get
out of the way for her. “Sorry about my little brother,” she said,
in a melodious voice.
Her friend, on my other side, added, “He’s
like a puppy that just won’t grow out of being a puppy.” She had an
accent I couldn’t quite place - French, maybe?
“ He sees new people and he
just has to latch onto them,” said the Model.
Aren’t you the one latched
onto my arm? I thought, but I’d never say
that. Beautiful people never talked to me. They certainly never
fought for my attention. This was arguably the most bizarre day of
my life.
“ Mac is your brother?” I
asked. I suppose I could see the resemblance. The wavy blonde hair.
Something about the nose.
“ Too late to deny it,” she
sighed dramatically. “I’m Hayley, by the way. Hayley Dupree. This
is Amity Clairmont,” she introduced her friend on my other side.
“You certainly made an impression on Tailor. Are you
acquainted?”
I was having trouble paying attention
simultaneously to the conversation and the stairs we were
descending. Tripping would be very bad. “Um, no, I’ve never seen
him before.”
“ That’s interesting,” she
said. “I missed your name when you came in. Julia, was
it?”
“ Jul,” I said.
“Graham.”
“ Graham,” she lit on the
name, like she’d been waiting for me to say it. “You aren’t related
to Bea Graham, are you?”
I couldn’t shake the feeling this exchange
had been rehearsed. “Um, yes. She’s my grandmother.”
“ That’s right, I think I
heard you might be moving down here,” she said. “Is it true your
father was kidnapped? That’s so horrible, it doesn’t seem like
something that would happen in real life.”
The air around us had gotten cooler as we
exited the stairwell. This had to be the basement level. Though the
hall was just as long as it was upstairs, there were only a handful
of doors. The classrooms here had to be quite large. Hayley and
Amity led me down the hall. A couple of other students trickled in
behind us.
“ It’s um...I don’t...the
police are still investigating, and...”
“ Hmm,” she said, in
disappointment. “There’s been so much gossip flying around and I
wanted to know the real story. I’ve known old Ms. Graham my whole
life, but she’s a pretty private lady, you know. I mean she lives
just down the road, but the only person she’ll talk to is Mac when
he cuts her grass, or if you go to the library. And honestly, who
uses libraries anymore?”
I went to the library constantly. Most days
it felt like the only place that was real.
“ Well, here it is,” she
said, finally releasing my arm and opening a door labeled
B-2.
Inside, a woman in a white lab coat with
long, frizzy red hair tied back in a braid hunched over a table of
experiment materials, carefully dosing them out. A cabinet of
ingredients stood open at the back of the room. She looked up at
our arrival, and nearly dropped the beaker she was holding.
Yet another adult shocked by the sight of
me.
“ Kyra?” she
gasped.
“ Um, Jul,” I said. “Jul
Graham?”
With a nervous laugh, she put a hand to her
chest. “Oh! Oh, yes, of course! I should have known, I’m sorry.
They did tell me you were coming. You must hear it all the time,
but you look exactly like your mother. It’s uncanny.”
I blinked. My... “I didn’t know that,” I
murmured.
No one mentioned my mother.
No one ever mentioned my mother. Dad went into a rage if you even got
close to the topic...
“ I went to high school with
her. Simon and John too,” Ms. Miller explained, in a pronounced
southern accent. “The last time I saw her, she was about your age,
so, you can imagine it’s a little like seeing a ghost. I see the
difference now, though. Something about the eyes. And you’re
taller, I guess. Hayley, would you be a dear and pass out these
instructions?” She handed her a stack of papers.
Hayley’s immediate reaction was disdain, but
she forced her face into an acquiescing smile. “Sure
out of the way for her. “Sorry about my little brother,” she said,
in a melodious voice.
Her friend, on my other side, added, “He’s
like a puppy that just won’t grow out of being a puppy.” She had an
accent I couldn’t quite place - French, maybe?
“ He sees new people and he
just has to latch onto them,” said the Model.
Aren’t you the one latched
onto my arm? I thought, but I’d never say
that. Beautiful people never talked to me. They certainly never
fought for my attention. This was arguably the most bizarre day of
my life.
“ Mac is your brother?” I
asked. I suppose I could see the resemblance. The wavy blonde hair.
Something about the nose.
“ Too late to deny it,” she
sighed dramatically. “I’m Hayley, by the way. Hayley Dupree. This
is Amity Clairmont,” she introduced her friend on my other side.
“You certainly made an impression on Tailor. Are you
acquainted?”
I was having trouble paying attention
simultaneously to the conversation and the stairs we were
descending. Tripping would be very bad. “Um, no, I’ve never seen
him before.”
“ That’s interesting,” she
said. “I missed your name when you came in. Julia, was
it?”
“ Jul,” I said.
“Graham.”
“ Graham,” she lit on the
name, like she’d been waiting for me to say it. “You aren’t related
to Bea Graham, are you?”
I couldn’t shake the feeling this exchange
had been rehearsed. “Um, yes. She’s my grandmother.”
“ That’s right, I think I
heard you might be moving down here,” she said. “Is it true your
father was kidnapped? That’s so horrible, it doesn’t seem like
something that would happen in real life.”
The air around us had gotten cooler as we
exited the stairwell. This had to be the basement level. Though the
hall was just as long as it was upstairs, there were only a handful
of doors. The classrooms here had to be quite large. Hayley and
Amity led me down the hall. A couple of other students trickled in
behind us.
“ It’s um...I don’t...the
police are still investigating, and...”
“ Hmm,” she said, in
disappointment. “There’s been so much gossip flying around and I
wanted to know the real story. I’ve known old Ms. Graham my whole
life, but she’s a pretty private lady, you know. I mean she lives
just down the road, but the only person she’ll talk to is Mac when
he cuts her grass, or if you go to the library. And honestly, who
uses libraries anymore?”
I went to the library constantly. Most days
it felt like the only place that was real.
“ Well, here it is,” she
said, finally releasing my arm and opening a door labeled
B-2.
Inside, a woman in a white lab coat with
long, frizzy red hair tied back in a braid hunched over a table of
experiment materials, carefully dosing them out. A cabinet of
ingredients stood open at the back of the room. She looked up at
our arrival, and nearly dropped the beaker she was holding.
Yet another adult shocked by the sight of
me.
“ Kyra?” she
gasped.
“ Um, Jul,” I said. “Jul
Graham?”
With a nervous laugh, she put a hand to her
chest. “Oh! Oh, yes, of course! I should have known, I’m sorry.
They did tell me you were coming. You must hear it all the time,
but you look exactly like your mother. It’s uncanny.”
I blinked. My... “I didn’t know that,” I
murmured.
No one mentioned my mother.
No one ever mentioned my mother. Dad went into a rage if you even got
close to the topic...
“ I went to high school with
her. Simon and John too,” Ms. Miller explained, in a pronounced
southern accent. “The last time I saw her, she was about your age,
so, you can imagine it’s a little like seeing a ghost. I see the
difference now, though. Something about the eyes. And you’re
taller, I guess. Hayley, would you be a dear and pass out these
instructions?” She handed her a stack of papers.
Hayley’s immediate reaction was disdain, but
she forced her face into an acquiescing smile. “Sure
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