where they hung out. No sightings.
After al these weeks of trying unsuccessful y to avoid them, suddenly I couldn’t cross their paths to save my life.
Michael’s efforts were stymied as wel . While he had more luck making physical contact with the group’s minor members than I did—no surprise given that he was a cute senior guy—he couldn’t wrangle any relevant images from their minds. Whether the reason stemmed from their ignorance about the plan or the fact they weren’t thinking about it when Michael made contact, we didn’t know. But he loved to torment me a little with the description of romantic images of himself he extracted from some of their minds.
In desperation, I thought maybe I’d try the next-door neighbor gambit. I hoped beyond al hope that the friendlier version of Piper who appeared once we left school might be more amenable to my efforts. But, day after day, a solid opportunity eluded me.
One afternoon, while my mom was making cookies, I spotted my chance. Much to her astonishment, I offered to drop off a dozen at the Faireses as a “friendly” gesture. Both of Piper’s parents worked pretty long days—her mom was a secretary at the university and her dad was an associate professor of political science—and I guessed they’d stil be at work. I’d seen Piper’s car in the driveway, so I figured that I might have a few minutes alone with her.
I had no fixed game plan, but I had to try. Balancing the tinfoil-wrapped plate on my hip, I walked the short distance between our two houses. Then I lifted the ancient door knocker and let it bang down with a clang. As I’d hoped, within a few seconds, Piper opened the door.
Her mouth was wide in surprise at the sight of me on her doorstep. Since I came bearing gifts, she had no choice but to invite me in. As she held the door open for me, I grazed my finger against her forearm. Al I got was a faint image—as weak as milky tea—of her struggling over an English paper on Shakespeare. I must have interrupted her homework.
Piper ushered me into the kitchen, thanked me, and pointed to an open spot on the counter to lay the cookies. Her neighborly duty done, she pivoted and started to walk back toward the door. I was about to be discharged like a servant; apparently, friendly Piper was not going to make an appearance. Not readily, anyway.
I had to get her thinking about the plan and make contact. Fast.
“So, are you doing al right?” I asked, al concern and empathy.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Piper had a quizzical expression on her face, but it looked forced. She knew what I was talking about.
“You know, the bathroom.”
“Oh, that,” she said with a wave of her hand. “That was nothing, like I said.”
Here was my chance.
“Wel , if you ever need anyone to talk to . . .” I reached out and touched her shoulder.
I got a strong flash. The vision showed her and Missy in the school library, transfixed by Piper’s laptop. They were sitting so close, I could actual y smel the coffee on Missy’s breath. Looking through Piper’s eyes, I saw an open Facebook page.
Missy was barking orders at Piper. “Hurry up, Piper. I’ve got to meet Zeke at the Til in ten minutes.” The Til was a bar frequented primarily by university students, and had a pretty strict carding policy. How did Missy think she would get in there?
Piper typed furiously in response, but didn’t look up. Although, I could feel her heart race and her stomach churn at the mention of Zeke. Who was he? I couldn’t think of a single Til inghast teenager named Zeke. Maybe he was a University student.
As Piper typed, I looked closer at the screen; she and Missy were creating a new user profile. This struck me as odd given that both girls had been active on Facebook forever. Just as I tried to make out the user name, the image faded. I returned to Piper’s kitchen.
Piper shook off my hand. “El ie, I don’t need your help.” Then she marched off to the front door.
I fol owed in her wake with a private smile. I didn’t care if she dismissed me, because I final y had something to go on.
Chapter Twenty-one
I was wrong. The more Michael and I mul ed over the flash I’d gotten from Piper, the less excited we became. On closer analysis, the flash didn’t real y shed much light on the scheme—beyond the Facebook element—or the intended victim. On balance, we were left with more questions than answers.
Even though I hated to admit it, we were both getting a little frustrated and burned-out from our little investigation. So when Michael suggested—
in the nicest way possible—that we leave off our “research” for the week before the fal dance, I told him I’d seriously consider it. After he mentioned I was looking worn-out, I agreed to take a break; I wanted to look good for the dance, as he wel knew. But I found it hard to put the whole thing out of my mind.
I tried to let the dance distract me. Once Ruth final y forgave me for buying my dress without her—after I pointed out that it left me more time to dedicate to her search—we spent hours at the mal . She tried on gowns in every shade imaginable—from black to pale green to lavender to chocolate brown—and final y settled on a pale pink dress that looked surprisingly perfect with her reddish hair. The big hurdle over, she then turned her attention to the smal er details like our hair, makeup, shoes, and even nails, not that she thought of these finer points as minor. We pored over countless magazines and visited every Til inghast makeup counter and shoe store until we found the perfect accessories. Happily, I let her sweep me up in al things dance, relishing feeling like a normal teenager for a change.
We made plans to have everyone meet at my house just before the dance. Everyone included not just me, Ruth, Michael, and Jamie, but the parents as wel . Ruth didn’t feel comfortable having Jamie pick her up at her house with just her dad around. And anyway, Ruth’s dad and my parents were close. Once my parents and Ruth’s dad were going to be on the scene, we felt like we had to include the guys’ parents too. I never thought the guys would actual y ask them. But surprisingly, they did.
Friday night before the dance everything was in place. I had my dress, shoes, purse, and makeup lined up and
