And recognize us instantly.Fuck.
“It’s Principal Unger.” Grace fumbled for Isa’s and my hands. “Run!”
Chapter 27
James
I was buzzing by the time I made it to Rittenhouse Square. That iced vanilla latte had breathed new life into me. How many shots of espresso had my barista said were in a venti? Two? Four? Everything was so electric.
This, friends, was why I didn’t drink coffee. I didn’t like the taste, and caffeine alsoreallyaffected me. If I had a soda with dinner, forget about it—I would be up all night bouncing off the walls and listening to music so loud that Grace would barge into my room and scold me like a child. I admit, sometimes it was fun provoking her. “I have a huge presentation tomorrow!” she’d say. “Shut it down and sleep!”
Admission to the festival was free, so when I walked through its entrance…wow, what a sight. The streets were lined with all types of vendors, and the road was filled with more peoplethan I could count. I suddenly wished I were here to genuinelyenjoymyself, not to track down my diabolical sister and her two friends.
Although I couldn’t resist buying some cotton candy. Because sugar was obviously what I needed right now.
Caffeine and sugar, what a trip.
I tore off a hunk and stuffed it into my mouth as I opened Find My Friends on my phone.The jig is up,I thought when I saw the three dots on the map, and from there, I kicked off a game of Hot or Cold.
Right now I was cold. Grace, Isa, and Everett were much farther down the road, having wandered deep into the street fair. Various booths tried to invite me to check out their wares, but I shook my head, only looking up from my phone to make sure I wasn’t about to collide with anyone.
Or to rip off another piece of cotton candy.
Soon, I was getting warmer, warmer,warmer.My heart rate quickened, and I stopped in my tracks for a second.I’m going to get them,I realized.I’m actually going to get them.
And how was I going to say “gotcha?” I hadn’t totally figured that out yet. There was neither the time nor resources for a parade float appearance…
I blinked away my brainstorm when someone tapped insistently on my shoulder.
Unger!was my first thought.Unger and her high-maintenance macchiato!
My stomach scrambled, but when I turned around, a brunette woman stood behind me. She was older than my mom,but much younger than my grandmother? I don’t know, I’m not good with ages. Let’s just use the broad “middle-aged” category.
And she was also holding a microphone, with a small camera crew surrounding her. “Hello, sweetie,” she said, which was so not cool. Only Mom (and Mrs.Adler) called me that. “I’m Sloan Peterson, from Channel Six.”
Well, the mic and cameras made sense. Channel 6 was the Philly area’s local news station, and their meteorologist was a legend: Cameron “Hurricane” Frye. He always wore a bow tie during broadcasts.
“I’m James,” I said, and held up my spun sugar. “From the cotton candy cart.”
Sloan smiled and looked at her crew. “He’s perfect.”
He’s perfect.
Oh.
Oh, no. She wanted to—
“It’ll only take a few minutes,” Sloan said when I started to protest. “I’m just going to ask you a few questions about the festival. What brought you here, how you’re enjoying it, and so on and so forth.” She tilted her head and smiled. “Okay?”
I sighed. It didn’t look like I was getting out of this, even though the voice in my head wasscreamingat me to bolt. What if someone at home was watching and called my parents? Mrs.Adler, for starters. Abigail was home sick. What else was she supposed to do? “Okay.” I nodded, reluctantly agreeing. “Sure thing.” I glanced around for a trash can to ditch my cotton candy.
“No, keep it,” Sloan said. “You’re absolutely adorable.”
I smirked to myself. Isa would not have appreciated that comment, and definitely wouldn’t want this woman smoothing my hair.Stop it!I could almost hear her saying.Just let me do it!
Then she’d magically produce a comb from her purse or something. She and Grace carried the smallest bags yet somehow had everything and anything on the planet stuffed insidethem.
I was deemed “camera ready” a few minutes later; then someone positioned me next to Sloan. “Five, four, three,two…”
