I Was Told It Would Get Easier(79)

After dinner we all went for a walk along the river, through Riverbank State Park. Chloe was beside me.

I said, “Do you realize how awesome it is, growing up in Manhattan? Living in a brownstone next to the park, going to museums and galleries and being so cool it’s almost against the laws of thermodynamics?”

She laughed. Chloe always makes me feel like a more interesting person than I am. That reminds me of Will, because he does that, too. They bring out the smart in me, I guess. In the same way people like Alice bring out the dumb and my mom brings out the . . . I don’t know. The confused.

Chloe replied, “I do appreciate it, but at the same time it’s what you’re used to. I think it must be great growing up in LA, seeing movie stars everywhere and beautiful weather and great food.” We paused and let the adults get ahead of us. Chloe leaned on the railing and surveyed the river, the enormous George Washington Bridge to our right. “What do you want to do about college? Why don’t you come here? I’m 100 percent confident you could live with us once you’re done with dorms.”

I sighed. “Everyone’s obsessed with college.”

She nodded. “I know. I promise you it isn’t as vital as people think. I mean, it’s great, I’m really enjoying it, but once you’re there, it’s as good and bad as anything else.” She turned her back to the view and leaned on the railing. “You should definitely go, though, it’s fun.”

“So everyone says.” I shrugged. “I’m not good at school. I try, I do okay, but it’s such a slog.”

“Do something else. Go to art school, or cooking school, or some other thing. Learn what you want to learn.” The adults had turned the corner ahead and disappeared. “What are you going to do about Will?”

“Nothing,” I said sadly. “There’s nothing to be done.” My phone buzzed. “Oh my god, it’s actually him.”

Chloe laughed. “He could feel a disturbance in the force. What’s he saying?”

I gazed at my screen in horror, then reached out to grab Chloe’s arm.

“Alice has disappeared.”



* * *



? ? ?

Will and Casper met us outside Lincoln Center, near the hotel. They were polite to Chloe, but they were clearly concerned.

“What happened?” I asked.

Casper shrugged. “She and her mom had that huge fight on the bus, right? I saw her mom with her bags getting into a cab outside the hotel, before dinner, then Alice texted me she wasn’t going to come to dinner after all.”

I shrugged. “I’m sure she has loads of friends here. She comes here quite a bit, I think.”

Casper nodded. “She said that. But after dinner she and Will and I were going to get together to talk about something, but she never showed up.”

I frowned. What on earth could Alice have to discuss with Casper and Will? Will was pretty cool, but Casper was the kind of kid Alice made fun of. I decided to let that question pass for now.

I took a big breath. “I have to tell you guys something, but you must promise not to tell anyone else.”

They nodded.

“When I met with the FBI, they said someone on the tour was going to pick up AP papers to take back to LA.”

They stared at me.

“You know,” I added, “in order to cheat . . .”

They kept staring at me.

“And maybe Alice . . .”

Will spoke. “Went to get the papers and got arrested by the FBI?”

I shrugged.

Casper shook his head firmly. “Alice wouldn’t cheat. She was furious with her mom, that’s what they were fighting about. She said she’d rather fail on her own than succeed with her parents’ help.” He paused. “It was a whole different side of her.” He blushed. “She was amazing.”

My turn to stare. I flicked a glance at Will, but he wasn’t giving anything away.

“Well,” said Chloe, “we still need to find her. I assume you tried texting?”

Casper nodded.

“Did you check her social media?”

Casper frowned. “No.”

I rolled my eyes. “Dude, she posts everything.”

“Even criminal conspiracy?” Will was scornful. “Hey, bitches, check me out, getting arrested by the po-po?”

Casper whooped. “Wait, she added to her story an hour ago.” He turned his phone to face us. There was Alice, briefly, then a swinging pan around to a giant stone lion, then back to Alice.

“Public library,” said Chloe. She checked her watch. “They’ve been closed for hours, though.”

“Wait, she just posted this.” Casper was literally jumping up and down. “It’s that clock thing, that round clock thing. She’s there right now.”

“Grand Central,” I said, surprising myself. They looked at me and I shrugged. “I watch movies.”

“It’s in movies?”

“Casper,” I said, “the main hall at Grand Central has been in so many movies.”

“Name one.”

“Why are we talking about this?” asked Will. “Shouldn’t we be heading to Midtown?”

“Come on,” said Chloe, “the subway’s right here.”