Tagline: She was just dying to visit her boyfriend….
Back tagline: Nightmare Weekend
Summary: Nothing can ruin Tina Rivers’ big weekend at Patterson College with her boyfriend, Josh Martin. She’s so excited, she doesn’t even mind that her cousin, Holly, will be tagging along.
But when Tina and Holly arrive, Josh is gone. His roommate, Christopher Roberts, says Josh got stuck in the mountains, delayed by car trouble. That’s weird—Josh never mentioned he was going away.
It gets even weirder when Holly suddenly disappears. But Christopher isn’t worried—about Holly or Josh. Christopher seems to have the answer to everything. Tina is confused. But one thing is clear—she’s about to learn more about love and murder than she ever wanted to know.
First impressions: This blurb sounds pretty bland, but I hope I’m wrong and will be pleasantly surprised. To me, it almost sounds like there’s some sex trafficking going on at Patterson College, which would be pretty heavy for a Fear Street but then I remember what was going on in The Knife, so it’s not super farfetched. I wonder if the Holly here is Holly Silva, the titular star of What Holly Heard from two books later, one of my absolute favourite Fear Streets!
The cover is very boring and doesn’t excite me at all. My copy looks like it’s in practically perfect condition and doesn’t seem to have been read before, which makes me wonder if the previous owner thought it looked boring too. Is this foreshadowing a terrible book? Am I ignoring several red flags? Let’s find out!
Recap
Roll call:
Tina – Our heroine who’s looking forward to a spending a weekend with her boyfriend.
Holly – Tina’s third wheel cousin.
Josh – Tina’s boyfriend who’s seemingly ditched her for the weekend.
Christopher – Josh’s college roommate who may or may not have sinister motives.
Carla – Josh and Christopher’s friend who may or may not want Josh for herself.
The book begins with a prologue as heroine Tina Rivers is on the phone with her beau, Josh Martin, discussing her upcoming trip to visit him at Patterson College. Josh isn’t too happy that Tina’s cousin, Holly, is coming too, because they don’t really get along on account of Holly talking too much, ‘mainly about herself.’ [That sounds like Holly Silva!] Tina has no idea what Holly thinks of Josh because Holly would never say something bad about a boyfriend of Tina’s. [That doesn’t sound like Holly Silva] Anyway, the happy couple is very much looking forward to spending the weekend together, and apparently all Josh’s friends know about Tina, so he clearly likes her a lot. Josh promises to meet the girls at the train station, ‘”No problem,”‘ and the prologue ends with this foreboding passage:
No problem.
Strange how sometimes simple plans like Tina’s go wrong.
No problem.
Those were Josh’s words.
But he was wrong.
There were problems.
More problems than either of them could have imagined.
[Eerie weirdie! Thanks to Nerissa for introducing me to that phrase which will probably get used a lot hahaha] Jump forward to the train ride, and Tina and curly brown-haired Holly Phillips [Damn, it’s not gossip queen Holly Silva] are nearing the end of their five-hour train ride. Tina wishes her parent’s would let her travel alone, but her options were to bring Holly or not go, and there was no way Tina was gonna miss Spring Fling Weekend with Josh! She’s missed him a lot since they last saw each other three months ago, and he’s all she’s been able to think about. We also learn Tina aspires to be a model one day, and although we don’t get a description of her appearance, Tina confirms she already looks like a model. [And she’s very unique looking on the cover, so I can see it happening for her]
The train pulls into Patterson Station and a conductor warns the girls to be careful; they’re the only ones getting off here and the station is pretty deserted. Tina assures him her boyfriend is meeting them, but the platform is empty when they step off the train. The train had been delayed by an hour, so she wonders if Josh got tired and went somewhere for a coffee, which would be disappointing because if it was the other way around, she’d wait on the platform no matter how late he’d be because ‘I wouldn’t want to miss one minute of our time together.’ [Clingyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]
Holly, who is apparently very intuitive, hopes that Josh not being here isn’t a sign of things to come, which Tina rudely makes fun of her for. Holly changes the subject to how fun this weekend will be, staying out late with all the college boys, and Tina again can’t believe her parents made her bring this bad influencer with her. Raising her eyes to the night sky, Tina spots the first star of the night and wishes that this will be the best weekend of her life. [Oh, so Holly can’t be mildly psychic but wishing stars are real?]
The payphones aren’t working and there’s no-one at the ticket counter except a black cat that jumps out of them, another bad omen. Tina takes out her frustrations on superstitious Holly, [Omg fkn relax, Tina] then spots a shadow move outside the window at one end of the station. The girls scurry out there, thinking it’s Josh, but instead they’re onfronted by a dirty drunken man who demands money. Tina fumbles for her purse, ready to hand over the whole $50 her dad gave her for the weekend, [Roughly $100 in today’s economy] but the girls are saved by another random guy who orders the scary man to go away.
This new stranger has piercing green eyes and dark hair tied in a short ponytail, and checks Tina out before introducing himself as Chris Roberts, Josh’s roommate. Josh has mentioned Chris and his wealth before, but he never told Tina how handsome he was! [Well, straight men don’t tend to gush about how cute other men are, Tina] Chris explains that Josh went upstate yesterday on a geology camping trip with their friend Steve and they were supposed to be back today, but they had some car trouble and won’t be back until later tonight, after they get the transmission fixed. Chris was asked to come get them and apologises for being late, but Holly flirtily assures him he got here just in time, the horny gal.
Tina’s disappointed about less time with Josh and asks how Chris knew she was Tina, and while checking her out again, he playfully explains Josh has pictures of her all over their room and ‘”All the boys notice them.”‘ [I don’t like him already] Chris seems disappointed as he mentions that he thought Tina was coming alone [Seems kinda rapey] and because she doesn’t want ‘a cool guy like Chris’ [Tina, please, he seems like a wanker] to know she was forced to bring a companion, she lies that Holly wanted to check out the drama department. She finally remembers to introduce Holly, but Chris barely even glances her way so I don’t think she’ll be getting any action from him. [He seems very into Tina. Josh better watch his back]
The trio piles into Chris’ Jeep Cherokee and Tina realises he must be really rich because he has a car phone and an expensive CD player. [Aah, the ’90s] As they head back to campus, Holly enquires about the drama department and nightlife, rambling on about other colleges she’s visited, and Chris points out a little building where the college puts on plays sometimes before sliding in a CD, presumably to drown her out. He eyes Tina as he state’s how much he loves this CD, and she’s super surprised because she loves this CD too. No-one she knows has ever heard of Psycho Surfers, but here’s Chris with the CD! [Maybe the blurb has made me instantly suspicious of Chris, but I feel like the constant checking her out, comment on her appearance, disappointment about her not being alone and this convenient love of Psycho Surfers are huge red flags… Why is Chris so dodgy?!?!]
They drive past a nightclub, Club Cobalt, which Chris informs them is pretty popular but he doesn’t go there much anymore, and there’s a catch in his voice, making Tina wonder why he doesn’t go there. Holly thinks they need more clubs back home, but co-dependent Tina doesn’t see the point of going to clubs if Josh isn’t by her side. [Fkn hell, Tina]
Josh has mentioned to Chris that Tina wants to be a model, and he reveals his uncle is famed fashion photographer Rob Roberts, [I hope that’s a stage name] who’s promised to help Chris set up his own business after graduation. He offers to do some fashion shots of Tina while she’s here, but Tina doesn’t think there’ll be enough time because she wants to spend literally every minute with Josh.
Chris points out an awesome Mexican restaurant as they drive past, which is very convenient because Tina loves Mexican food, but apparently Josh doesn’t. [Chris is really trying to seem like Tina’s perfect match for some reason] They finally reach the dorm, and Tina’s once again dismayed because Josh hasn’t arrived yet. Chris explains they got permission for the girls to sleep here, while he and Josh will crash at Chris’ studio, and Tina makes him call the studio just in case Josh went there instead of coming to see her, despite knowing he wouldn’t do that. Of course, there’s no answer, and Chris leaves the girls to it, leaving the studio’s number behind for them.
Tina gazes around the room, noticing photography stuff on Chris’ side and lots of rocks and geology stuff on Josh’s side. There’s a stereo and TV, which she assumes is Chris’ because Josh could never afford it, and Ritchie Rich even has ‘a color Mac with CD-ROM and a laser printer.’ [🤑🤑🤑 ] Tina notices there’s no photos of her plastered around the room like Chris had said; their prom picture is perched on the dresser, but that’s it. She picks up the photo and fondly remembers how Josh had given her a corsage made of layers of green mica crystals, [Cute] and turns it over to read the message she’d written for him on the back, but weirdly, the inscription is gone!
There’s no time to dwell on it right now because someone’s pounding on the door. Tina hurries to open it, thinking it’s Josh, but instead it’s a girl with short dark hair who shrieks that she can’t believe it, then immediately apologises because she thought Tina was someone else, ‘”but your hair is much lighter.”‘ Tina asks who she means, but the girl says no-one and introduces herself as Carla Ryan, Steve’s girlfriend. Tina relaxes a little, having heard about Steve and Carla from Josh; Steve’s also a geology student, while Carla’s a journalism major who always exaggerates and makes an issue out of everything. [Mood]
Carla went to high school with Chris and Steve and assures the girls they’re great guys, then insists Tina should let Chris take some shots of her. She also can’t believe Josh went camping with Steve when he knew Tina was coming to visit, since they haven’t seen each other in months. [I feel like Chris and Carla are telling Tina exactly what she wants to hear because there’s some kind of ulterior motive] Tina silently agrees with her, because ‘surely his dumb rocks couldn’t be that important‘. [Wow, unsupportive…] Holly wants to know if Chris has a girlfriend, and Carla reveals he was nuts about his high school sweetheart, Judy, but she drowned last summer while sailing on Chris’ boat. [Ohhhh, Tina must look like Judy] They were really far out and Judy fell overboard when a storm suddenly came up, [Allegedly. I don’t trust any of these college people right now. Chris definitely killed her] and they had to search for her body for two days. [She doesn’t say if they found her body, though]
Steve has tried to set him up a few times, but Chris isn’t interested. Tina suggest that Holly go out with him, but Holly says he’s not her type, despite showing a lot of interest in my opinion. Carla plans on having a talk with Josh when he gets back because she doesn’t think he appreciates Tina. It’s as if she knows something that Tina doesn’t, and it makes our protagonist very uncomfortable. Chris returns because he forgot his chemistry notes [Is chemistry related to photography?] and convinces everyone to go to a party instead of sitting around, waiting for Josh to get back. Holly heads down the hall to get changed while Tina hangs some clothes up in the closet and spots Josh’s hiking boots on the floor; ‘if he’s on a hike looking for rocks, she wondered, why did he leave them behind?’ [No-one ever mentioned a hike, Tina, they said he’s on a camping trip. They are not the same thing. Why is she suspicious of this but nothing else?! Like, I doubt he’s on a camping trip anyway so it is suspicious, but so is all the other stuff she’s overlooked so far]
Holly returns and is eager to party, and Tina decides to leave a note for Josh in case he returns while they’re gone. True to form, exaggerating Carla tsk-tsks and says Josh doesn’t deserve Tina, because if she hadn’t seen her partner in three months she’d be right here waiting. [If Josh really is on a camping trip, he genuinely thought he’d be back in time to meet Tina. Why are you bitching about your friend to his girlfriend you don’t even know?]
The foursome heads out to Chris’ car, but Tina’s plan to sit in the back with Carla so Holly can sit up front and learn that Chris is her type is thwarted when Chris specifically requests Tina next to him. [What is his deal?!?! Is he obsessed with Tina because he looks like his dead girlfriend, so he’s trying to steal her from Josh? I need to know. Maybe this isn’t such a boring book after all] Tina rolls down the window and lets the breeze blow through her blonde hair, [So not orange like the girl on the cover] but is unable to shake her uneasy feeling and asks Chris about Josh’s hiking boots. It turns out Josh bought new ones with the money he’s earned for doing some work in the computer lab, [Allegedly… Am I overly suspicious? Maybe. Wouldn’t it be a great twist if there’s no evil agenda here and I’m just reading way too much into everything based on previous books?] and Tina lies that she’s aware of the job because she’s too embarrassed to admit Josh had never mentioned it.
Chris has a Spoiled Rotten CD playing this time, and again Tina can’t believe he knows the band. They bond over how it took them both ages to find the CD, but Chris is interrupted from learning about her other interests because Holly demands they turn the tunes down because ‘”This music is so gross!”‘ Chris just smiles at Tina, who thinks he’s is one of the coolest guys she’s met in a long time. [Cooler than Josh? Considering how obsessed she is, that’s basically cheating] They arrive at the party and find space by a wall to hang out. Tina suggests Chris dance with Holly, and he says ‘”Well, I don’t really—”‘ before being cut off by Carla, who conveniently spots the lead in the upcoming play and drags Holly over to introduce them. [Was he going to say he doesn’t really dance, or he doesn’t really have an interest in Holly?]
Tina steps back, not feeling right about standing so close to Chris and being at her first college party with Josh’s roommate instead of Josh, but the worst part is that she’s attracted to Chris. [Scandalous!] They start talking about Mexican food again and she suggests Chris come to Shadyside with Josh sometime, thinking it would be fun to show him around because he’s so easy to talk to and they have lots in common. [She’s falling for the trap! Is she really this naive? I guess she wouldn’t be expecting anything sinister to happen, so it does make sense] When asked if she’ll be coming here after high school, she sadly reveals she can’t afford to go away for school and will probably end up and Waynesbridge Junior College so she can live at home. That’s too bad, because there’s some great places around here Chris could show her, ‘”… I mean Josh could show you,”‘ [Nice save, Chris] and then a slow song comes on and he invites her to dance:
Tina rested her head on Chris’s shoulder as they moved back and forth.
“Your hair smells good,” he whispered into her ear.
Tine smiled and snuggled closer. She could feel his muscled under his shirt.
It felt good to be held. Even by the wrong guy.
[Tina, what the FUCK are you doing?!] The song finishes and Chris leads her out to the porch for some fresh air, where he puts her arm around her and tells her to make a wish. She looks up at the brightest star in the sky and wishes to be a famous model some day, and he suggests that maybe he can help it come true by taking some shots for his portfolio. And then I guess all thoughts of Josh are out of her mind because this happens:
Tina felt her heartbeat quicken. For a few seconds they stared at each other. Then Chris bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips.
Tina felt her body tingle. She wanted him to kiss her again.
He did.
Carla suddenly appears but says what she saw is no problem, and Tina asks herself how she could kiss Chris; she’s never even thought about cheating on Josh in the two years they’ve dated! Tina asks where Holly is because she wants to leave, but last saw her dancing with a local. Tina searches the house but has no luck until she hears a loud, piercing scream that she knows is her cousin. She heads out the front door just in time to see several motorbikes zoom off, with one of the riders holding a girl with curly brown hair. [Wait, is this sex trafficking? What the hell is going on?!] Tina chases after them but it’s no use, and instead reasons that it may have just been a girl with similar hair on the bike. [So who cares about her if you don’t know her, right?] She decides to find Chris because he’ll know what to do, but on her way back she finds one of Holly’s earrings on the sidewalk. [!!!!]
Tina bumps into Carla on the porch steps and tells her Holly’s in trouble, but Carla now insists Holly’s with a drama student named Alyssa Prior, who took Holly to see the drama building. [On a motorcycle, or was that a different girl? If it was a different girl, should we not alert someone that she was seemingly taken against her will?] Tina knows Alyssa from Shadyside and is relieved, but questions why they’d go to the drama building after midnight. Carla shrugs it off because the drama kids are weird, and suggests they find Chris and go home; Holly will be fine with the drama kids, and one of them will give her a ride. Tina just accepts this because she’s a bad friend [Seriously, I wouldn’t even leave my friend like this in this day and age, with smart phones and location sharing and all that stuff, let alone without the safety measures available now. Something weird is going on here and Tina is way too trusting of strangers] and takes the opportunity to ask Carla not to say anything to Josh about her kiss with Chris. Carla’s motto is ‘”if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with,”‘ and assures Tina that college isn’t like high school and everyone sees other people while in relationships, including her and Steve. Tina feels weird imagining Josh with another girl and again asks Carla not to say anything, and Carla tells her not to worry about it and just have fun – ‘”This is your big college weekend!”‘
Tina doesn’t feel like talking on the way home and grows angry as she thinks about everything; how could Holly go off without telling her? Why isn’t Josh here? Why is Carla so anxious for her to get with Chris? And why had she even kissed Chris? Arriving at the dorm, Carla leaps out of the car and scampers to her room while Tina thanks Chris for the ride. He insists on coming up with her so he can grab a few more things, and Tina becomes more worried when Josh still isn’t there waiting for her. Chris assures her they’re probably just driving slowly and invites her to the studio, but Tina isn’t interested and tells him to go on and check if Josh left a message on the answering machine there.
Chris stares into her eyes, clearly wanting to kiss her, but just smiles and heads off with a wave instead. He calls 10 minutes later claiming Josh had left a message on the machine here because the one at the dorm is broken; the garage couldn’t get the car part they need until tomorrow, so they won’t be back until about noon. Disappointed once again, Tina attempts to wait up for Holly, but falls asleep and wakes up a few hours later to a strange clicking noise – someone’s in the room with her!
She lays still, listening hard, but the sound has stopped so she leaps out of bed and flicks on the light to find the room empty but the door open. There’s no-one out in the hall either, so she returns to the room and locks the door, scolding herself for leaving it unlocked in the first place. [Maybe you didn’t and someone with a key unlocked it! Chris…….] Holly still isn’t back either, which is a worry. Tina takes a seat at Josh’s desk and finds his keys there, with a quartz keychain she gave him for Christmas. How could he drive upstate without his keys? Even if he didn’t drive, he wouldn’t go rock collecting without the quartz because he says it brings him good luck! She decides to stop being suspicious and goes back to bed.
Tina wakes up just after 10am to find Holly’s bed untouched. She dials information for Alyssa’s number, but there’s no listing under that name, so she calls Chris’ studio. Chris suggests Holly crashed with Alyssa and will be over soon. Tina mentions finding Josh’s keys, but Chris allegedly can’t hear her because a truck is driving past and a timer is going off, and then he hangs up. [Suspicioussssssssss] He rocks up shortly after with chocolate doughnuts, Tina’s favourite, [Tina, how are all these coincidences not red flags for you?] and she shows him Josh’s keys. Chris quickly answers that he’s sure Josh has a spare set and suggests the quartz was left behind so it wouldn’t get scratched. This makes sense to Tina [Really, Tina? For fuck’s sake], and they start walking to campus to look for Holly, with Tina making sure to keep her distance from Chris because she’s so attracted to him and can’t trust herself. [I can’t with this girl]
They pass fraternity row, and Chris reveals Josh is pledging one next semester, a surprise to Tina because they’d agreed fraternities and sororities are uncool. Of course, she doesn’t admit that, but lies that Josh had mentioned wanting to pledge when Chris asks if they haven’t been talking lately. There’s no sign of anyone in the drama department, so they try the cafeteria, where a girl tells them no drama students have been in this morning, but there was an all-night party nearby. Back outside, Chris goes to the bookstore to get Alyssa’s number from the student directory, and then Tina calls it from a payphone, but she gets the answering machine:
“This is Alyssa,” a tiny, high-pitched voice began. “I’m onstage right now and can’t take your call. Leave your name and I’ll—” The machine clicked off in midsentence.
Tina dropped the receiver. It dangled against her leg.
Something was wrong. Tina knew it now for sure.
The voice on the answering machine was not Alyssa Pryor’s!
Chris thinks Alyssa’s probably just goofing around with fake voices and accents, rehearsing for a part or something, [Or maybe it’s a different Alyssa entirely] and since it’s nearly noon, Tina wants to go back to the dorm to wait for Josh. Carla comes running up with news that Josh and Steve called called her after getting no answer at the dorm; the car was fixed but it broke down again, so she’s going to drive up there to collect them. Tina can’t come either, because it’s only a two-seater and one of the guys will have to cram down in the window well. [I have no idea what a window well is] At Tina’s suggestion, Chris agrees to let them take his Jeep, but opts to stay behind to wait for Holly to show up. Tina realises she shouldn’t leave until she knows her cousin is OK, so she instructs Carla to hurry and tell Josh she can’t wait to see him.
As Carla heads off, Tina comments to Chris that it seemed like she really didn’t want her to tag along, but Chris thinks she’s probably planning to visit another guy along the way; ‘”With Carla you never know.”‘ Tina wonders if Carla just wants alone time with Josh and sees things in a whole new light – is Carla pushing her towards Chris because she’s interested in Josh? Chris assures her Carla wouldn’t go after Josh right in front of Steve, but Tina insists Carla has been acting strange around her the whole time. Chris thinks Tina worries too much and, not wanting her weekend to be a complete disaster, he offers to rent a motorscooter and show her around, and maybe they can take some outdoor shots for her portfolio. [At this point I’d be pissed that he keeps pressing to photograph me. STFU Chris]
Tina agrees on the condition they keep calling the dorm to see if Holly returns, and 30 minutes later they’ve zoomed up to Lookout Point, which has a beautiful view of the town and the nearby mountains. Chris wants to get some shots of her here and pulls out some wire-rimmed glasses that he shyly explains he needs to focus. Tina isn’t complaining; he looks handsome in glasses! He begins snapping photos, watching her carefully, and Tina wonders if all photographers are this intense, ‘or is there something else happening between us?’ They shoot some pics at the library next then head to the Spring Fling Carnival in case Holly shows up there, since that’s where Tina was planning to be with Josh today.
At the carnival they run into Jack Hampton, who graduated from Shadyside High a year before Josh. He’s surprised to see Tina here with another guy, but she quickly explains the Josh situation. She introduces Jack to Chris, who only briefly shakes his hand before suggesting they head to the merry-go-round to snap some more photos, but Tina suspects he’s just jealous and tells him to wait because she hasn’t seen Jack for a while. She tells him they’re looking for her cousin Holly, who’s hanging around with Alyssa Pryor:
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Chris fidgeting with his camera.
“That’s weird,” Jack commented. “Alyssa doesn’t go here anymore. She transferred to an art school in Seattle.”
[I knew it! Ditch the strangers and stick with Jack from now on, Tina, they clearly can’t be trusted] Tina immediately realises someone is lying to her, and it must be Carla, but what’s she playing at? Jack assures her she’ll find Holly and wanders back to his friends, while Tina grows frantic and wants to call the police. Chris points out that Holly needs to be missing for 24 hours before they can file a missing persons report, so Tina wonders if she should call Holly’s parents instead. Even though she thinks Holly’s in danger, Tina opts against it because then her own parents would be called, and they’ll all come up to Patterson and her weekend away with Josh would be over before it began. [Not Tina prioritising her absent boyfriend when her cousin could be lying in a ditch somewhere lol]
Chris knows exactly what Tina needs – a frozen banana! [Hahahaha] They’re Tina’s favourite, but how does he seem to know all her favourite things? Is he a mind reader or something? [Tina, he’s obviously some kind of stalker. How are you not realising he’s the problem? Carla is still suss too, but Chris is the clear threat] So off they go to get their treat, and then they go on the Ferris wheel. They get stuck at the top and although she edges away when he moves closer, she kisses him back when he plants his lips on hers, unable to help herself. [To be fair, he really didn’t give her a choice]
Tina’s ashamed about enjoying his kisses and when they break apart, she notices the faraway look in Chris’ eyes. She comforts him as he explains he hasn’t been on a Ferris wheel since Judy and how he keeps seeing her face. [Because she looks like Tina?] Chris starts badmouthing Josh, saying he’s a fool for leaving like that, admitting he told Josh he wouldn’t go anywhere if he had a girlfriend like Tina. [And you were basing that purely on her looks, Chris? You hadn’t met before. He’s clearly trying to replace Judy with Tina]
Tina’s keen to get off the Ferris wheel by this point, and Chris starts getting aggressive when she avoids his kisses this time. He accuses her of playing games and being a tease and demands she admit that she has feelings for him. Tina carefully explains she likes Chris but has been with Josh for a long time, but Chris doesn’t like that answer and starts rocking the car back and forth, insisting he won’t stop until she kisses him and tells him how she actually feels. Luckily the Ferris wheel starts moving again and Chris stops being a dickhead, but unluckily they go around a few more times because the ride attendant wants to make up for the ride getting stuck. Chris is back to his calm, cheerful self and apologises for scaring Tina because he was only joking, and she realises Judy’s death must have really messed him up. As soon as they’re at the bottom of the ride again, Tina scrambles off, but Chris catches up to her and begs her not to be angry, explaining again how he hasn’t been to a carnival since Judy’s accident. Tina feels bad for him and suggests they go back to the dorm to check for Holly, silently deciding not to lead him on anymore and to act cold towards him from now on.
On the scooter, Chris heads towards his studio instead of the dorm so they can get some indoor shorts for Tina’s portfolio. Tina doesn’t want to, but gives in when he reminds her that he’ll be showing his uncle all the photos. This could be her only chance to be noticed by Rob Roberts, and she can just leave if Chris starts acting weird again. She wonders if she overreacted on the Ferris wheel, remembering how Josh and a friend, Jack Cooper, [Never heard of him] did something dumb like that at a carnival once too.
As they turn into a busy intersection, Tina spots Carla making out with a guy near a parked car and orders Chris to stop the scooter. They’re on a one way street so they have to circle back, but there’s no sign of Carla and Chris doesn’t believe Tina, pointing out a girl across the street who could easily be mistaken for her. Tina admits defeat is still 100% certain it really was Carla who she saw.
They continue on to a large apartment complex and into the basement, where Chris’ studio is behind a deadbolt and two locks. [To keep people out, or someone in?] Chris explains he’s just extra careful because he’s got a lot of expensive equipment inside, which makes sense but I still don’t trust him. Chris ducks off to the darkroom briefly while Tina looks around the studio. The walls are plastered with posters and photos of beautiful models, and Tina marvels at a photo of a girl sitting in the sand; it’s all black and white, except for the model’s red lips and nails and a blue shovel. Chris explains how he uses special pencils to get the effects he wants and brags that he could give Tina brown hair and green eyes. [Which are probably the colours of Judy’s hair and eyes] Tina notices a photo of a dark-haired girl with green eyes that looks just like her, besides those two things, [Yep, Judy] and then spots a photo of a sailboat. She asks if it’s Chris’ boat, and he looks faraway again as she scolds herself for reminding him of the accident.
After a lengthy silence where Tina hopes he won’t freak out again, Chris bitterly confirms it was his boat, then tells her to go in the bathroom to put some makeup on. Tina heads across the room, but isn’t sure which door is the bathroom; she knows the far door the darkroom, so her only options are two that are side by side. She reaches for the left door but is quickly screamed at by Chris not to open it, and after apologising he explains there’s a lot of chemicals in there that can’t be exposed to light. Tina heads through the remaining door as Chris calls out that she’ll need to use the light switch by the mirror, and as she makes her way through the darkness, her foot hits something hard. She kneels down to investigate and feels human hair – it’s a dead body!
Sike! It’s a mannequin named Mary that Chris uses to test the lighting for his photographs before shooting models. [And you keep her on the floor in your bathroom, Chris?] Chris assists Tina with putting her makeup on and instructs her to throw on the white crop top, red mini skirt and red heels in the closet. Tina can’t believe all the great outfits Chris has hanging up; it’s exactly the kind of stuff she’d buy from Dalby Department Stores if she could afford it. [Is Dalby’s high-end? Never realised that before]
Soon, Tina’s posing on the love seat as Chris is snapping photos, but soon she’s all sweaty under the studio lights. He powders her nose, which she finds creepy, and tells her she’s the best model he’s had in a long time. Tina loves her outfit so much that she asks to buy it off him, or to at least know where he got it so she can go buy it herself, but Chris goes quiet and gets that intense faraway look in his eyes before finally telling her they’re Judy’s clothes. Tina’s creeped out that she’s wearing a dead girl’s clothes and is eager to change into something else, but they’re all Judy’s clothes.
Chris orders her to sit down and pose again, and Tina tries to obey but it’s not working for Chris, so he dashes to the bathroom and returns with Mary’s dark wig for her to wear. [Omg, he’s making her look like Judy] Instead of taking pictures, he holds the camera to his eye and twists the lens in and out. Chris sits on the floor in front of Tina and scolds her for dying her hair blonde in the first place, [Get out of there, Tina!!] and then calls her Judy. Tina tries to remain calm and avoid his touch as Chris moves next to her on the love seat, but he drapes his arm around her:
“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. “You’re the one who wanted me to take these shots. Don’t I get anything in return?”
“Chris,” Tina pleaded. “Please—”
“How about a kiss, Judy?” he demanded, lowering his face to hers. “How about a kiss? It’s so nice to have you back.”
Tina pushes him away and jumps to her feet before calmly explaining she’s not Judy, she’s Josh’s girlfriend, Tina. His expression finally changes and he says that Tina looks just like her, and she tells him she shouldn’t have made her dress in Judy’s clothes or wear the wig. Tina’s keen to get changed and head back to the dorm, but Chris insists they take a few more shots. He starts getting that weird, dangerous look again when she resists, so she agrees as long as she can wear her own clothes. Chris has a better idea, pulling out an old-fashioned blue dress from the 1890s that belonged to his great-grandmother, and Tina’s relieved that she can wear something that isn’t Judy’s. [It still belonged to a dead person, though, which seemed to be her biggest issue]
Chris tells her to put on the bonnet from the prop table and paint her lips a deep red, then thanks her for letting him take all these photos before leaving the bathroom. Tina’s uneasy about the way he switches back and forth between the fun, easygoing Chris and the angry, creepy one, and puts on her normal clothes under the old dress so she can get out of here as soon as she can. She’ll have to play along until she can get away though, and must keep her cool. Unable to find a deep red lipstick on the countertop, Tina opens the top drawer and instead finds a photograph of her sleeping in the dorm last night. [Terrifying]
[I have to take back what I said about this book being unread, some dickhead has highlighted chapter 15 and the first sentence in blue 😡] Again she forces herself to remain calm and pockets the snapshot before exiting the bathroom, where Chris has set up a little beachy scene for her to pose in. Tina is weary because Judy died at the ocean and sure it’ll trigger him again, so she stalls him by asking for a drink. Apparently the fridge is in the darkroom, and as soon as he slips inside Tina scampers to the door and fumbles around with the 5076679 locks. She finally manages to make it out to the hallway, but finds herself trapped because the outer door is locked too, and she doesn’t have the key! She turns back toward the studio and bumps straight into Chris, who thinks she’s Judy again and demands to know where she’s going – ‘”Come back. I don’t want to have to kill you again!”‘ [Oop]
Tina’s confused because she thought Judy’s death was an accident [You’re an idiot, Tina] and starts panicking as Chris forces her back to the studio. He backs up her up against the prop table and spins her around, his arm around her neck as he tells ‘Judy’ not to fight it this time and laughs cruelly. Tina ends up biting his arm, which only gets her thrown to the ground and locked in the darkroom. She briefly considers staying here until Josh comes to find her [Tina, you’re killing me] but then scolds herself for that stupid idea. [Thank god] Chris is ranting on the other side of the door that he’s the boss this time, so Tina decides she needs a weapon. She finds the overhead light and clicks it on, bathing the room in red and making her wish she left it dark:
Squinting through the red light, Tina’s eyes swept over the walls.
Photos covered every inch.
Photos of her.
Large blowups of her eyes. Her lips.
Chris used the pictures I sent to Josh, Tina realized. Then he enlarged them and cropped them. She recognized bits and pieces of her life.
Her life. Her memories—on a crazy man’s walls.
All here. Every one of them.
The photo taken at Christmas, sitting on her snowy front porch. A shot of Tina riding Buttercup, the mare at her uncle’s farm in Georgia. One that Josh took of her in a bikini at his senior picnic at Fear Lake. And the prom picture.
Tina pulled it down and turned it over. The message she wrote to Josh covered the back. But Chris had changed Josh’s name to his own.
The creepiest photo of all is one at the train station as Tina struggled with the man who tried to rob her; Chris took it before coming to the rescue! She can’t believe she ever kissed him [I couldn’t believe it when it actually happened] and heads for a tall metal cabinet, hoping to find some kind of sharp object to unlock the darkroom door with. Instead she’s hit with a rancid smell, and a corpse tumbles to the floor when she opens the cabinet door. She forces herself to look at ‘what remained of the face,’ with it’s sunken eyes, ‘solid like egg whites.’ She recognises the black T-shirt the corpse is wearing; she bought it the day Josh got his acceptance at Patterson College. [Omg, wasn’t actually expecting Josh to be dead! Juts kidnapped and trapped somewhere!]
Josh’s face… his handsome face…
The skin had been eaten away, exposing his nose and cheekbones.
The skin on his forehead flapped loose. Tina saw tiny red veins along his hairline.
Most of his beautiful thick brown hair had been burned away.
Chemicals? Had Chris used chemicals to kill Josh?
No. She noticed a deep gash on the side of his head. Chris must have surprised Josh by throwing the chemicals in his face. Then Chris smashed him over the head.
A distraught Tina wonders if his last thoughts were of her and thinks about how much she loves him [I bet you’re really regretting making out with Chris now, huh?] before Chris comes in and lovingly pulls her to her feet. He’s almost ready to go, but doesn’t say where because ‘Judy’ already knows and he hates it when she plays dumb. Tina tries to reason with him once again, slowly backing away until she hits the developing chemicals. She grabs the closest tray and heaves the liquid into his face, but unfortunately for her it’s water and not whatever he threw on Josh. Instead of picking up one of the other trays and hurling it at him, she gives him enough time to cross the room and sweep the other trays to the floor. The liquid splashes into the air and a drop lands on her arm, making a tiny circle of skin sizzle and peel away – ‘Is this what Josh’s face felt like?’
Chris declares they’re going to be rich together and when Tina points out he’s already rich and has everything, he can’t believe she never realised that ‘”all I ever wanted was you, Judy.”‘ He starts to pull Tina out of the darkroom, but she tricks him into thinking Josh is moving. The distraction allows her to pick up a nearby tripod and whack him in the head twice, and Chris slumps to the floor. She stumbles out of the darkroom and stupidly doesn’t lock it behind her, and soon hears a faint thumping noise coming from the door that Chris screamed at her for nearly opening earlier. She opens it up and Holly tumbles out, her arms and legs tied up but thankfully alive:
“I was so scared. Chris kept yelling that I’d ruined his plans. He wanted you all to himself,” Holly sobbed. “He tied me up and left me in here. In the dark. I didn’t know how much time passed. I didn’t know what he planned to do. I—I thought he was going to leave me in here forever!”
As she untied Holly, Tina explains that Josh is dead and Chris thinks she’s Judy, but she’s pretty sure she killed him the tripod. Holly reveals that Chris had introduced her to a guy at the party and he’d taken her dancing, but when she returned to the dorm around 4am, Chris jumped out and whacked her over the head, then trapped her in the closet. Eager to leave, the girls move towards the door but footsteps alert them that Chris is alive! [Shoulda clobbered him a few more times, Tina]
He stumbles toward them from the darkroom holding a pair of long scissors, snipping them menacingly in the air. Carla suddenly bursts through the door with a tall blonde guy, Steve, [I wondered if we’d ever meet him!] and Tina’s relief that help is here quickly turns to horror when Chris demands to know what took them so long because ‘”They almost got away.”‘ [Oop] Tina asks Carla if she’s really been working with Chris this whole time, but Carla ignores her and comforts Chris instead. Steve offers to call a doctor, but Chris confirms he’s got everything under control now that they’re here. Carla continues to ignore Tina’s accosting, even after she wails that he killed Josh, but it’s all just a fake-out – Carla convinces Chris to let her take a snap of him and Judy, against Tina’s protests, of course, and yanks the scissors from his hand while he takes the camera off her to adjust the settings. Steve wraps his arms around Chris and drags him to the floor as Carla apologises to the girls, explaining she had no idea what Chris had been up to and was just pretending so she could save them.
Holly heads off to call the police as Carla and Steve explain their version of events; it turns out Chris told Carla that Josh had been dating another girl for months and was with her this weekend, and he’d needed her help to keep Tina from finding out about the other woman. Meanwhile, Steve had been camping in the mountains and set Carla straight when she explained the secret she was keeping for Josh; [It’s not made clear whether he did actually have car troubles and Carla had to go pick him up, or he returned on his own. Maybe it was really Carla at that parking lot earlier? But then what a lucky coincidence that another girl that looked just like her was nearby] Josh had been planning all week for Tina’s visit and hadn’t been seeing anyone else at all. Carla then panicked and realised Chris must have done something to Josh.
Tina informs them that Chris admitted to killing Judy too, and Steve regrets not figuring it out sooner, because Chris regularly went into deep depressions about Judy and wouldn’t even hear you if you were talking to him. On the floor, Chris looks up and Tina, who he still thinks she’s Judy, and insists he’ll develop her photos tomorrow and will make her so happy. Tina can’t bear it anymore and flees the studio, flinging herself down onto the grass outside. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, the book ends as she glances up at the darkening sky and spots the first star of the evening:
No wish tonight, she thought.
No wish at all.
Tina knew that no matter how hard she wished, she would never be able to erase this weekend from her memory.
[I’m surprised Josh is actually dead, how brutal. I was half expecting him to pop up in the last chapter and the corpse was just a mannequin with some SFX makeup on it]
Final thoughts
I had low expectations, but this was pretty good! Usually I want lots of death and destruction but the mystery here was pretty solid; of course, it was obvious Chris was up to something but it was interesting to see him grow more and more unhinged. His backstory with Judy was a bit too bare-boned for me; I want to know why he killed Judy. That aspect of the story feels unresolved, for me at least.
Speaking of Chris, I’m kind of confused about the whole Judy delusion thing… Clearly he was trying to replicate her with Tina, but I don’t really get the personality shifts. Even if we assume he was in one of his delusional episodes when he murdered Josh, likely because he was standing in the way of Chris and ‘Judy’ being together, his real personality had to have been aware of it. I guess his guilt over the murders manifested in the delusions and they got worse around Tina in person, but he still has to have normally been a super calculated and manipulative person because he lied about Josh’s whereabouts and pretended to be Tina’s perfect match so he could date a Judy lookalike. I don’t know, maybe it’s one of those things you just can’t think about it too much.
I don’t know how I feel about Tina, to be honest. She wasn’t unlikeable, but she was way too naive and made some fkn dumb choices, like getting romantically involved with Chris in the first place after harping on about how much she loves Josh so much before that. Excluding that, in her defence, she didn’t really have much choice but to trust complete strangers, but a smart gal would have ran as soon as he tried to tip her out of the Ferris wheel. It also sucks that Josh was murdered and there was no happy ending for him, but I guess the karma gods pre-emptively punished her for being a dirty little cheater. Poor Josh, he seemed so sweet and deserved better!
29 frozen bananas to cheer Tina up out of 43!
