A couple. It must have been Amy and Andrew – unless there was something I had missed. Perhaps everyone had been right to be angry at them for Kayla’s disappearance.
I stood outside Rage, considering my next move. Temple Bar was packed with people out for the night. There were lots of students celebrating the last days of term. Girls in high heels tottered around, unsteady on the cobblestones, and groups of guys strutted past, shouting and joking. I decided to ring Ellie. I figured she was the safest person to contact.
‘Hi, Jacki,’ she said. ‘Is everything OK?’
‘I’m sorry for calling so late,’ I said. ‘I hope I didn’t wake you?’
‘Nope, me and Sasha are just having a movie night. What’s up?’
‘I need your help with something.’
‘Where are you?’ she said. ‘It’s really loud, I can hardly hear you.’
‘I’m outside Rage. Hold on, I’ll move away from the door.’ I wove though the crowds, away from the blaring music.
‘Do you wanna come over?’ she said. ‘We’re just on Dame Street, above the milkshake shop.’
‘Are you sure that’s OK?’
‘Is it cool if Jacki comes over here, Sash?’
‘Of course, no problem,’ I could hear Sasha answer in the background.
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll be there in a few minutes.’
I rushed through Temple Bar, past the Central Bank, and waited for the traffic lights to change. I still felt sick. The after-effects of the curse pulsed through my veins. I wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep, but that wasn’t an option. I needed to figure out who’d tried to kill me, and who’d succeeded in killing Kayla.
I made my way towards the milkshake shop and pressed the buzzer for number 4.
‘Come on up!’ said Sasha’s voice on the other end. I pushed the door open. I wasn’t expecting any revelations from them, but I did think they could help me on my way to solving this.
Sasha appeared at the top of the stairs.
‘Hi,’ I said.
‘Hey!’ she said. ‘We’re watching movies! You missed Juno, but Blue Valentine’s just about to start.’ She sounded a bit tipsy. I climbed the stairs and followed her into the apartment. It was open-plan with wooden floors and slick furniture. Ellie was sitting cross-legged on a huge cream sofa, a bowl of popcorn in her lap and an empty bottle of wine on the table in front of her.
‘Hi, Jacki,’ she said.
‘Oh my god, Ryan Gosling is hot,’ said Sasha. She ran over to the couch and jumped on to it, then patted the seat beside her. ‘Sit,’ she said. ‘It’s starting.’
‘Actually, I was hoping we could watch something else,’ I said, rooting in my bag. I hated to ruin their film night, but I had a feeling they’d be able to help me. ‘This might sound a bit weird,’ I said, ‘but I have a video from Kayla’s party, of the guests, and I was wondering if you could tell me who was going out with who?’
‘You have a video from Kayla’s party?’ said Sasha, her eyes widening.
Ellie looked surprised too.
‘It’s a video of her eighteen kisses,’ I said. ‘I’ve watched it myself lots of times, but I need to get more of a feel for the dynamic of the group. I understand there were a few couples in the video?’
‘Yeah,’ said Ellie. ‘I guess there were a few… but why would you need to know something like that?’
‘I want to find out as much about the party as possible,’ I said. ‘To help me figure out what might have happened.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Sasha. ‘Put it on.’
I opened the DVD player, took out the disc that was already there, and put mine in. I pressed Play. Sasha and Ellie were silent at first, their eyes glued to Kayla, and I could tell it was upsetting for them to watch. ‘I Kissed a Girl’ blasted from the speakers. Kayla walked over to the stool; she fixed the strap of her dress. I knew this video so well.
‘Have you seen this before?’ I asked them.
‘No…’ said Ellie. ‘Nobody put any photos or videos up online after the party – it didn’t seem right. Except for the picture of Kayla in her dress. That ended up everywhere.’
‘So,’ I said, taking out my notebook and pen from my bag. ‘Were any of the people in the video going out with each other?’
‘Well, let’s see,’ said Sasha, flicking her hair back and pointing at the people on the screen. ‘Libby and Rob, obviously; Amy and Andrew; Kayla and Luke were supposedly doing it behind everyone’s back; oh, and Ellie and Sean,’ she said, winking at Ellie. ‘I think that’s it.’
‘Biggest mistake of my life,’ muttered Ellie.
‘What about before the party – had any of them previously gone out with each other, but were broken up?’
‘Um, I think Rory and Libby went out for a while,’ said Ellie. ‘And I went out with Rob for a year. Kayla went out with Kev. That’s it, I think. Calum has been with pretty much every girl in the video, but he’s never actually been on a date.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, after I’d jotted down everything she’d said.
‘You look kind of pale,’ said Sasha. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘I’m just really tired.’
I decided I was going to go home and get some sleep. I wanted to stay awake, but I didn’t think my body would be able to handle it.
‘Thanks, guys,’ I said. ‘I better head off.’
As soon as I got on the bus, I examined the list of couples. I crossed off all the people who had a solid alibi. I was still left with the same pair that kept cropping up. Amy and Andrew.