Iris brought the photo close to her face. Her mouth made an O. “You know, that might be him. The boyfriend.”
Emily blinked hard. “You mean the one who came to the hospital all the time to see her? The one who she met at Keppler Creek when she got out?” Emily grabbed Iris’s wrist. “You have to tell me his name. Right now.”
Iris shook her head. “No can do.” She stood up and headed out of the room.
Emily pocketed the cell phone with Ali’s picture and followed her downstairs, out the back door, and onto the lawn. Iris was walking quickly, but Emily finally caught up with her on the sidewalk.
“Damn it, Iris!” Emily squealed. She gestured to the house. “I broke into a house with you! What’s next, murder? You’ve been stringing me along all week—just give me something real, okay? Is it too much to ask for this guy’s name?”
Iris stopped next to a tree stump. She lowered her eyes. “I can’t tell you his name . . . because I don’t know it.”
Emily felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. “What?”
Iris’s skin looked even paler in the sunlight. “I never knew it. I’m sorry. I wasn’t lying—Ali did have a guy who visited all the time. But she just called him Mr. Big . . . like Carrie in Sex and the City. I never knew his name. It was this big secret she kept from me. I was never allowed to hang out with him, either.” Her mouth tightened. “That’s why I’m not loyal to that bitch, you know. She kept things from me. It’s like I wasn’t worth knowing the truth.”
Emily wilted against a tree. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Iris kicked at a divot in the grass. “I thought it was the only way you’d keep driving me around, taking me wherever I want, letting me stay at your family’s house—the only way things could be normal for a little while. As soon as you found out I didn’t know anything, you would ship me right back to The Preserve.”
Emily blinked. She had no idea Iris was afraid of that. “So . . . wait. You like hanging out at my family’s house?”
“Uh, yeah,” Iris said, as if it was an obvious answer. “But whatever—it’s over now. You can leave me just like my mom did. Just like Tripp did. It’s cool—I’ll just go back to The Preserve now and rot there for another four years. You can go to prom. Get on with your life.”
She turned away. After a moment, her shoulders shook silently. Emily was so stunned that she couldn’t move. She knew she should be angry, but seeing Iris there, her spindly arms wrapped around herself as she sobbed, Emily couldn’t help but feel for her. She knew what it was like to be abandoned by her family, too. And to be ditched by someone she thought loved her. When Ali laughed at Emily in the tree house at the end of seventh grade, something inside Emily had died. Another piece of her had withered away when Real Ali tried to kill her in the Poconos.
She looked at Iris’s quivering form. Really, she and Emily weren’t that different. If Emily’s circumstances had been just a bit harsher, who was to say she wouldn’t have lied about information just to get someone to pay attention to her? In a strange way, it was almost flattering that Iris found Emily worthy of lying to, Emily’s life worth living. Another surprising thought struck her: If Iris had just asked Emily to hang out for a few days longer, even though she didn’t know Ali’s boyfriend’s name, Emily might have said yes.
She put a hand on Iris’s shoulder. “Iris, I’m not going to send you back to The Preserve before you’re ready. In fact, I think you should come to prom with me. As my date.”
Iris sniffed loudly and gave her an incredulous look. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious.” Emily’s voice rose. “I know prom isn’t on your list, but maybe it should be. Have you ever been to one?”
Iris tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Well, no, but . . .”
“A lot of guys go stag. We could find someone new for you to go out with. Someone much cooler than Tripp.”
Iris pinched a piece of skin on her arm. A bird chirped in the distance, and a car swished past on the road. Emily’s heart pounded hard. Please say yes, she willed silently. Both because she wanted to see Jordan’s surprise . . . and because she really thought it would do Iris some good to come.
Finally, Iris sighed. “Well, okay.”
“Yes!” Emily whooped, moving in to give Iris a hug. Iris was stiff for a moment, but then she hugged back. When they pulled away, Iris’s cheeks were shiny and pink.
Then Emily’s burner cell rang. She picked it up and said hello.
“Miss Fields?” said a brisk voice. “This is Jasmine Fuji. We met the other day?”
Emily opened her mouth, but only a small grunt came out. She stared at the phone as if it were on fire. “H-how did you know this number?”
“Your mother gave it to me. I called your house first.”