49

Merit abruptly came to a halt with her hand on the doorknob and spun around to stare at her. She spoke to Dennis in a soft voice and said, "Have you traversed the ozone layer in its entirety?"
"No." Dennis, feeling defeated, grabbed Merit by the arm and looked frantically into her eyes. It seemed as if the door was opening on its own. Oh, God, Merit, I beg you not to put me to death...

"Surprise!" yelled three different people simultaneously.

Dennis growled as she pushed her friend's suddenly reluctant body through the door and into the bright room that was full of noise and showers of foil confetti. "Smile," she said as she did so. She smiled madly at herself and talked with her teeth clenched the whole time. "Kill me later because I deserve it, but for now just smile," she said. "Kill me afterwards."

On the coffee table there was a jumble of gifts in addition to some costly Mylar balloons. Even a flower arrangement was there, but Dennis saw that the orchids in the arrangement were a perfect match for the light green scarf that Caroline was wearing. It was a Hermes silk that had a pattern of leaves and vines woven into it. Dennis was sure that she would wind up putting one of those orchids in her hair at some point in the future.

The blue eyes of Sue Carson were a bit nervous, and her smile was shaky. She remarked, "I hope you didn't have any major plans for tonight, Merit." "I hope you didn't have any big plans for tonight."

Merit said that there was nothing that he couldn't destroy with an iron crowbar. However, she smiled back with a warm and quirky expression, and Dennis was able to relax. Along with Dennis, Merit, and Caroline, Sue had previously held the position of Homecoming Princess in Elizabeth's court. When everyone else in school turned against Elizabeth, she was the only female in the school outside Dennis and Merit who stood by her side and supported her. She had remarked that Elizabeth will always be the actual queen of Robert E. Lee during Elizabeth's burial, and she had also given up her own candidacy for Snow Queen in Elizabeth's memory. She had done both of these things in honor of Elizabeth. Nobody could ever dislike Sue. Dennis believed that the most difficult part was behind him now.

Caroline remarked, "I want to get a photo of us all on the sofa," and she positioned everyone so that the flower arrangement was in the background. "Vee, take it, will you?"

Vee Ben had been patiently waiting in the background, being silent and unobserved. Now she answered, "Oh, fine," and as she took up the camera, she anxiously flicked her long, light brown hair out of her eyes. She was wearing glasses.

Dennis assumed that maybe she was some sort of employee, but then the flashbulb went off, and she couldn't see anything.

Dennis observed something else at the same time that Sue and Caroline were laughing and talking through Merit's dry politeness while the Polaroid was developing. It was a nice photo; Caroline looked as gorgeous as she always does with the light green orchids in front of her and her auburn hair shining. And there was Merit, looking resigned and ironic and darkly beautiful without even trying, and there was she herself, a head shorter than the others, with her red curls tousled and a sheepish expression on her face. And there was Merit, looking resigned and ironic and darkly beautiful without even trying. However, the most peculiar thing was the person sitting on the sofa next to her. It was Sue, of course it was Sue, but for a brief minute, the blonde hair and blue eyes looked to belong to someone other than Sue. Someone was staring at her quite intently, as if they were about to say something significant. Dennis looked at the picture with a grimace while blinking quickly. The vision flashed before her eyes, and a shiver of unease raced up and down her spine as it did so.

Actually, the only person in the image was Sue. Either she had a momentary lapse in sanity or she was influenced by Caroline's want for them "to all be together again." It is possible that she went mad for a moment.

She immediately sprang up and said, "I'll take the next one." "Please take a seat, Vee, and move closer. Not any closer, not any closer—there!" Every single one of Vee's motions was brisk, light, and fraught with anxiety. As soon as the flashbulb went off, she froze up like a frightened animal getting ready to run away.

Caroline gave the photograph a cursory look before rising to her feet and going in the direction of the kitchen. She then said, "Can you guess what we're having instead of cake?" "I'm going to try my hand at manufacturing my own Death by Chocolate. Fudge has to be melted, and I need your assistance. Come on!" Vee and Sue eventually caught up to her after an awkward moment but eventually did so.

Merit's smile faded completely as she turned to face Dennis, and it was clear that she was no longer enjoying herself. "You really ought to have informed me."