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“Like a pissed-off former BFF?,” Sam asked.

I nodded. “Quinn had good reason to be mad at Sydney, true, but she also had a pretty good alibi. On the other hand, I can think of at least one other person who might not have been happy about Sydney being kicked off the homecoming court. Her boyfriend.”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “Totally! Connor and Sydney were shoo-ins for king and queen.”

“But with Sydney out of the running, Connor was pretty much out of it, too,” I said. “Which he might not have been too happy about.”

“Unhappy enough to kill?” Sam asked.

I nodded. “Let’s go find out.”

Connor Crane was captain of the soccer team and starting quarterback for the football team. Luckily he was also on the water polo team with Kyle, who texted Connor’s number to Sam, who then texted Connor, who said he was at work but would meet us at Nickel City in two hours.

Which was just enough time for Sam to get to her tutoring appointment. Sam and I coughed the Green Machine up to Do the Math! Tutoring only forty minutes behind schedule. Sam rushed in to conquer calculus while I waited in the car. I wished I’d taken the time to grab something to eat at the food court before we left, as the scent of fried smoke was making me hungry. Instead, I pulled out my phone and texted Chase, updating him on our interview with Nicky.

where did he get the cheats? he asked once I’d finished.

he wont say.

guesses?

I leaned back in the vinyl seat, feeling my forehead crease in thought as I looked out the window and watched a squirrel scuttle across the tutor’s parking lot.

he had drea pick up cash 4 him. mayB he had someone else stealing the cheats 4 him.

There was a pause, then Chase texted back.

doesn’t like 2 do dirty work himself?

doesn’t like 2 get caught. he’s crooked but smart.

next step? Chase asked.

going 2 see BF connor @ Nckle CiT. mayB syd’s death unrel8d to cheats.

I could feel Chase contemplating this angle in the silence on the other end. Finally he sent back, i’ll meet u there. time?

I texted back and agreed to meet up in an hour. I could only hope that Connor was a little more forthcoming than Nicky had been.

Nickel City was an arcade where for five cents you could play any video game in the place. The catch? They were all vintage oldies. As was the building. The floors were slightly sticky from countless spilled sodas, the walls smelled like stale pizza, and the arcade consoles themselves were chipped, faded, and slick where sweaty palms had clutched joysticks in hundreds of death grips.

As soon as we walked in the door, I spied Chase waiting for us next to an ancient Ms. Pac-Man machine.

“Hey,” he said. “Connor’s over there playing Gran Turismo.” He gestured to a machine along the back wall.

“You talk to him yet?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Waiting for you two.”

“Let’s do it,” Sam said, striding toward him. Chase and I followed a step behind.

“Hey,” he said, leaning in. “No jasmine today, huh?”

I ducked my head as I walked. “I told you it was the bushes.”

“Bummer. They were nice-smelling bushes.”

I ignored the comment (and the blush it created in my cheeks), instead focusing on Connor.

With blond hair, blue eyes, and zero acne, Connor Crane was currently the secret crush of half the female HHH population. And a couple of the males, too.

Personally, I’d always thought there was something just a little too perfect about him. His look was as carefully planned as the dressed mannequins in the Abercrombie windows-each hair of his casual messy-do gelled into place with precision to look carelessly cool, his outfits meticulously chosen to look like he’d just pulled something random from his closet. It was the kind of effortless look that everyone knew required a lot of effort.

“Connor,” I called as we approached his game console.

“Hey,” he replied, though he didn’t look up from his screen, furiously pressing buttons and twisting the plastic steering wheel.

“Can we talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure.” But he still didn’t look up.

“Uh… maybe face to face?”

“Hang on a sec,” he said, punctuating his words with a slam to the B button. I watched as his car careened over an oil slick on the road, skidding sideways, then slamming into an invisible wall. Finally his vehicle raced over the finish line and the words Game Over appeared.

Connor scowled at the screen.

“Um, got a minute now?” I asked.

Connor looked up for the first time, seeming a little surprised to find us there.

“Oh. Right. Sure.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the arcade game. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Sydney.”

A frown creased between his brows. “What about her?”

“You two were going out, right?” Sam asked.

He looked down at his feet and nodded, kicking at the sticky carpet with one toe. “Were. Past tense. We broke up.”

“When?” I asked.

He shrugged again. “Right before she died.”

“You mean right after she got caught cheating?” Sam jumped in.

Connor shrugged. “Yeah. So?”

“Why?”

Connor bit his lip and did some more carpet kicking. “You know. Stuff.”

Bull-fluff. You didn’t break up with a girlfriend of a whole year because of “stuff.”

“Did she dump you?” Sam asked, the queen of blunt.

Connor’s head snapped up. “No! Dude, girls do not dump me.”

I did a mental eye roll but stopped myself just short of actually snorting out loud. Apparently, in addition to being the number one secret crush at our school, Connor knew he was the number one secret crush at our school.

“So, you dumped Sydney?” Chase prompted.

Connor looked from Chase to me, then nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“Did it have anything to do with her getting caught cheating?” I asked.

“Kinda,” he hedged.

“Or,” Sam added, “did it have more to do with her being kicked off the homecoming nomination list, taking you with her?”

The frown between his eyebrows deepened. I’d never noticed until now how thick those eyebrows were. The only not so perfect thing about him.

Well, that and the fact that he may have killed his girlfriend.

“Fine. I dumped her because she got us kicked off. So what?”

“So you must have been pretty pissed off at Sydney about losing homecoming king.”

“I wasn’t happy about it.”

“Unhappy enough to do something about it?” I asked.

Connor narrowed his eyes. “What exactly are you getting at?”

“We don’t think Sydney killed herself,” Sam said. “We think someone Twittercided her.”

Connor cocked his head.

“Killed her,” I supplied.

“And you think it was me?” Connor’s voice went up an octave.

Sam and I both gave him hard stares.

“Dude!” Connor took another step back. “No way. I did not hurt Sydney. You guys have got this all wrong,” he said, turning to Chase.

“So straighten us out,” he challenged.

“Look, yes, I was upset at first. Homecoming is a big deal, you know? But just because she was out of the running didn’t mean I was.”

“People vote on couples,” I reminded him.

He grinned. “I am in a couple. I got another girl already.”

“That was fast,” Sam observed.

“Hey, voting ends Thursday. I didn’t have any time to waste. Look, Sydney knew how important homecoming was. So she was cool with me breaking up with her just for the voting and coronation. I promised her that I’d take her back after I was crowned king.”

“Wait-so the new girlfriend is just for show?” Sam asked.

Connor nodded. “Right.”

“Gee, who’s the lucky lady?” I asked, though I was pretty sure my sarcasm was lost on him from the way he puffed his chest out with pride as he answered.