Two Can Keep a Secret

Mia and Malcolm are hanging out at Mia’s house, discussing the strange events in town. Viv, who works for the student newspaper, has published a story about “The Homecoming Stalker” that has been picked up by the Burlington newspaper; the stalker, meanwhile, has continued targeting the homecoming queen nominees with vandalism and harassment. Daisy is home locked in her room, and when Mia and Malcolm invite her to go to dinner with Ellery and Ezra, she becomes short with them. Mia admits that something strange is going on with Daisy, something worse than just needing a break, which is what Mia’s parents keep telling her.

While they’re leaving for dinner, Malcolm gets a text from Katrin: Brooke has broken up with Kyle, and Katrin wants to know if Malcolm will be her new date to homecoming. Hearing this gets Mia to admit that she agreed to go to homecoming so that Daisy would be a chaperone, and she intends to invite Ezra, as she is excited to finally have another queer person in town. She tells Malcolm he should go with Ellery, as they clearly like each other.

Before they can finish their conversation and drive away, Daisy emerges from the house and gets in her car. They follow her, thinking she might be up to something, but she drives to a therapist’s office and goes inside. Mia is upset by her sister’s secrecy. The two of them drive on, and on the way to the restaurant, they see Brooke confronting Vance Puckett. They can’t hear what she’s saying, but she is clearly agitated, and when she walks off, there is a look of determination on her face.

Ellery and Ezra get a video call from Sadie while they wait for a ride to a pep rally at Fright Farm. The twins are hesitant to discuss the events in town with their mother, as her rehab facility suggests that they “skim the surface” when interacting with her (112). Instead, they talk about homecoming, and Sadie encourages Ellery to go with Malcolm, whom she calls “the cute vandal” (113). Ellery is upset by this; she feels her mother has no right to pry in her life in this way. The three of them talk about Sadie’s homecoming; she was homecoming queen, and though she is hesitant to tell them about it, her date was Vance Puckett. Ellery asks who Sarah went with, and Sadie pretends someone is telling her to end the call without answering the question.

Officer Rodriguez arrives to give them a ride, on Nana’s insistence. He assures Nana that the kids will be safe at a large event. While they drive, Ellery mentions that Daisy is back in town, and then that Declan is, too, watching Officer Rodriguez closely. When he reacts to the news of Declan, Ellery presses him, and he insists that he needs to check for updates from the police station.

Officer Rodriguez leaves the twins at the pep rally, where they find Mia and Viv saving seats for them. Viv is proud that the local news channel has come to cover the pep rally based on her article. Malcolm, who plays drums, is on stage with the band, and Katrin and Brooke are on stage as cheerleaders.

The pep rally begins, and Ellery is impressed as Malcolm plays a drum solo. Viv moves off, and after the band is finished, Malcolm joins them. The coach is talking about the state championship the team won six years ago, prompting Ellery to ask Malcolm about Declan, who was on the team. Malcolm admits that he and his brother aren’t close, and Ellery realizes once again that the two have something in common: Their lives are seen as a kind of “before and after” a traumatic event (125).

As the coach is reaching a rousing part of his speech, the LED screen behind him flashes off and on, with the image replaced. Now, it features a picture of Lacey, which is ripped in half, as are pictures of Brooke, Katrin, and Ellery. Ellery is disturbed that the other girls’ pictures are from the yearbook, but hers is a candid; she’s being watched.

Malcolm has agreed to bring the twins home from work at Fright Farm, and he arrives to find an employee party going on at the House of Horrors. A young woman confronts him jokingly before letting him know it’s a dry party and his friends are upstairs. At the party, Viv stops Malcolm to ask if he wants to be interviewed for a piece about Lacey’s murder. Malcolm says no, thinking about how Viv is trying to milk her newfound fame as a journalist, especially since she’s used to being overshadowed by Katrin. He leaves her and finds Ellery.

Ellery and Malcolm talk about Sadie, who Ellery says has never gotten over Sarah’s death. The two decide to go looking for Ezra so they can leave, but he’s not downstairs, and when Malcolm hands Ellery a bottle of water, they drop it, and as they both lean in to pick it up, they wind up moving closer, leading to them almost kissing. Before that can happen, there’s a noise from the office, which they rush to investigate. Brooke is there, obviously drunk, and she has been trying to pick the lock of a recycling bin with a paperclip. She is incoherent, but she talks about wanting to show someone something that is in the recycling bin, and she is clearly feeling guilty about something.

The two offer to take Brooke home. Ellery goes to find Ezra so they can leave, and Brooke asks Malcolm if he’s “ever made a really bad mistake” (136), then says she wishes she had different friends. Malcolm presses her for more, but she stands up and says she’s ready to go home. Malcolm drops off the twins first. Ellery and Malcolm awkwardly agree to talk on the phone the next day, and Ellery asks Brooke if she is going to be okay, to which she says, “Why wouldn’t I be?” (139).