Tagline: Will Lily get an A in murder?
Back tagline: Everyone thinks she killed her teacher
Summary: Intense, competitive, Lily Bancroft had good reasons to hate him. She lives to win, and he was about to destroy her dreams. But murder? That was going too far, even for someone as driven as Lily.
She’s innocent. But that hasn’t stopped the whispers behind her back. Or the weird phone calls late at night. Then someone else is brutally murdered and suddenly Lily is drawn into a nightmare she can’t begin to control. Will her final grade be her last?
First impressions: This is one of the stupidest taglines we’ve seen so far [It’s right up there with ‘Cat’!], and I love it. This cover is pretty hilarious too, especially the dead expression on who I’m assuming is Lily’s face. Does she kind of look like Pizzazz from iconic ’80s cartoon Jem and the Holograms [A must-watch if you’ve never seen it, and the theme song is legendary], or am I an idiot? The teacher looks super cute, though! There’s at least two deaths promised in the blurb, so I’m expecting a fun read. Let’s find out if Lily gets that A, shall we?
Recap
Roll call:
Lily – Our heroine who’s under way too much pressure to succeed.
Mr. Reiner – Lily’s jerk teacher who doesn’t give grades, he awards them.
Julie – Lily’s best friend who’s older brother was murdered during a robbery four years ago [Which is not at all relevant to anything].
Alex – Lily’s boyfriend who’s supportive but jealous.
Scott – Another friend who can be a little intense.
Graham – Julie’s smug cousin and Lily’s number one competition at school.
Rick – The new boy at work who can’t take a hint.
The book begins with our protagonist, Lily Bancroft, [Who has black hair, not brown like on the cover…], confronting her social science teacher, Mr. Reiner, about her grade on a recent test [What exactly is social science?]. She doesn’t understand why she got a B when she answered all the questions correctly, and none of her answers were marked as wrong:
“You’re correct that there’s nothing wrong with your essay questions,” Mr. Reiner replied. “And they’re good answers—B answers. But you didn’t bother to go the extra step. You didn’t write really excellent answers—the kind that deserve a top grade.”
[Ew, I hate him] Most of the girls at school have a crush on the young, handsome teacher [Me too but the personality ruins it], but Lily thinks he’s ‘arrogant and conceited,’ and I can see why. Lily’s never had a problem with any teachers before this class, so naturally she’s pretty frustrated, especially because a girl in his other class got an A for basically the same answers, but Mr. Reiner’s got an excuse for that:
“But you, Lily, are enrolled in honors social science,” he pointed out. “I told the entire class at the beginning of the year that this course would be more challenging than most. I have a different standard for honors students. I expect more, and I grade accordingly.”
[I feel like that makes sense, but can he really mark things that subjectively?]. Lily agrees with me, protesting how unfair that is, but according to Mr. Reiner, ‘”no one said life is fair.”‘
Lily’s worked hard all year in the class and explains that there’s no way she’ll get an A in the course if the grade stays a B, but Mr. Reiner isn’t interested in a sob story and doesn’t feel sorry for her one little bit. He’s increasingly distracted by the flickering light above him throughout the conversation, angering Lily further because ‘the most important thing here is my grade—and he’s not even listening to me!’ [Yeah he really hates her lol].
Resisting the urge to hurl a stapler at the light [Do it, yolo], Lily insists there must be some way she can ensure a better grade, but Mr. Reiner icily tells her that honours courses are an honour, and students are expected to do more than the average student, which is why her test doesn’t stack up [He really is awful lol. Like I get what he means, but surely he could be more lenient towards a hardworking student]. Lily begs for an A minus, which would raise her grade enough to get an A for the course, but Mr. Reiner doesn’t give grades, he only awards them, ‘”if they are earned.”‘ And that’s the smirking asshole’s final answer, so Lily understandably lunges over the desk at him:
“That was your last chance!” Lily shrieked. She shoved his arms away and wrapped her hands around his throat.
Yes! she thought. Yes!
Furiously she squeezed with all her strength. Tighter. Tighter…
The teacher clawed at her hands, trying to break free.
No use.
His eyes bulged. His distorted face darkened to purple. Hoarse choking sounds escaped his throat.
“You should have changed my grade!” Lily shouted.
She let go as Mr. Reiner gave one last gurgle and fell across the desk.
Dead.
This last part was just a daydream, because of course it was, and Lily can’t believe she actually pictured herself doing that, all for a grade [Agreed, you fkn sociopath!]. Escaping into the crowded hall, Lily jumps into her best friend Julie and tells her how she feels like murdering Mr. Reiner. She instantly regrets saying it because it’s super insensitive on account of Julie’s brother being murdered four years ago during a robbery at his work [Oooh, is this a plot of an earlier Fear Street? It doesn’t sound familiar].
We learn why Lily is so desperate for an A – she’s relying on the Shadyside Honors Scholarship that’s awarded to the valedictorian. Julie reckons Lily will probably be offered loads of scholarships, even without an A in social science, but this specific one is the only one that matters to Lily and her parents because it’s the only way to ensure she’ll ‘be able to go to a really good college.’ It’s not too late into the term anyway, as Julie points out, so Lily still has time to get an A [Julie seems like a great friend!].
Although she wants to be more easy-going and laidback, Lily can’t help but obsess over her grades. Her two older sisters graduated as valedictorians, so not only do Lily’s parents expect her to do the same, but she expects it of herself [So much pressure for teenagers! The US education system seems really flawed]. Lily has gotten an A for every course during her school career, and now Mr. Reiner is totally ruining her life and he doesn’t even care [Where’s your compassion, Reiner!?].
Lily waits outside the library while Julie heads in to return a bunch of mystery novels, which she smashes through ‘as if they were bags of popcorn’ [Julie sounds like my kind of gal!] ever since her brother died. Alex, Lily’s boyfriend [That Julie went on a few dates with last year, but apparently it was nothing and she’s fine with their relationship], appears and she tells him all about Mr. Reiner’s refusal to change the grade. She reckons he actually enjoyed giving her the bad grade, ‘”Like it gave him a thrill or something.”‘ Alex agrees that Mr. Reiner is tough, but he reckons he’s a good teacher, and Lily wonders if she’s the only one that thinks he’s ‘a total creep.’
Julie soon returns before Scott, the editor of the school’s magazine, The Forum, approaches to reminds them of the deadline in two days. Lily likes Scott, ‘but sometimes he was so intense,’ which makes her uncomfortable [And you think your fixation on your grades brings comfort to those around you, Lily?]. Julie and Alex head to the magazine’s office with Scott, but Lily has to fill in for a sick co-worker at her uncle’s drugstore. Lily’s worked there ever since her mother had a stroke two years ago and hasn’t been able to work, because even if she does get a scholarship, she’ll still need money for other expenses [Again, too much pressure on poor Lily. No wonder she wants that A!].
Lily misses her bus, but luckily Julie’s cousin, Graham, is around to offer her a ride in his father’s sea-green Porsche! Lily usually avoids Graham because they don’t really get along, what with his smugness and all, but she’s more than happy to scab a ride today. He asks about school and life as he drives, but Graham’s her number one competition for valedictorian and she’s ‘been competing with him for best grades since sixth grade’ [He sounds like the perfect match for you, Lily! Why are you dating Alex?], so she’s not about to reveal her run-in with Mr. Reiner to him.
Naturally he’s getting straight A’s in all his classes [Nerd], and conversation soon turns to the statewide trivia contest starting next week, where Lily’s hoping to nab the $500 prize. Graham, cocky as ever, brags about never losing a game of Trivial Pursuit, and as he rambles on about how great he is, Lily tunes him out [Hahaha good thinking, Lily], even more determined to beat him in the contest and for valedictorian.
Shortly before closing time at work, a young man wearing a ‘tattered denim jacket and a menacing expression’ walks in, whips out a small pistol and demands all the money [!!!]. As Lily starts opens up the register, a clueless Uncle Bob appears from the back room and is quickly forced behind the counter with Lily. As Uncle Bob begins to open the cash drawer, he opens a smaller drawer beneath it and produces a gun of his own!
The would-be thief escapes as new delivery boy Rick (who Lily’s never met before) arrives, and after the police take their statements, Lily notices Rick watching her with his ‘longish red hair and piercing blue eyes’ [Not another stare bear!]. Although Uncle Bob encourages Lily to head home early, she tells him it’s no big deal and carries on working after the police leave. Lily tries to focus on her calculus homework between customers, but it’s no easy feat with Rick just standing in the corner, staring at her until he eventually approaches for a chat:
“What’s that—algebra or something?” He leaned against the register.
“Calculus.” Lily drew back a little.
“You go to Shadyside High?” he asked.
Lily nodded, keeping her eyes down on the book.
“I’ve heard that’s a pretty good school,” Rick told her. “I didn’t like my school much.”
Lily glanced up and smiled politely. Then she gestured at her book. “I’d better get these problems done.”
You’d think he’d take the hint, but a clueless Rick asks if she wants to grab some food after work. She politely declines because she has a boyfriend, but agrees to be friends because even though he seems a little dense, he has a nice smile [Ah yes, a great foundation for a friendship]. He continues to distract her from her homework, telling her all about how he dropped out of high school because studying just isn’t for him, and Lily eventually opens up about what happened with Mr. Reiner earlier. Soon the deliveries are ready, and Rick tries his luck one more time before heading off to do his job:
“Well I’ve got to go,” Rick said. “Sure you don’t want to hang out later?”
Lily shook her head. “I really have a lot of work to do.”
“How about a ride home?”
“No, thanks.” She waved goodbye and returned to the calculus.
[Take a damn hint, Rick, no means no! Is this what women have to deal on a regular basis?] Lily’s relieved when Rick’s not back by the time the store is closed because ‘he seemed like a nice guy, but he was sort of a pest’ [Amen!]. She catches the next bus and as she walks through the darkness, someone steps out of the bushes, in front of her [!!!]. It’s just Alex though, and she realises they’re standing in front of his house, which is a few doors down from her own. He didn’t mean to scare her, admitting he was waiting for her so he could walk her home because she seemed so upset about Mr. Reiner today [He was just waiting in the bushes for her to come past? lol].
He walks her to the door and suggests they sit and talk for a while, but Lily’s got so much schoolwork to do, plus she needs to start studying for that trivia contest. Alex wishes she wasn’t so busy all the time, but he knows how important school is to her [A supportive boyfriend in Shadyside?! :O], and Lily promises to make more time for him [Good!].
Inside, Lily’s greeted by her father, who’s been so worried after Uncle Bob called about the attempted robbery. Mum left some dinner in the fridge before heading to bed, and as Lily sits down with a glass of milk to eat [I will never understand people who drink milk for fun], Dad starts talking about school. He tells her how proud he and Mum are of her, and they just know she’ll be valedictorian, which gives Mum something to look forward to [So much pressure :(].
Lily sheepishly admits to the B in social science, but Dad’s sure she’ll be able to bring the grade up, ‘”Not that I’m pushing.” [That’s exactly what you’re doing, my dude], her parents just don’t want to see her do less than she’s capable off [Stop. Pressuring. Her]. With her appetite diminished, heads upstairs to hit the books, fuming all over again about how difficult Mr. Reiner is being about her grade. Lily’s still working hard by the time midnight rolls around [Ugh, I feel so bad for this girl :(] and she gets a phone call from a classic heavy breather:
“Its me,” said a male voice.
“Who? Who?”
“Someone who knows you, Lily. Someone who knows everything about you. Someone who watches you all the time.”
[This is the last thing Lily needs right now >:(] Naturally, the bad guy hangs up without another word, and we pick up the next day as Lily and Alex head to school together. Lily’s super tired after struggling to fall asleep thanks to that weird call, but she doesn’t want to Alex yo know about it, feeling stupid that a prank call kept her up all night [True, I guess she has no reason to suspect a genuine bad guy yet].
Instead, she tells him she was up all night thinking about Mr. Reiner, and she’s come up with a great idea to boost her grade – since he expects more from honour students, she’ll offer to do some extra credit work [Gross]! Alex thinks it might work, but Mr. Reiner is ‘”pretty strict about stuff like that”‘ and never changes grades [But surely if someone does extra credit work, it’s got to be taken into consideration? And Mr. Reiner did say that honour students should be doing extra, anyway. I don’t know, the American school system confuses me]. It’s the only option she’s got anyway, since she’ll be doomed if she doesn’t win valedictorian.
At school, hurries to Mr. Reiner’s homeroom before classes start, rehearsing what she’s going to say to him. She’s momentarily distracted by Lisa Blume [One of the first Fear Street characters! She’s from The New Girl, Do all the Fear Streets take place in the same year?], who apparently loves to talk about other people’s business. Lily’s got no time for gossip right now though, explaining she needs to see Mr. Reiner. Lisa somehow knows all about Lily’s problem with the teacher already, which means the rest of the school knows too [Tag yourself, I’m Lisa].
Lisa suggests Graham will score valedictorian, but Lily is undeterred, snapping ‘”I’ll get my A one way or another”‘ [But will it be an A in social science, or murder?]. She immediately regrets it [Might be time to start thinking before you say things, darl], because Lisa’s sure to tell everyone what a ‘desperate nut’ she is about her grade. Lily scurries off to Mr. Reiner’s room and lets herself in, not even waiting for her knock to be answered. The first thing she notices is a ladder positioned under the dodgy light above the teacher’s desk. She assumes Mr. Reiner has decided to fix it himself and has gone to the supply closet for a new bulb, but then she notices the bright red blood dripping off his desk:
She followed the blood with her eyes. And found a body.
“Mr. Reiner?” she managed to choke out.
The handsome young teacher lay sprawled on his back near the desk. Blood soaked his hair. His mouth hung open. His eyes stared blankly up at Lily.
“No!” Lily cried. “No! Please—no!”
She lowered her eyes. She had stepped into a puddle of blood. The blood ran over the sides of her white sneakers.
Not my imagination this time, she realized, pressing her hands to the sides of her face.
Not my imagination.
This time he is really, truly dead.
[Good riddance xo. My first instinct is that maybe he just slipped off the ladder and his death is a complete accident, but after that phone call last night, who knows? Also I love that she’s pressing her hands to her face in shock, which is still something I’ve never seen in real life hahaha] It’s the day after Mr. Reiner’s funeral now, and Lily’s sure she’s being paranoid, that no-one blames her for his death. But still, no-one said a word to her during the service and whenever she raised looked up, ‘she saw people staring at her with accusing eyes’. Even Alex has been acting distant [Oh no, not Alex :(]. She’s haunted by her words to Julie the other day when she said she wanted to murder Mr. Reiner, and she’s sure gossip girl Lisa has told everyone about how angry she was the morning of his death. But surely her classmates don’t think she pushed him off the ladder or something, right? [Wrong, hun]. Anyway, she’s in social science class as the substitute reveals there’ll be two more tests and a term paper before the end of the semester, which makes Lily horny because that means she’s definitely got a chance to up her grade for the class! Woo!
It’s Sunday now, Lily’s first free Sunday morning in a month, and she’s playing doubles tennis with Alex, Julie and Scott. She’s not playing very well though, which is weird because usually she’s pretty good, and Scott’s confused because she’s so competitive at school, but with tennis ‘”it’s like you don’t care if you win or lose.” Lily admits that to her, tennis is just having fun, so she doesn’t really care [I’m the opposite of Lily – didn’t really care about school work, but if I lose in a boardgame or something, it was just a practice round xx]. There’s no point to it if you’re not trying to win, says Alex, and Lily declares ‘”I’ll work on my killer instinct next set.”‘ Again she regrets her words, especially after noticing Julie and Scott exchange uneasy glances [You’re not soo good with the words, are you, Lily?].
After tennis, Lily declines an offer to hang out some more so she can study, much to Alex’s dismay. As she walks home, smug old Graham pulls up in his Porsche again and teases her about how good she must feel ‘”now that Mr. Reiner is taking a dirt nap”‘ and she’s sure to get that A. Lily can’t believe he’d even joke about something like that. She doesn’t like what he’s implying either, because she wouldn’t kill someone over a grade and that what happened to Mr. Reiner was just a horrible accident [Graham’s definitely gonna be our next victim]. Graham explains he was just joking and tells her to lighten up [Bruh, you basically accused her of murder?] before speeding off, leaving Lily to wonder if everyone really does think she killed her teacher [You’ve definitely got a motive!].
After another long night of studying til midnight, Lily’s just about to turn in for bed when the phone rings. It’s the same heavy breather, who tells her he knows all about her and that she got what she wanted, and after a bit of concentrating, Lily senses a familiarity in the voice:
“I know who you are!” she blurted out. “Why are you calling me? Tell me! Why are you doing this to me? Why, Graham? Why?”
Click.
The next afternoon, Scott and Lily are the first to arrive for a meeting for The Forum. He compliments her latest piece and invites her to come watch the magazine get printed this evening at the printing press. Lily can’t make it until her shift finishes at 9pm, but agrees to stop by since she’s never been before. As they go over the cover photo options, Alex appears in the doorway and he is not impressed [Great, he’s an unreasonably jealous boyfriend lolllllllllll].
Alex is really rude to Scott, who doesn’t seem to notice, and Lily can’t believe Alex is so acting so jealous [Yeah, it’s very weird because they literally were not flirting]. Scott leaves to ‘”take some copy into Mr. Henderson,”‘ [Which should say ‘in to Mr. Henderson,’ right? He’s not putting the copy into him hahaha] and Alex mocks him when he’s gone, alleging Scott has the hots for Lily but she reassures Alex that they’re just friends [All they were doing was discussing the fkn magazine hahaha what the hell is going on?].
As Lily attempts to study between customers at work that night, Rick rocks up to take some deliveries and be annoying. Lily again makes it very clear that she’s busy, but he won’t shut up and eventually mentions Mr. Reiner – he’d heard about his death and he’s wondering if Lily gave him ‘”a little push. You know. For extra credit?”‘ Lily is disgusted by another accusation she had anything to do with her teacher’s death, and of course Rick claims he was just messing around [Go mess around somewhere else, you pest].
A frustrated Lily just wants to get back to her homework, but instead of leaving the uninterested girl alone, Rick ‘reached over to touch Lily’s hair’ [Ew, go away, Rick!] and asks her to go out with him tonight [Again, ew, go away, Rick!]. Lily reminds him that she has a boyfriend as she swats his hand away, and she doesn’t have time to go out anyway. You’d think her increasing hostility would make him realise he’s got no chance, but alas, Rick grabs her hand and accuses her of being stuck up because ‘”I only want to get to know you better”‘ [Omfg, fuck off, Rick! Straight men are so weird].
Lily ends up screaming at him to leave her alone but he hilariously tells her ‘”Don’t get all sweaty”‘ [Hahahahaha so fkn stupid I might have to steal that line] because he was just joking! He apologises and asks her not to tell Uncle Bob because he really needs this job [actions have consequences my dude xx] and for some stupid reason, Lily agrees, even though he doesn’t even say please [Damn it Lily! I 100% would have dobbed, fuck Rick lol].
After work, Lily heads to Shadyside’s printing plant [This town has everything!] with Rick still on her mind, wondering if she was wrong about Graham being the caller – could it have been Rick [It does seem like a Rick thing to do!]? Inside the plant, Lily follows the sounds of the machinery to the back of the building and into a large room. She can’t see anyone else there, and a rumbling sound nearby soon gives way to a roar, which Lily initially thinks is a rock slide or an avalanche…inside a building… [I have no words for the stupidity here]. She turns just in time to see ‘a tower of huge paper rolls tumbling toward her’ and she’s sure she’s about to be crushed to death [Would paper rolls, even huge ones, really be that heavy?].
Lily dives out of the way to safety as the night foreman, Alex, Scott, and Julie all appear and start fussing over her. Graham, whose father owns the plant, is there too, and he seems to be smiling [Fuck off, Graham]. Lily’s fine despite a bruised leg, but because of the mess, they’ll have to postpone the printing until tomorrow night now. Scott suggests they go to Pete’s Pizza, and despite her loins burning for all the homework she’s yet to do tonight, Lily’s brush with death has made her more carefree, at least for now, so off they go! She gets home around 11pm, too tired to even think about studying even though the trivia contest is tomorrow [Lily Bancroft not wanting to study might be the biggest shock of any Fear Street book!].
The phone rings right on cue, and this time our mysterious, raspy-voiced heavy breather tells Lily he wants what she wants, and ‘”I’m going to help you, if you’ll let me,”‘ before insisting she let him help [Maybe if you tell her who you are, she’d be more inclined to accept your generous offer]. Instead, Lily yanks the phone cord from the wall, determined not to let this creep upset her again.
At the trivia competition the next afternoon, Lily and Graham are the final two contestants because they’re just so great at everything. Graham finds the time to brag about his straight A’s in each class between questions, clearly trying to psych Lily out. She realises it’s all just a game to him – she wouldn’t mind losing the contest or valedictorian ‘if she thought it meant anything to him,’ but it clearly doesn’t, which angers her more. Unfortunately Lily blows her final question, overthinking the answer because it seems too obvious and allowing Graham to swoop in with what she originally wanted to say and win the contest [Poor Lily! :(].
Lily bolts from the auditorium in shame and decides to walk home to cool down and clear her mind. Sadly, she bumps into serial pest Rick who claims he was making a delivery when he saw her, and definitely isn’t following her [Sounds like something a stalker would say]. As they walk and talk, he notices she’s quieter than usual [I think she’s the same amount of quiet, tbh. Take. A. Hint], and asks how school is:
What did Rick care? Lily thought. He doesn’t even go to school. “Why do you want to know?” she demanded.
“I don’t know,” Rick said with a shrug. “I thought maybe I could help you somehow.”
At those words Lily froze. That was what the telephone caller whispered.
She wheeled to face Rick. “Have you been calling me late at night?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes,” he replied.
Apparently he’s just been calling, letting it ring a few times and hanging up before she answers because he doesn’t ‘”have the nerve”‘ to talk to her [Plenty of nerve to talk to her in person, though?]. Lily doesn’t believe him, certain that he’s our heavy breather [We haven’t read about a caller hanging up before she answers, but I guess she has been getting home late so she may not have even been home to answer anyway? No way to validate his story, but I reckon he’s a red herring], and orders him to leave her alone from now on before scurrying away. That night, she waits for a phone call that never comes while she studies, and grows more certain that it was Rick behind the calls, pretty chuffed with herself for confronting him [Lol did she even plug the phone back in?].
The midterm grade rankings are posted the next morning at school, and Lily is rankled that even though the new substitute teacher for social studies had given her an A minus, Graham is still slightly in front to be crowned valedictorian [Shouldn’t these grades be kept private? Like, not posted for the whole school to see? Let them choose to share it themselves if they want to!]. Lily’s in a foul mood for the rest of the day and snaps at Alex during the magazine meeting after school when he points out a possible mistake in her essay. She laments to her friends how disappointed her parents will be when Graham is valedictorian instead of her, so Scott points out that she’s still got time to beat him before the semester is over. Lily reckons it’s a done deal, though, ‘”unless he suddenly flunks out or falls off a cliff or something.”‘ [I think you just signed his death warrant, Lily]. Julie suggests that Lily’s parents probably won’t be as upset as Lily thinks [I don’t know about that! They’ve definitely put pressure on her whether they mean it or not] because second place ‘”isn’t exactly terrible.”‘ Lily doesn’t all this support, though, shouting that ‘”No one understands!”‘ before running off.
Work is quiet that night, so Uncle Bob dismisses Lily early. Instead of going home, she heads to the printing plant, wanting to apologise to her friends for her outburst earlier. A sign on the door says the night foreman won’t be there until 9:30pm, which is 50 minutes away, so Lily’s surprised to find the door unlocked. She plans on doing some homework in the lobby while she waits for everyone to arrive, but soon hears the pressing machine start in the back room.
There’s no-one around when she investigates, and when she moves closer to the machine to get a good look at the process, she’s splattered by something red – not ink, like she first believes, but blood [Graham’s blood, I’m sure!]! A closer inspection of the press reveals that ‘the paper wheel was jammed by a head and shoulders. Graham’s head. Graham’s shoulders.’ [This isn’t gonna look good for Lily when everyone else arrives]. Unsure if he’s still alive [Doubt it], Lily positions herself behind Graham’s waist and tugs ‘at his limp, blood-soaked body’ until the paper wheel starts to move:
It spun slowly. Slowly.
And the body came free.
Lily heard the crunch of bones beneath the moving wheel.
And saw a river of bright blood pour down the side of the press, puddling loudly on the concrete floor, on the cuffs of her jeans, on her shoes.
With a terrible thud, Graham’s crushed, broken body rolled onto the floor. His lifeless, blood-soaked face stared up at the ceiling.
Lily passes out from shock and awakens to Alex, Julie and Scott discovering the carnage. Alex wants to know how Lily got all this blood on her, but she can’t form the words as she wonders why people around her are suddenly dying [Could Julie be our bad guy? She was the only one present both times Lily alluded to the victims’ premature deaths… Lily’s sure the caller is a male, but so did Selena and look how that turned out. But I feel like Reiner’s death was just a freak accident rather than a murder. Graham’s definitely wasn’t, though!].
The next morning as Alex drives Lily to school, we learn that the police have ruled Graham’s death an accident. It’s assumed he got too close to the pressing machine, but Lily can’t help but wonder if he was actually murdered [I am certain he was!]. She blames herself for his death because she’d basically wished he’d die yesterday, and although Alex reiterates what the police said and no-one blames her, she can see the doubt in his eyes [You gotta admit, Lily, it does look pretty suss!]. A car full of Graham’s friends stare at them as they pass, and Lily sadly realises everyone probably thinks she killed Graham over a stupid grade, just like Mr. Reiner. She also notes that she’ll now be valedictorian, but instead of jumping for joy, she feels ‘only emptiness and a dull fear.’
At Graham’s funeral an unspecified amount of time later, Lily’s paying her respects when the lid of his casket opens and his corpse pops up and points at Lily, declaring ‘”She’s the one!'” [!!!!!!]. It’s just a daydream though [Jeez, she has these a lot]. The mourners gather at Julie’s house after the funeral service, and Lily can’t believe Julie has lost a cousin just four years after her brother’s death [Is her brother’s death gonna be relevant in the final act? Besides some character development for Julie, it hasn’t really served any purpose so far ]. She hugs the family and tells Julie how sorry she is, jerking back ‘as if she’d been slapped’ when her best friend offers a quick, tearful smile before turning away to talk to someone else. Does Julie blame Lily for her cousin’s death, too?
Lily chats with Scott for a while, but soon notices Graham’s mother staring at her while another woman whispers in her ear [Wow, rude]. Lily runs home and cries in her room, then searches through her purse for a tissue. Instead, she finds something unusual – Graham’s horn-rimmed glasses, which he was wearing when she last saw him alive [Oooh, interesting. Did Scott put it in there? Or maybe this is another split personality book like Twisted or Switched ?].
A worried Scott comes by to check on her and Lily realises that Alex was right – Scott does have feelings for her [Or he’s just being a supportive friend?]. Scott notices Graham’s glasses, and Lily insists that she doesn’t know how they got there. Scott knows she didn’t put them there, though, because he slipped them into her bag at Julie’s house [Knew it!].
Scott wanted her to find them, so Lily would know everything he did for her. Of course, the penny hasn’t dropped for our future valedictorian, so it needs to be spelled our for Lily:
“I thought you knew,” he said, slapping the glasses harder against his open palm. “I did exactly what you wanted. I killed Graham for you.”
“Oh nooooo,” Lily moaned.
“Oh, yes!” Scott declared. “I killed him. It was easy, really. I got the idea after Mr. Reiner’s accident. It’s so simple, isn’t it, to make a death look like an accident?”
[A bad guy reveal already?! We’re only just over halfway through the book! Is there another twist coming?] Scott proudly explains how Mr. Reiner’s accidental death got him thinking of ways to give Lily a better chance at valedictorian. He’d asked Graham to meet him at the plant at 9pm, knowing the night foreman would be on break [But Lily was there before 9? Did he kill Graham then hide? Why were they both there so early if they were supposed to meet at 9, anyway?], and told him the press was jammed. Then he shoved him in when Graham leaned over to take a look [I feel like Scott really could have gotten away with this. Obviously it won’t turn out well now that Lily knows though].
He also admits to being behind the calls because he likes hearing her voice [Cute hehe], before gloating about how he did it all for Lily, ‘”because I care about you so much.”‘ Turns out he’s been in love with her since grade school, but could never work up the nerve to ask her out. And besides, she’s always had a boyfriend. But now they can finally be happy together!
Lily gets over her initial shock and keeps herself calm, going along with what he’s saying to keep him distracted while she figures out a way to call the police. She heads down to the kitchen under the pretence of being thirsty, but Scott follows behind her because he doesn’t want them to be apart ever again, ‘”even for a moment.'” [Hahahaha this is so cringe and funny].
Handing him two cokes from the fridge, she asks him to open them while she gets glasses from the dining room [Is that where Americans store their plates and glassware and stuff? Aussies keep all that in the kitchen lol]. But our girl isn’t actually getting glasses, instead making a beeline for the phone and attempting to phone the police. She’s interrupted by Scott’s hand on her wrist before she can punch in the final digit, though, and what excuse does she come up with? ‘”I’m just…just making a call,”‘ [Hahahahaha good save, Lily]. Scott knows when she’s lying though, because he knows her better than anyone! He pulls the phone from her grasp and tells her she might not understand their love yet, but she will! Then he warns Lily not to even think about turning him in, reminding her that he’s already killed once [!!!!].
Back in the kitchen, Scott threatens to tell everyone Graham’s murder was her idea if she turns him in – she has a motive after all, and he’ll even disclose how he found Graham’s glasses in her room, which he’ll be keeping as an insurance policy. Lots of people already think she murdered Mr. Reiner anyway, and she was the person to find both bodies, which is ‘”a bit of a coincidence,”‘ as Scott points out.
Scott relishes in the effect his words have on Lily, and she shudders as she thinks about how heartbroken her dad would be, how news like this might even kill her mother. Her conscience is torn, too – one voice tells her not to let Scott do this to her, but another voice insists it doesn’t matter; everyone will believe Scott because they’ll want to believe she killed Reiner and Graham [Bit of a pickle here, Lily! Poor thing]. She tells Scott she needs time, and he agrees to leave, reminding her one last time he did this for her, so they could be together.
The next day in class, Lily fails to provide an answer to a question when called upon by the teacher, with schoolwork suddenly seeming ‘so unimportant and trivial’ compared to other things [Character development!]. Passing Scott in the hallway on the way to her next class, he flashes her a winning smile and she wishes he would leave her alone:
But she knew Scott would never do that. Never.
Unless…
Unless…
Unless she could figure out a way to make him.
[Like murder? >:)] Scott, Lily, Alex and Julie have a meeting about the magazine after school – it’s their last issue for the year, and Scott thinks it’d be nice to do a tribute to Graham. The others all agree, and Lily can barely contain her disgust at his audacity to murder someone then write a tribute about them.
Scott requests Lily stay back for a few minutes so they can discuss a few things, but she’s promised Uncle Bob she’ll start work early tonight. Julie offers to drive her because she’s got a few things she wants to discuss herself [Ooooh, like what?]. Firstly, Julie apologises for being a bad friend – she’s been a bit jealous because Lily is never free to hang out, and when she is, she’s always with Alex [I think you should apologise too, Lily. Friendship is a two-way street!].
Lily agrees that she is always busy, and reckons Alex is probably sick of her shit too [So your best friend tells you that she’s feeling neglected because you’re always with your boyfriend, and your first instinct is to bring up your boyfriend? I guess you’re not gonna apologise for not making time for your friend, then?]. But that’s not the only thing that’s been bothering Julie – she believes the police are wrong and that Graham was murdered! [Those mystery books have taught you well, Julie]!
Graham’s the kind of guy who always knew what he was doing, and since his father owned the plant, Graham grew up around the press, so there’s no way he could have had an accident like that. Julie then realises that Lily probably thinks she suspects her of the murder, but quickly assures her she’s not paying any attention to the rumours going around [Hey Siri, play ‘True Friend’ by Hannah Montana]. Julie couldn’t do anything about her brother’s death, but she vows to find out who murdered Graham if it’s the last thing she does [You go, girl!].
Scott calls late that night and demands Lily break up with Alex ASAP so they can be together. Lily’s pretends this is what she wants too, but insists it might be a bit suss if she randomly breaks up with Alex out of nowhere after six months. She also accidentally tells him Julie already believes Graham was murdered and plans to solve the mystery herself [Lily, why are you like this?]. Scott promises that if Julie starts to suspect him, he’ll set the record straight and let her know that Graham’s death was Lily’s plan:
“After all, I took a terrible risk, just for you. I did it so you would realize that we’re supposed to be together, Lily. If you don’t start taking me more seriously, then what choice do I have?”
“But, Scott—”
“We’re in this together, Lily. You and me. In it together—forever.”
On Saturday night, Lily heads out for a date with Scott, praying he’ll leave her alone for a while afterward, and bumps into Alex on her walk over to the mall. She’d told him she had to study tonight, and quickly lies that she’s heading to the library. She turns down his offer to get pizza later with another lie about promising her father she’d come straight home, and Alex heads home clearly upset.
Out front of the mall, Lily persuades Scott to see a Winona Ryder [How very 90s!] movie that’s playing in Waynesbridge because she doesn’t want to bump into anyone from school. He forcibly holds her hand during the movie and afterwards, she insists they grab a bite to eat in Fort Morris, a town just past Waynesbridge [That I don’t think we’ve heard of before! Also how has he not realised she’s trying not be seen with him in public?].
They end up bumping into Rick [Ugh, not him again] at a dingy burger place, and Scott introduces himself as Lily’s boyfriend. Afterwards, Lily insists to a jealous Scott that she barely knows Rick, and Scott demands she keep it that way! He also nags her to hurry up and break up with Alex, and as he drives her home, he babbles on about their plans for the future – they’ll go to college together, get married and maybe even move to a big city [Don’t think so, pal].
Lily’s ready to bolt from the car as soon as he pulls up to her house, but Scott has other ideas, searching ‘for her lips with his’ [Hahahaha what a way to put it]. Lily’s absolutely sickened by this and protests that her father might be watching, so Scott soon lets her go. He walks her to the door and leans in for a smooch again, but Lily quickly ducks inside and pulls the door shut behind her [Hahahha]. Relieved to be away from Scott’s ‘mooning eyes’ and his ‘his hot, sweaty hands’ [Grossssss], a terrified Lily racks her brains for a way out of this mess, because there must be a solution [There is! It starts with ‘M’ and ends in ‘urder’]! Sure enough, she realises the answer has been staring her in the face this whole time – ‘I’ll kill him, she decided.’ [But will she get an A in murder?]
At yet another magazine meeting on Monday, Scott drops the bomb that he and Lily went on a date [Hahaha fkn hell]. Lily tries to lie her way out of it, telling Alex they went over some editing stuff for the next issue, but Scott declares that he’s specifically talking about their date on Saturday night. Alex is super mad and storms out of the room in disgust. Lily chases after him, insisting it’s not what he thinks, but she has no idea what to tell him; ‘Definitely not the truth—that Scott was controlling her every move.’ So she says nothing, and a hurt Alex tells her to have fun with Scott, shaking her hand off of his ‘as if she were a bug that had somehow crawled onto his fingers’ [What a funny little simile hahaha] and stomps off.
Over the next few days whenever Lily sees Alex in the halls, ‘he stared at her as if she were invisible’ [Hahaha what? This simile isn’t good]. Luckily she’s got so much homework and her job to keep her busy! One night while at work, Julie calls because she thinks she’s figured out who killed Graham:
“I spoke to the night foreman at the plant,” Julie continued. “He told me he discovered a message for Graham. On the answering machine at the printing plant. It was left the night he died. The police didn’t think it was important because they’re convinced Graham’s death was an accident. But from what Mr. Jacobson said—I think I know who left the message!”
She won’t say who yet though, not until she hears the tape, which she can’t do until tomorrow because the plant is closed tonight. Julie thinks it’ll be an important enough clue to get the case reopened [But the police have already heard it and decided it’s not important?], and reveals Mr. Jacobson, the night foreman, also suspects foul play because from the way Graham fell into the press, ‘”you’d almost have to be pushed!'”
A customer arrive, so Lily will have to call Julie back. After this first customer leaves, two more come in to look at make-up, followed by Rick, who’s as annoying as ever, and then finally Scott, a yellow rose in his hand for his new girlfriend. Lily’s not in the mood for his shit tonight, desperate to get back on the phone to Julie, and Scott isn’t very pleased with her hostility.
He forces her into an unwanted kiss [Ugh], reminding her that they’ll be together forever, and in a show of pure stupidity, Lily finally snaps and blurts out that forever is going to come to an end very soon because Julie’s close to figuring out the truth [For fuck’s sake, Lily, do you want your best friend to die too?]. You’d think she’d leave it at that, but the idiocy continues as Lily reveals that Julie heard about a message left for Graham the night he died [Lily, shut the hell up!], and both Julie and the foreman think it’s very suss.
Scott admits to leaving the message for Graham that night [Why would you leave a message at the plant telling him to meet you at the plant? Why wouldn’t you have left it at his house or something? Actually, why even leave a message at all instead of just calling him directly? Also, why are the Shadyside police so incompetent that they can’t see a link between a message left for Graham to meet him at the location of his death?], but he’s not fazed since he can just go destroy it.
Lily gloats that it’s too late [How’d she go from being so smart to being this fucking dumb in like two seconds, omfg. She does have a history of putting her foot in her mouth, though, so I guess we can give her a pass] because the foreman’s already heard the message, and Julie’s so close to the truth that the police will know in no time [Scott can still say it was Lily’s plan all along, though? Like, it was always gonna be his word against hers? I don’t see why Lily assumes she’ll be free if Julie solves the case], explaining that she just called and told Lily all about it. Naturally, Scott can’t let Julie ruin both their lives and now plans to kill Julie [What did you think would happen, Lily? Honestly, what did you think a murderer would do if you told him someone was close to figuring out the truth?].
Realising she’s fucked up, Lily insists that if Julie does suspect Scott, they’ll be able to convince her otherwise, but Scott knows Julie’s not going to give up until she’s found the truth. Uncle Bob appears from the back room to tell Lily she can head off early, which is the exact opposite of what she wants because now she’s stuck with Scott! As Uncle Bob disappears into the back again, Scott orders Lily to call Julie and tell her Mr. Jacobson agreed to let them into the plant tonight and to meet her there so they can kill her [Yes, because a second ‘accidental’ death at the plant isn’t going to look at all suspicious… This is the Shadyside police we’re talking about though, so it’s probably not that farfetched lol].
Lily refuses to lure her best friend to her death and attempts to open the small drawer where Uncle Bob keeps his little pistol, but Scott quickly snatches the gun for himself and forces her to make the call. Julie’s agrees to meet Lily at the plant right away, super excited because she’s discovered something new!
Arriving at the plant with Scott, Lily considers just running away into the night but decides against that because she can’t abandon Julie [Especially when it’s your fault Scott wants to kill her anyway]. Julie hasn’t arrived yet, so Scott unlocks the door with his key and ventures into the dark building with Lily, leaving the door slightly ajar for Julie. They hide in the darkness inside the press room as Lily begs Scott not to kill Julie, pointing out that no-one will believe that another accident happened here anyway. Scott’s thought of that already, however, and plans on shooting Julie with the pistol so it’ll look like she startled an intruder [Why would an intruder break into a pressing plant? Lol].
He tells her to stop acting all innocent, insisting Lily wanted Graham dead so she could be valedictorian. In hindsight, Lily’s obsessions with her grades seems silly now, ‘even meaningless,’ and although Graham’s dead and she’s lost Alex, Lily’s determined not to let Scott hurt Julie too. Speaking of Julie, she’s just walking into the press room now, calling out for Lily in the darkness as Scott raises the pistol [!!!].
Lily screams at the top of her lungs for Julie to run and dives away from Scott, but Julie’s too confused to move as Scott steps out from his hiding spot, gun aimed high. Julie quickly puts two and two together, admitting she never even dreamed Scott had killed Graham [Really? So who did she suspect? I need to know!!!!!!]. Julie pleads for her life, insisting she can keep a secret, but Scott has no intention of letting her live.
He even tries to convince Julie that Lily was on on the whole thing, and despite Lily’s protests, Julie’s not sure what to believe. She attempts to escape, but Scott catches her immediately and drags her toward the press and raises the gun. Lily decides to be a hero now and hurls herself at Scott, trying to wrench the gun from his hand as she screams for Julie to escape. Scott quickly incapacitates her, but the distraction has allowed Julie to hide, although she’s quickly found in a little nook between the press machine and the wall:
Scott stepped around the press and found Julie crouched in the corner.
Lily heard a metallic click. Scott had cocked the gun.
She pulled herself to her feet. Maybe she could stop him.
She heard Julie scream. “Scott, no!”
Then she heard a loud crack as the gun fired.
Lily scrambles to get to her friend, but it’s too late – Julie’s lifelessly sprawled across the floor [There’s no mention of blood which is unusual for Stine, so I reckon the bullet either missed her or it wasn’t a fatal wound. She’s definitely alive, though!]. Scott orders Lily to get the tape from the answering machine while he wipes their fingerprints off everything, shoving the pistol in his pocket [Bad choice]. Lily quickly grabs the gun, declaring she doesn’t care anymore whether or not he tries to implicate her and demands he call the police. Scott just laughs, much to her surprise, because he knows Lily doesn’t have the guts to shoot him. Sure enough, he’s right, and he manages to snatch the gun back [Ugh, why can the protagonist never fkn bring themselves to use the gun?!]:
A rustling noise from the floor startled her.
Lily turned toward the wall—and froze in horror.
Uncurling slowly, her eyes half open, her mouth twisted in pain, Julie’s corpse was climbing up from the floor.
[I’m sure it would be ooky spooky if I didn’t already determine she was alive]. Scott’s too busy chattering away to notice the “corpse” rise behind him, and Lily watches in horror as Julie picks up a metal bar and brings it down onto the back of Scott’s head. He crumples to the floor as Lily rushes over to hug Julie, who suspects the gun probably misfired – she fell to the floor when it went off and passed out when she hit her head, but wasn’t hurt when she came to [Knew it!]. She stayed still, though, listening to every word before taking action when the opportunity arose.
They call the police and as they wait in the darkness for them to arrive [Turn a fkn light on, idiots], Scott grabs Lily’s leg [!!!!]. His hand weakly slides away as she jumps up, and Lily notices blood pouring down his face as well as gushing from his mouth [From an injury in the back of his head?]. He splutters about being together before sinking ‘facedown into his own puddling blood’ and is finally still [Bye, bitch xx].
After being questioned by the police later, the girls are about to head home from the plant when Uncle Bob pulls up, having heard about what happened from Lily’s parents after the police were called. He’s glad everyone’s safe, but wonders if she knows what happened to the starter pistol from the drawer, explaining he would never keep a big, scary, real gun around [Saved by the starter gun, Julie! Lucky gal].
As Julie drives Lily home, she points out that throughout this nightmare, at least Lily’s learned ‘”that there are more important things than being valedictorian,”‘ and the book ends with this:
“No way!” Lily exclaimed. “We’ve still got four more weeks of school. I’m going to finish first, Julie. I know I am!”
[Is this banter or has this idiot really learned absolutely nothing from this experience, even though only a few hours ago she decided her grades were so trivial?]
Final thoughts
I’ll admit I was expecting a bit more, like Lily actually killing people over her grades, which would have made a fun story, but I’m not too disappointed and really enjoyed this one. It wasn’t your standard ‘heroine stalked while friends die around her’ Fear Street, so it was kind of nice when the bad guy was revealed so early!
Lily was fleshed out pretty well – the way she constantly blurted out the wrong thing at the wrong time made her super relatable, and the pressure she felt about her grades helped her seem like a real person. In another book, her obsession with her grades would have really annoyed me and I probably would have hated her, but she was a fully developed character and we got to see why she is the way she is. Doesn’t seem like she learned her lesson in the end though.
I was also half-expecting Alex to arrive and help save the day, so it was a pleasant surprise that Lily’s relationship with him sort of fell away by the third act and her friendship with Julie became more prominent, allowing Julie to become the hero. I kept waiting for Julie’s dead brother to become relevant, but it was a pretty unnecessary plot point. It could have just been an attempt to develop her character, since we didn’t really see her much until the end of the book, but there’s better ways to do that.
62 fantasies of murdering your asshole teacher out of 75!
