“There you are!” Drew moved past me into the apartment, shoving a giant bottle of Diet Coke into my hands along with a bag of Doritos. “You haven’t answered any of my texts. You left me with no choice but to show up here. At least I brought snacks.”
My heart was still beating madly. I’d been half certain the detectives had come for me when I heard the pounding on the door, but it was just Drew babbling about how the school was buzzing with the news of Paige.
“A bunch of people are organizing a candlelight vigil tonight out at the park for Paige’s safe return.” Drew plopped onto my sofa. I moved my books so she had more space. “Do you want to go?”
The last thing I was going to do was provide the media with a photo op of me standing around praying for Paige. “I don’t think I’m up for it,” I mumbled.
Drew reached over and grabbed the bag of chips back from me and opened them. “How did your meeting with the police go?”
“Fine.”
Drew folded one leg underneath her, settling in. “Seems the least they could do is tell you what’s going on.”
I wanted her to leave. I needed to think. I waved off the open bag of chips. The smell of nacho cheese made my stomach roll. “Sorry I didn’t answer your messages; the entire day has been exhausting.”
She ignored my subtle hint. Her foot nudged my leg. “It’ll be okay.”
“Maybe.” I lowered my voice. “I think the police suspect I had something to do with it.”
Drew’s face wrinkled up. “Why would they think that?”
“Because of the stuff I’ve known.” And because they would be right. I needed to talk to Paige, but whatever she was doing, she certainly wasn’t answering the phone. I’d called roughly a million times. My eyes fell onto my bag on the floor. I willed the phone inside to ring, but it was silent.
“Hey.”
I looked up.
Drew smiled. “I can see the wheels in your brain turning. I’m guessing you’re already picturing yourself in prison.”
“I would look like shit in an orange jumpsuit.”
She laughed like I was joking. “They can’t put you in jail when you haven’t done anything. All you did was give a prediction. If anything, you’ve been helpful.” Drew tossed another chip into her mouth, which was already full of carrot-colored mush. “You need to look at the bright side.”
“There is no bright side.”
“You’re getting tons of attention; everybody wants you to do a reading for them now. Seriously, everybody.”
“Attention is the last thing I want,” I said.
“I know you hate feeling hassled, so I started a list of people who want you to read their cards,” Drew said. “I told them not to bug you. The only way they get on the list is by talking to me.” She pointed at her chest with her thumb and then leaned in. “Guess who is on there?”
“I have no idea.”
“Ben Adler.” Drew leaned back and smiled. “Only the very person you’ve had a crush on since eighth grade.”
“It wasn’t a crush,” I insisted. “I just thought he was nice and, you know, kinda cute.”
“Earth to Skye—” Drew thumped the side of her head. “That’s the definition of a crush. Get this: he wants you to come to his house to give him a reading. Apparently his dog died a couple years ago, and he wants to know if you can put him in touch with her.”
The idea of pretending to send messages over the Rainbow Bridge to Ben’s long-lost Lab filled my stomach with a fresh dose of acid. “I don’t know if I can.”
“I told him a home reading was going to be sixty bucks.”
I was so shocked I knocked over my water, sending a puddle all over the coffee table. I yanked the magazines out of the way before they got soaked. “Sixty dollars?”
“You’re going over to his house—?that’s pretty good service. A reading at school is only thirty.”
“I’ve never charged more than ten,” I said. There were times when I did it just for free beer at a party. Even my mom only charged forty, and she was the professional. I’d never imagined being able to make that kind of money.
Drew passed me a wad of Kleenex to blot up the water. “Way too low. Especially with all that’s going on.”
“I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Why? With me to organize things, we can make some serious cash in the next few weeks.” She held her hand out for me to high-five.
“It has nothing to do with you,” I pointed out. “You wouldn’t even care if it wasn’t Paige.”
Drew stiffened. “Is that what this is about? What’s your issue with her?”
“My issue is that you won’t admit you have a thing for her.”
“I don’t have a thing. So I like her, what’s the big deal?”
“She’s not a nice person.”
“You don’t like anyone in that crowd.” Drew shook her head. “And if you don’t like Paige, why are you trying to help her now?”
I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying anything I shouldn’t. I didn’t even know why I was fighting with Drew. “I don’t know why I even said that.”
“I don’t either,” Drew fired back.
A ring blared from my bag. I was about to ignore it when I realized it was the burner phone. I jumped up, fishing for it madly amongst all the other crap I was carrying around. “I have to take this,” I babbled to Drew, then jabbed the button just before it cut off.
“Hey, can you talk?” Paige’s voice seemed incredibly loud.
My heart rabbited into overdrive when I heard her voice. “Hang on.” I stepped closer to the kitchen, away from Drew.
“I can call later if now’s a bad time,” Paige said.
“Don’t you dare fucking hang up,” I whispered into the phone.
“Language, language,” she said.
“Sure, Mr. Lester,” I said loud enough for Drew to hear me. “Just a minute.” I put the phone down on the counter and took a deep calming breath, before ducking back into the living room. “Listen, I have to talk to Mr. Lester. He got some information from the police.”
Drew’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You want me to leave?”
“It needs to be private because of the investigation—?it’s, uh, still active.”
Drew stared at me, then grabbed her bag. “You can just say you don’t want me here. You know I would never say anything. You don’t have to lie.”
“Drew—”
“Whatever. See you tomorrow.” The door shut behind her.
I wanted to go after her, but I didn’t have time. I’d make it up to her once all of this was over. I ran back to the kitchen and picked up the phone, praying she was still there.
“Hellooo,” she sang out.
My limbs felt loose with relief at finally hearing from her. I scurried back to my room and shut the door. I hunched over my phone. “This isn’t a joke,” I said. “Where the hell are you?”
“Look, I called to say I’m sorry—”
“Sorry?” I cut her off. “You realize I sent the cops on this wild goose chase, right?” I had so much built-up energy I felt as if I could have run up and down a thousand steps without breaking a sweat.
“It wasn’t exactly a bust; they know I was kept there. Have you seen the diary pages?”
I clenched my fist.
“Listen, Paige—”
“Pluto! Seriously, how freaking hard is it to remember one single name?”