“I’m not Canadian,” Marcy corrected him. “I’m just wearing this shirt to express my anti-patriotism.”

“You really are a charming girl, you know that, Marcy?” Alex said.

Marcy shrugged. “I do what I can.”

Since the park was filled with pretty much everybody in town, it had been buzzing with the sounds of talking and music. But somewhat abruptly, the area around the picnic tables seemed to grow quiet, as if everyone were speaking in hushed tones and whispers.

Harper looked around to see what had happened and instantly saw the reason for the silence. The crowd had parted, making way for Penn, Lexi, and Thea, who were heading straight for Harper and Gemma.

Penn wore a dress so low-cut her chest was all but popping out. When she stopped at the end of the picnic table, she put her hands on her hips and smiled down at them.

“How are you guys doing?” she asked, surveying the table.

“Great,” Luke said eagerly, oblivious to the tension that hung over them. “I’m, uh, I’m having a great time. You guys look great. I mean, you look like you’re having a great time.”

“Why, thank you.” Penn looked at him, licking her lips hungrily as she smiled.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Lexi added.

She reached over and tugged one of his curls, pulling it like a spring so it would bounce back. Luke looked down and giggled in way that was reminiscent of a schoolgirl.

“Is there something you want?” Gemma asked.

Harper noticed that when Penn’s dark eyes latched onto Gemma’s, her sister lifted her chin higher, as if defying her in her some way. Then Harper saw something that made her blood run cold—Penn’s eyes changed, shifting from near-black to an odd golden color, reminding Harper of a bird.

Her weird bird eyes stayed locked on Gemma, but Gemma’s expression didn’t change, as if she didn’t notice the startling shift in Penn’s eyes.

As suddenly as they changed, Penn’s eyes went back to their normal soulless color. Harper blinked and glanced around, but nobody else seemed to notice the change. They all just stared at Penn as if mesmerized, and Harper wondered if it’d just been her imagination.

“Nope.” Penn raised one of her shoulders, managing a seductive shrug. “I just wanted to stop and say hi. We don’t know many people here in town yet, and we’re always looking to make new friends.”

Thea didn’t look like she wanted to make new friends, though. She stood off to the side, a bit back from Penn and Lexi. She twirled her long red hair around her finger, and wouldn’t look at anyone at the table.

“You already have friends,” Harper said to Penn and nodded to Lexi and Thea.

“You can always have more, though, right?” Penn asked, and Lexi winked at Luke, making him giggle again. “And we could definitely use a friend like Gemma.”

Harper was about to ask Penn exactly what she meant by that, wondering what on earth they could possibly want with her little sister, but Marcy cut her off.

“Wait,” Marcy said through a mouthful of cheese curds. “Didn’t there used to be a fourth one?” She gulped down her food and stared up at them. “What did you guys do with her? Did you eat her? And then throw her up afterward, because obviously, you guys are bulimic.”

Penn shot her a glare so fierce it actually made Marcy cringe. She lowered her eyes and pulled her cheese curds closer to her, as if she thought that Penn might steal them from her.

“So have you guys been on the rides yet?” Harper asked, in an attempt to keep Penn from slaughtering Marcy. After that look, Harper thought it would be better if she kept the conversation banal instead of confronting Penn about her interest in Gemma.

Penn’s icy expression instantly melted, and her saccharine smile returned. Harper noticed that Penn’s teeth were unusually sharp. In fact, if Harper didn’t know better, she’d say that her incisors had actually grown and gotten more pointed than they had been a few seconds ago.

“No, we just got here,” Penn explained in her silky baby-talk. “We haven’t had a chance to check anything out yet.”

As she spoke, some of the unease Harper had been feeling when she noticed her smile vanished. Marcy even seemed to relax a bit and braved looking up at Penn again.

“I’d really love to win a teddy bear,” Lexi said, her voice going singsong as she spoke.

Both Alex and Luke looked at her, and Luke’s mouth fell open, like he was in awe.

Harper had her arms on the table in front of her, and she leaned forward. She couldn’t explain it, but she found herself hanging on her every word, as if Lexi were the most fascinating person she’d ever heard. Even the people around them seemed to move in closer, crowding around to get closer to Lexi.

“What do you think?” Lexi tilted her head and looked down at Luke. “Could you win me a teddy bear?”

“Yeah!” Luke shouted in excitement and got to his feet so quickly he nearly fell over the bench. “I mean, yes. I’d love to win you a bear.”

“Yay!” Lexi smiled and looped her arm through his.

People parted for them again as Lexi and Luke walked through the crowd toward the midway. Thea followed them, but Penn stayed behind, smiling down at the table. Alex stared after Lexi, watching until she disappeared in the crowd, and Gemma would’ve noticed, if she hadn’t been busy doing the same thing.

“Well, I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of the afternoon,” Penn said. It sounded as if Penn were speaking to everyone at the table, but she was only looking at Gemma. “I’ll see you around.”