Dead Is the New Black by Marlene Perez Page A

cheerleader looking like a bag lady."
    Okay, maybe not that big of an improvement.
    Samantha somehow managed to get me in her car alone. I knew it might not be the smartest thing to do—spend time alone with a possible vamp—but I didn't have many friends. And she had seemed genuinely surprised when Chelsea showed up at the pep rally. Samantha wasn't that good an actress. She certainly wasn't fooling me with her sudden friendliness. She was going to grill me about Ryan, I just knew it.
    But she didn't.
    "That was fun the other night," she said. "The hanging out together part, not the finding the unconscious girl part."
    "It was fun," I said. Except for the part where she sat in the front and hogged Ryan.
    "We should do it again sometime," she suggested.
    Samantha and I had been best friends in sixth grade. At the time, I had trusted her more than anyone, even my sisters. I didn't trust her now.
    "Why are you suddenly interested in being friends, Sam?" The nickname just slipped out. I hadn't called her that for a long time.
    "Daisy, I know you're still mad at me about what happened, but it was a long time ago. People can change. I just want you to give me a chance."
    She had her chance, I thought, but aloud I said, "We're on the same squad now. I can't promise that we'll ever be best friends, but I'll try to get along." And being on the squad would mean that I could keep a close eye on the dead Devereaux.
    She seemed satisfied with my answer, and the talk turned to the upcoming homecoming dance.
    The other girls were waiting for us in the hospital parking lot, holding a huge GET WELL SOON banner. Samantha's best friend, Jordan, had a distinct pout on her black-lipsticked face. She was probably sulking because Samantha hadn't let her ride in the car with us.
    I trailed behind the group. I needed to do some digging and couldn't do it in a cluster of cheer. When we reached the elevators, I spotted a gift shop.
    "I'm just going to buy Rachel some flowers," I said brightly. "I'll catch up with you upstairs. What's her room number?"
    "Room 301," Samantha said. "Don't take too long."
    I gave her an exasperated look. "We can't all visit her at the same time anyway. Hospital rules."
    Actually, I had no idea if those were the rules, but I needed her off my back for a few minutes. What I was about to do was definitely against hospital rules, and I didn't need any witnesses.
    Rose had undergone an appendectomy at this hospital last year. Not that big of a coincidence, since it was the only hospital in town, but I did learn my way around the place while she was there.
    I ducked into the gift shop and grabbed a nice bouquet. Rachel was a good person and didn't deserve the weirdness that was happening to her. If Samantha was the reason for it, she was going to be sorry. Payback is a bitch.
    I slipped out of the elevator on the third floor just in time to see a nurse shushing my squad as they turned the corner. The nurses' station was temporarily deserted.
    In the station were rows of cubbyholes. I knew from Rose's time there that the patients' charts were kept there.
    I hunkered down and hoped I wouldn't be spotted. The charts were labeled only with room numbers, so I scanned the rows of files quickly, searching for 301. It wasn't there.
    I stood, took a quick look around the corridor. Still no sign of any nurses. I went back to the nurses' station and surveyed the files on the desk. There it was!
    I heard footsteps just as I spotted Rachel's file. I couldn't get to it in time.
    I had only a few seconds to whip around to the other side. "May I help you?" A woman's voice said pleasantly.
    "I'm looking for Rachel King?" I said, trying to sound innocent.
    "She's in room 301. Are you one of her cheerleader friends?" The woman asked.
    I nodded.
    "It is visiting hours, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until someone leaves. I'm stretching the rules as it is by allowing so many visitors at once."
    "Is it all right if I wait here?"
    "Certainly,"