“Also Patrick said you were,” Laila said, pointing to him.
Patrick rounded his shoulders. “I said maybe. It was just a guess.”
“I’ve never been in foster care,” I said. “I have an older brother. And a mom and a dad.”
Priya’s expression was curious. Laila was trying to catch her eye, and she shook her head once, just barely, like she was trying to tell Priya to leave it.
Had they been talking about me? Why was Laila trying to make Priya stop asking questions? Had I given something away? Neither of them knew enough about my life to put all the pieces together, but maybe they suspected. Girls always knew things. It was part of the reason I stopped being friends with Adriana and the others.
“Noah, you better be telling the world that our whole team made it,” Edan said suddenly. “Do you want to interview me? I’ll tell them how awesome I was.”
“You already have a very loyal fan base.” Noah pressed a key on his laptop. “Let’s keep them hanging for a week.”
“You have a loyal fan base?” I asked.
“I do not appreciate that surprised tone.” Edan put both hands on his chest. “I’ll have you know that there’s an entire Tumblr dedicated to how cute I am.”
“No there’s not.”
“Yes there is,” Noah said, like he was trying to suppress a laugh. “And they’ve gotten excited in the last few days, because one of Edan’s ex-girlfriends posted something about how he was a great guy.”
“Are you sure it was actually his ex?” I asked.
“I also do not appreciate that skepticism,” Edan said. “I am delightful, and all my ex-girlfriends will confirm it. Except for that one who said she hoped someone pushed me in front of a train. She maybe wouldn’t have nice things to say.”
I snorted, and then thought of Madison. She certainly didn’t have nice things to say about her ex. It was normal, maybe.
“And there are several Tumblrs dedicated to how cute Noah is,” Edan continued.
Noah’s cheeks went red. “There are a bunch of fan sites for all of us. Clara, you have no online presence. Can you at least get on Instagram? Post some selfies. Make the people happy. There are a few people from your high school commenting on stuff, but who knows if they even really know you.”
I looked at him with a start. “What are they saying?”
“Nothing bad,” he said quickly. “Just that you mostly kept to yourself, you were good in combat class . . .” He trailed off.
“What?”
A short silence followed. My heart jumped into my throat. I couldn’t imagine what anyone at my school could possibly know about me. I barely spoke to anyone.
“Someone said you failed some classes,” Laila finally said. “Which is no big deal,” she quickly added. “Half of our team dropped out of high school.”
“Like me,” Archer said. Everyone in the back of the SUV turned to gawk at him. We did it every time he spoke, quietly waiting for him to say more. He just blinked and looked out the window.
“I dropped out sophomore year,” Edan said. He was facing the road again.
“Why?” Priya asked.
“I had better things to do.”
I clicked on the Tumblr app and searched for my own name. It was true—there were several Tumblrs dedicated to team seven. Lots of screenshots from Noah’s videos. Old photos of several members—Priya smiling at the camera with her cheer squad; Zoe doing duck face into the camera with some girls at the beach; Edan sitting on a stoop, both hands cupping his chin, a huge grin on his face.
The only pictures of me included a school portrait from ninth grade and a few shots from middle school. Those must have come from Adriana or one of her friends. We smiled outside a movie theater, waved at the camera from in front of a river.
Noah had caught me swinging a machete one day in practice, and someone had made a gif set out of it.
teamsevenfans
How to be a badass, featuring Clara Pratt.
kylorensuckssss
This girl is literally the most mysterious person on the planet. Are we sure she isn’t a spy? I wouldn’t put it past my government to send some spies.
beeboopaloop
Is she Latinx?
anniehatesyouallTX
She went to my school. She’s not a spy, she’s just quiet. I think she was super Christian or something.
hellyeahmonsterfighters
Swinging that machete for Jesus!
I barked out a laugh.
“What?” Priya asked.
“I’m not religious.”
“Oh yeah, I saw that one,” Noah said. “I was wondering.”
I glanced back down at the phone. According to Tumblr, I was a super Christian who failed her classes and/or a spy.
No one really knew who I was, which had once seemed like a good thing. Now it felt like the world was crafting a narrative for me. Like they had a story prepared if I didn’t tell it myself.
Priya looked at me expectantly.
“I’m not a spy,” I said with a smile.
Patrick laughed. “Thank god.”
“And I am Latinx. My mom is from Mexico. My dad is white and from Texas. And they’re both assholes, so I don’t keep in touch with them.”
On the other side of Priya, Archer nodded like he understood. I was pretty sure everyone knew less about Archer than they did about me. I had that going for me, at least.
“But your brother isn’t an asshole?” Priya asked.
I shook my head. “No, he’s all right.”
“Good.” She smiled.
Patrick took us out onto the highway, then to a two-lane with crops on either side. We drove for a long time, the sun sinking lower in the sky.
“Noah, are we supposed to turn at some point?” Patrick asked.
Noah looked up from his phone with a start. “Am I supposed to be navigating?”
“Yes!” Patrick said with a laugh.
“Oh. Well, um . . .” He unfolded the map and squinted at it. He flipped it every which way. “I can’t even tell which way is up.”
Laila leaned over to look
