decision, he acted immediately, and also because of his secret passion for speeding. Fortunately he also kept some highly illegal police-locating equipment in his car, which saved him from expensive tickets. I waved him down before he even came to a stop and jumped into the car.
Within a half hour, we’d found Alyce’s car, parked on a side street almost a mile from Green Briar.
Dustin leaned against the side of Alyce’s car as I pulled keys out of Monkey Bag. “Should I follow you back to Alyce’s house?” he asked. “Or are you off somewhere else?”
I hesitated, torn between the wants and the responsibilities of my assignment. I wanted to get started right away on finding a boyfriend for Alyce because I was sure this would solve her problems. But I couldn’t forget the list of locations and dates. I had a duty to follow through on her plans — and she’d planned to go to someplace called Liberty today.
When I explained this to Dustin, he — as usual — had a solution.
“Let’s go to my Headquarters,” he said. “I’ll do some checking on that list, find out if you’re right about those places being cemeteries. I don’t know of a city nearby named Liberty, but I think I’ve seen the name on a street sign or something. Then we’ll tackle the matchmaking issue.”
“Really think we can find someone great for Alyce?” I asked hopefully.
Dustin folded his skinny arms against his chest. “Do you want the truth?”
“Probably not, but you’ll give it to me anyway.”
“And you’ll ignore my advice.”
“Only the stupid stuff.”
“Stupid stuff would be a fitting topic for your matchmaking scheme.” He waved his hands expressively. “You may be inside Alyce’s body but you’re not thinking like her. If you set her up with some random guy, she’ll kill you.”
“But it’s not going to be a random guy. I’ll find the right guy.”
“Should I point out the serious flaws in your plan?”
I sighed as I leaned against the open door of Alyce’s car. “I’m not saying it’ll be easy. But I know this is the right thing to do. Love is the answer to Alyce’s crisis. She’ll never be lonely again if I can hook her up with TRG.”
“What if there is no Right Guy?”
“Pessimism is a hideous personality flaw and very unattractive,” I said, giving him a scolding shake of my head. “Don’t criticize unless you can offer a better plan.”
“How can I when I don’t know what’s going on with Alyce?”
“I told you — it’s all about love. Or lack of it. Maybe you should try it yourself, then you’d know all about love.”
“Oh, and you know it all?” He was mocking me but since I needed his help, I let it pass.
“Sure.”
“Ha!” He chuckled. “Okay, let’s say that Alyce wants a boyfriend. How do you propose to find one for her?”
I stared pointedly into his eyes. “I have this really brilliant friend who can find out anything with the click of a mouse.”
“He must be a loser if he doesn’t have anything better to do than play matchmaker for you.”
“Actually he’s a genius.”
“Never heard of the dude.”
I laughed, knowing from his half smile and the thoughtful twist of his lips that he was already mentally downloading ideas.
A short while later I was following him into his “Headquarters”—a bedroom without a bed, where power cords lurked like snakes, slithering on the floor beneath tables and desks covered with computer equipment. He got to work right away, tapping keys on a central computer.
“What are you typing?” I asked, leaning on the back of his russet-brown leather chair.
He shushed me, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
Coding terminology meant nothing to me, so I didn’t pay much attention until the name of my high school popped up with an official page demanding a password. Dustin stood up so abruptly I had to jump back so he didn’t knock me over. He shifted to a different computer, typed on the keyboard, murmured to himself, then returned to the main computer. The Halsey High site opened up to lists of names and financial data — which I was fairly sure were off-limits to students.
“Eureka! Now I just need to hit … ” His words trailed off as squares of colorful photos flooded the screen.
“What are those?” I asked.
“Yearbook pictures.”
Bending to look closely, I saw names and squared photographs. “These are really current! But the yearbook isn’t even finished yet.”
“That doesn’t mean the information isn’t available … if you know how to sneak through the back door.” Dustin grinned. “So we’ll match Alyce’s information with senior guys and find out if anyone is twisted enough for her.”
I smacked his shoulder. “Don’t talk about her like that. Just get to work.”
“I am. But I’ll need some data from you about Alyce.”
I looked at him, waiting for him to laugh at his lame attempt at a joke. But he didn’t even crack a smile. “You’re kidding, right?”
“About what?” He blinked.
“Asking me for info on Alyce when we’re all best friends and you know all about her.”
He swiveled his chair slightly, glancing away from me. Then he cleared his throat. “Actually … no.”
I gripped the edge of a scanning machine. “What do you mean,
“I’m not as close to Alyce as you seem to think. I hang out with you and Alyce hangs out with you, so we’re together a lot. But only because of you — you’re the nucleus of our friendship. When you were in the hospital, Alyce and I barely talked even when we were in the same room. We just don’t have much in common … except you.”
I could not believe what I was hearing.
“That’s how it’s always been,” Dustin went on. “You’re so sure everything is how you see it that sometimes you don’t see what’s really going on. I’m not saying I don’t like Alyce, because I do. I respect her individuality and she’s an amazing artist. Whenever I see one of her baskets, I’m like WOW! And you got to respect anyone with the guts to wear a monkey backpack to school.”
He laughed, but I didn’t. I’d had no idea he and Alyce weren’t tight. If I’d been wrong about my best friends, what else was I wrong about?
“So why aren’t you and Alyce best friends?”
“I’m not really sure. We just never have anything to say to each other. Alyce puts out a vibe, like barbed wire on a fence, warning everyone to back off and not get close.”
“No she doesn’t.”
“Not with you. But if you think about it, when the three of us are together, who’s the one usually doing the talking?”
Answering would be self-incriminating, so I pursed my lips and glared.
“I’m just saying … ” He shrugged.
“Saying that my best friend isn’t who I think she is.”
“Is anyone?” he asked philosophically. “Alyce is a cool person and I have her back if she needs anything, but I can’t joke around with her like I can with you. For a long time now I’ve suspected there’s something secretive going on with her. Maybe this is a chance to find out what it is.”
“Maybe,” I said thoughtfully, then gestured to his computer and said we should get back to work.
He seemed relieved to change the subject and for the next ten minutes, I answered as many questions as I could about Alyce. Things she loved, like black-and-white movies; her favorite color (purple); things she hated, like holidays (except Halloween), pink anything, girls who talked in baby voices, and poor dental hygiene. She scorned team sports and wasn’t involved in extracurricular activities except the Halsey Hospitality Club that I started our
