“Don’t you mean charcoaled, dear?” Denise cocked an eyebrow, shooting Bex a wicked smile. “You hungry?”
Bex couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten, but it was the last thing on her mind. She patted her stomach. “Actually, Chelsea and I just came from getting coffee. I’ve got a latte and a muffin sloshing around in here.” She turned and headed for the stairs before Denise or Michael could say anything. “Maybe in a little bit.”
She knew that Denise and Michael must have shared a slightly worried-looking glance. But they weren’t her parents. Bex jogged into her bedroom and slid her computer onto her lap, throwing on her headphones and bypassing the home-page images of pretty blonds and shallow graves as she went directly to Forums, searching for GAMECREATOR.
Hi, Dad. You OK?
It seemed like less than a second that her father typed back.
Good, just gathering some information.
She imagined her dad in some nondescript motel room, stretched out on some god-awful bedspread with pages and newspaper clippings all around him as he diligently pieced together the time line and clues that would prove his innocence. Then, she would appear in court with them and they’d have a father-daughter movie montage of tears and hugs when he was finally vindicated and Detective Schuster was led away in chains. People would send letters to their house apologizing for treating Bex so poorly or saying that they’d always believed in her father’s innocence. Maybe even Michael and Denise would be at the courthouse…
Bex felt a slight pinch of guilt when she thought about Michael and Denise downstairs cooking dinner without her, when she thought about leaving them to move back in with her father. But at the same time, she got a hollow-stomached feeling when she thought of sharing breakfast with her dad for the first time in ten years, seeing him across the breakfast table, making a life together. Just a regular dad and his regular daughter.
“Bex!” Michael’s call came from downstairs. “We got burgers and your buddies down here!”
Her fingers shot across the keyboard.
Friends are here, Dad. School project for lame Back to School Night on Friday! Talk to you later!
She waited for him to write her back. When he did—Have fun, xoxo Love, Dad—Bex could feel a big grin pushing up her cheeks.
“Well, isn’t someone bouncy?” Denise asked when Bex came downstairs.
“Dude, your dad makes some killer burgers!” Laney said, holding up a half-eaten one.
Bex felt her eyebrows ride up, and Denise nudged Michael. “I may have suggested a cooking tip or two.”
Chelsea dropped a handful of potato chips onto her burger patty and smashed the bun with the palm of her hand, the chips crunching underneath. She took a bite that bulged her cheeks.
“I have no idea how you eat like that and never gain an ounce,” Bex said, sliding into a chair.
“She’s super-active. Texting and running away from her mother,” Laney said.
Michael helped himself to a second burger while sliding one on Bex’s plate. “Why are you running away from your mother?” he asked Chelsea.
“Cell phone bill,” Chelsea with her mouth full. “She says I text too much.”
“It’s her new boyfriend.”
Bex sat up. “I didn’t know you have a new boyfriend.”
Chelsea pointed a chip at her. “You would have known if we ever saw you anymore. Even at school you’re, like, in la-la land.”
Denise and Michael exchanged a look, and Laney put her hands out. “But Bex is totally fixated on school, I promise.”
“You’re not giving away any secrets, Laney. Denise and I are both going to Back to School Night. We’ll be scrutinizing Bex’s teachers and learning about this la-la land of which you speak.”
“Well, spill, Chels. Who’s the new guy?” Bex clapped a hand to her forehead. “Ohmigosh, is it Brenden? You’ve been crushing hard on him since I met you.”
Chelsea looked disgusted. “It is not Brenden. He acts like a toddler.”
“I can’t think of anyone else I’ve seen you with at school lately.”
“He doesn’t go to KDH.”
Denise stood up, collecting Michael’s plate and then hers. “Come on, hon. Let’s give the girls a chance to talk.”
Michael looked wounded but stood up anyway. “Don’t we get to know about Chelsea’s new beau?”
“The fact that you used the term ‘beau’ should answer that question.” Denise looked over her shoulder, winking at Bex. “We’ll be upstairs. Make sure you get your project done, and, Bex, don’t stay up too late.”
Once Michael and Denise were safely out of earshot, Laney leaned forward. “Your parents are so cool.”
But Bex barely heard her, mentally calculating how long it would take to make the posters for Back to School Night, how long it would take before she could get back online to talk to her father. Maybe by now he had come up with more information about Schuster or a plan on how to catch him. Maybe he could even come to Back to School Night if…
“Bex!” Chelsea snapped her fingers. “You’re not even listening to me.”