Dark squiggly lines curved and shaded until there was a picture of a school locker, a big dent on the bottom corner and the number
“That’s Alyce’s school locker,” I said.
“She left the notebook there?”
“Thanks,” I said not sure whether to be pleased or discouraged.
Getting into Alyce’s locker would be easy because I knew the combination, but it would not be so easy to get into the school over spring break. Security had been tightened a few years ago after repeated vandalism. Given the locked gates, high fences, surveillance cameras, and security guards, it was impossible to enter Halsey High.
Frustrated, I stared at the GEM even after the words vanished. So I couldn’t get the purple notebook — but I might not even need it. What if I’d jumped to the wrong conclusion? Maybe Alyce’s crisis had nothing to do with her trip to Green Briar. Temp Lifers only replaced people having emotional crises. The key to helping Alyce was figuring out why she’d needed a time-out from life.
So I asked the GEM, “What is Alyce’s crisis?”
An answer spiraled across the page in red flowery ink:
I stared until the word faded to pink, then vanished. But it lingered in my head, pushing away thoughts of a stolen file and graveyards. I thought back to my last conversation with Alyce. She was having a meltdown, depressed and frantic as she begged me to come see her. “I need to talk,” was all she’d say for explanation. I told her I was hundreds of miles away and asked her what was wrong, but she said she’d only explain in person. Her tone had challenged me to prove my friendship, to drop everything and come right away. And I’d failed her.
At first I wasn’t too worried because it was normal for her to periodically shut everyone out, saying she was taking a “mentalscape” (her combination of the words “mental” and “escape.”) Although sometimes I sensed a sadness in her that was beyond my reach … like last Father’s Day, when I invited her to come along with my family to a movie and she made a snarky comment about sappy movies making her barf. Or when the freshman boy I’d welcomed with a Halsey Hospitality basket asked me to the Valentine’s Dance, and no one asked her. The guy was too young for me even if I’d been interested, so I’d skipped the dance and invited Alyce to sleep over at my house. We’d had a great time, but I’d noticed whenever the topic of the dance came up, Alyce changed the subject.
During our last phone conversation, she’d been unusually stressed and sounded like she was crying — something she never did — as if her heart were breaking. If she had a boyfriend, this would make sense, but there wasn’t any guy, unless she had a secret crush that I didn’t—
A burst of music interrupted my thoughts.
Alyce’s phone.
Glancing at the caller ID, I almost burst into song myself.
“Eli!” I cried as I cradled the phone to my ear.
“Amber? Is it really you?”
“Yes. But I know I sound like Alyce.”
“You already told me … well, your grandmother did.” He sounded tired as he explained that he’d called “Amber” first and thought I’d answered, but the more he talked to me, the more he realized something was wrong. When he’d accused Grammy of being a Temp Lifer imposter, she’d been surprised enough to admit the truth.
“Ooh, Grammy is a rule breaker,” I said, smiling as I leaned back against black-laced pillows on Alyce’s bed. “I broke rules when I told you about my last TL assignment and didn’t want to do it again. Grammy did it for me this time, bless her.”
Eli laughed — a sound so nice and wonderful.
“So what’s it like being Alyce?” he asked.
“Weird.”
“Weird freaky or weird interesting?”
“Both. She’s taller than me and her hair is so long that I sit on it if I don’t remember to push it back. And living with Mrs. Perfetti is even weirder.” I told him about having to cook dinner, which made him laugh again.
“At least no one died of food poisoning,” he joked.
“Your confidence in me is underwhelming.”
“I’m just being honest — a trait I appreciate more than ever now that I’m living in the land of the fake and the famous.”
“Already tired of being a big Hollywood star?”
“I’m not a star.” His chuckle sounded tired. “This isn’t
“But you’re doing really well and might win. How cool is that?”
“It’s okay.” He said this casually, but underneath I could tell he was proud. “But if you need me, I’ll ditch it all and come home right now.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted, warmed by his offer. “You stay there and have fun singing. If you win, I can be your entertainment agent.”
“You’d be great at it, but I’m not superstar material. This isn’t the career I imagined,” he admitted. “I’m more the guy who works in accounting or engineering, not the one standing on a stage with girls screaming my name like I was a rock star. Can you believe this little girl no older than ten pulled off my shoe?”
I laughed. “I hope your sock was clean.”
“You could try being a little sympathetic.”
“I could, but it wouldn’t be as fun.”
“This isn’t all fun, you know. My schedule is insane with almost no time for sleeping. It’s hard, too, being here without any friends or family.”
“Isn’t your sister still there?”
“Sharayah offered to stay but I knew she’d have more fun spending the rest of spring break with her friends, so I told her to go.”
Just the other day I’d
“My competitors are great and we get along fine,” Eli added. “Still, it’s not the same as when you were here. I miss you, Amber.”
“I feel the same way. It’s hard being in the wrong body without the people I care about.”
“I know what you mean. The loneliest place is when I’m in a crowd of strangers and I’d rather just be with you.”
I warmed deliciously from head to polished black toe nails. “I’d rather be with you, too. I don’t know why I volunteered to be a Temp Lifer.”
“Because you care about people. You really helped my sister and you’ll help Alyce, too.”
“I want to, but I don’t know what’s going on with Alyce. She’s been doing some odd stuff.”
“Considering she drapes herself in black and photographs gravestones, being odd is her normal. And I don’t mean that in a bad way,” he added quickly, as if worried I’d misunderstand. “I respect anyone who does their own thing and doesn’t care what anyone thinks.”
“But maybe she does care,” I pointed out. “I keep thinking how upset she was the last time we talked. I hate myself for brushing her off.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. You had things going on, too, but now you’re helping out. Alyce couldn’t have a better friend. I should go.” Eli yawned. “They have me in a room with three other guys and they’ll be back soon. We have a photo shoot on the beach at six a.m. I have to pose like I’m surfing even though I’ve never surfed. It’s going to be another crazy day.”
“The perils of fame,” I said teasingly. “When will you be home?”
“If I get eliminated in the next round, I’ll be at school on Monday.”
I pressed my lips tight so I wouldn’t confess how I secretly hoped he’d be eliminated. I shouldn’t be so selfish. “I hope you win,” I told him.
