, Britty. Even
thinking
about the Conklin Award makes me so nervous I can hardly stand it.”

Delia's parents had no money to send her to college. If Delia didn't win the Conklin Award, she would have to go to Waynesbridge Junior College in the fall. And it would even be hard to afford
that
.

But if she did win the Conklin Award, she could go to the hottest and most expensive fashion college in New York City. When she was twelve she decided she wanted to go there—and she'd never changed her mind.

Delia frowned. The Conklin wasn't just an award. It was the ticket to all her dreams. The most important thing in the entire universe.

Well, except for Vincent.

“What do you think?” Delia studied her two friends. She didn't want them to lie to her. But she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the truth either. “Do I have a chance at the Conklin?”

“Definitely,” Gabe told her. The buzzer ending the game sounded, and he cheered for the senior team. Kids gathered up their books and backpacks and headed out of the gym.

“Piece of cake, Delia,” Gabe continued. “No one has a better shot at the Conklin Award than you.”

Delia couldn't help smiling. “I'm glad
you
think so,” she told Gabe. “But I don't think the judges will just hand it to me.
Seven
kids applied for the award this year.”

She ran through the other candidates in her mind. Most of them weren't a threat, but there were a few who stood a chance. A good chance.

“Stewart Andrews is a major problem,” she said. “He's the best artist in the class.”

“He told me he's doing a magic show for the talent part of the competition,” Britty put in. “Remember when he made Mr. Marsden disappear? That was cool.”

Gabe shrugged. “It was a cheap trick.”

Delia was still listing the candidates. “And then there's Karina. She has a good chance too.”

Delia tried to make her voice sound casual. She wanted to pretend that competing against Karina didn't bother her.

She didn't think her friends bought it.

“Don't worry about Karina,” Britty told her.

Easy for Britty to say, Delia thought. She doesn't have to beat little Miss Perfect.

“Karina has a great voice. But it takes more than talent to win the Conklin,” Britty went on. “Grades are important too.”

“Yeah,” Gabe added. “And your grades are better than everyone else's.”

“Thanks to your tutoring,” Delia said softly.

Britty rolled her eyes. “Yeah, her grades are better than
yours
, Gabe.”

Then her expression turned serious. “Delia, don't get stressed about this,” she said. “Your grades are better than ever this year. And you've been manager of the girls' volleyball team for two years. Plus, you were in charge of the homecoming dance.”

“And
front-page editor of the school paper,” Gabe added. “And chairman of the recycling committee, and—”

“All right, all right,” Delia cried. “But it doesn't matter. None of that matters.” She hated herself for sounding so whiny, but she couldn't help it.

“I'm front-page editor, but Karina is editor of the whole paper,” Delia reminded her friends. “I manage the volleyball team. Karina is the star player. I was in charge of the dance. But Karina—”

“Big deal!” Gabe interrupted. “So Karina was the homecoming queen. So what? Sure, Karina is president of the senior class. And maybe Karina's voice will blow the judges away in the talent competition. So what?”

Gabe shrugged. “Everyone thinks she's the most
beautiful girl they've ever seen,” he went on. “The judges will fall in love with her. Nobody else should even bother trying to win.”

Gabe turned to Delia. “Is that what you want to hear?”

Britty giggled. Delia didn't. She knew Gabe was right.

“Get over it,” Gabe scolded. “When are you going to realize that you're so much cooler than Karina will ever be? So
what
if she's beautiful and sweet? Sweet is boring. Sweet is easy to forget. I hate sweet!”

This time Delia had to laugh.

Britty shook her head. “You know what?” she asked. “I'm kind of tired of the whole thing.”

She hopped up from the bleachers. “What's with you two anyway? You and Karina. Why do you hate each other so much? You used to be friends.”

Delia narrowed her eyes at her best friend. How could Britty even ask that? She knew the way Delia felt about it.

“I've tried to be friends with Karina,” Delia pointed out. “You know that's true, Britty.”

“Yeah, and she tries to be nice to you.” Britty rested one hand on Delia's shoulder. “You know I'd do anything in the world for you. You're my best friend. But Karina is my friend too. I don't think it's good for you guys to be fighting all the time. You get so freaked just thinking about her. And she's the same way about you.”

“I can't believe you're defending her!” Delia exploded. She turned to Gabe for support.

He frowned. “You and Karina did have a truce last year,” he reminded her. “You tolerated each other for almost the entire year. And before that, you actually had a
friendly
competition, right?”

“Yeah, but this year I caught her coming on to Vincent!” Delia replied heatedly. “I don't trust her! She acts sweet and innocent—but she tried to steal my boyfriend. And she only did it because she couldn't stand the fact that I had something she didn't. That's nasty.”

The gym door flew open and banged against the wall.

A piercing shriek echoed through the gym.

Delia's hands flew to her mouth. She felt too shocked to say anything. All she could do was stare.

The way Gabe and Britty were staring.

Staring at Karina Frye.

Chapter

4

“W
hat's wrong with Karina?” Delia cried.

Karina staggered into the gym. Her usually perfect hair was tangled and wild. Streaks of black mascara ran down her cheeks. And her eyes were red—from crying?

“You!” Karina's hoarse voice bounced off the walls of the gym. She pointed up at Delia with a trembling hand. “Delia, you witch! I hate you!”

Delia gasped as Karina staggered across the gym toward her. Breathing hard, Karina pounded up the bleachers.

Before Delia could move, Karina had her hands wrapped around Delia's throat.

“Hey!” Delia heard Britty cry. But she sounded far away.

“You're not going to win this time, Delia!” Karina shrieked. Her hot breath blasted Delia's face.

Karina's nails dug into Delia's throat.

“Hey—!” Delia choked out. Red dots exploded in front of her eyes. She arched back, struggling to break free.