Just like that, the entire room emptied out. Bliss compacts were tossed into Cole Haan bags. A
dozen pairs of nearly identical Stuart Weitzman booties hurried past me out the door. Only two
girls remained, looking like they'd just been cornered by a rabid pit bull. Lara and Nameless.
Amberly's two sidekicks. Or former sidekicks. Now that she had ascended to Billings, she was
freshman-lackey free. I was hoping to use the fact that she'd kicked the 'kicks to the curb faster
than last season's Jimmy Choos to my advantage.
"Hey, there," I said, dropping my bag on the counter next to the white marble sinks. "Don't look so
freaked." I looked at the girl whose name I didn't know. She was kind of mousy, with dark blond
hair that fell straight down her back. No bangs. No defining features. Her brown eyes were wide as
she stared at me, and she was gripping the sink behind her for dear life. "What's your name:
"Kirsten?" she said timidly.
"Nice name," I said with a smile, trying to get her to relax.
Her lips curled into a small smile. "Thanks. I like yours too."
Lara, who was a bit taller and had slightly darker blond hair that also hung straight down her back,
smacked Kirsten's arm with the back of her hand and said something under her breath.
"Listen, I know there are a lot of rumors going around about me, but none of them are true," I told
them, crossing my arms over my
134
chest. "And all I really want to know from you is if you remember the night of Cheyenne's...
death."
I didn't want to use the word murder. I had a feeling Kirsten might faint if I did and crack her tiny
skull open on the sink. And that, in the words of acronym-happy Portia, would be VNG. The two of
them looked at each other for a long moment, then turned to me.
"Yeah...," they said in unison.
"Do you happen to remember what you did that night? And whether or not Amberly was with
you?" I asked.
Lara's brow knit, obviously trying to figure out why I was asking. Kirsten, however, jumped right in.
"Oh, yeah. Amberly was totally with us. Amberly's always with us," she said, waving a hand.
"Or she used to be," Lara said bitterly. She pushed away from the sinks and took a step toward me,
eyeing me discerningly. "What's all this about?"