Charlie looks up and sees Whitney again, but this time she’s dressed in her own clothes, some purple dress, fancy leopard-skin boots. Did she change clothes in the 7-Eleven?
Whitney’s walking right past the car. Charlie doesn’t think she’s seen them but he can’t be sure. As she waits to cross Barton Skyway, the heart-shaped locket she always wears on her right wrist glints in the sun. She turns, then, and looks straight at him.
-2-
Xavier
THEIR MOMS ARE GETTINGbombed at his house, so Xavier texts his friends to meet at Frog Island. It’s their secret name for some deep water where, as toddlers, they found tiny tadpoles.
The first night of summer! Xavier feels fine despite his psycho sister’s attempts to poison him. He stops by ThunderCloud Subs, grabs a Texas Tuna and a lemonade, and walks along Barton Skyway to the secret turnoff. From Winifred, he makes his way to the unmarked greenbelt entrance. It takes about twenty minutes to reach Frog Island, and then the Cliffs, where his friends are already waiting for him. Bobcat is still in his uniform.
“You’re not supposed to wear your lifeguard uniform when you’re not at work,” says Xavier.
“Cannonball!” says Bobcat. He jumps, and Xavier watches him grab his knees midair, land in the water with a giant splash.
Charlie follows. “School’s out!” he cries. Xavier goes for it.
The water feels perfect. They shove each other, pushingheads underwater, swimming in circles and whooping. But then Xavier, floating on his back, sees a woman on the Cliffs. She’s wearing a yellow sundress and staring at them. “Hello?” he calls.
The other boys look up.
“Oh my God,” says Bobcat.
-3-
Bobcat
ROBERT WONDERS IF HEis dreaming when he sees Lucy on the Cliffs. He’d brought her here once, a few weeks before. Why is she here now? “Lucy?” he calls.
“You know her?” says Charlie.
And then she jumps, or falls. Her dress flutters around her as she goes down, and she hits the water hard. The boys are silent, waiting for her to emerge. Robert imagines her bells of laughter, how she held on to him as they made love right here, then searched for tadpoles.
Lucy does not rise.
“Where is she?” said Charlie.
“What the fuck is happening?” says Xavier.
“Seriously!” says Charlie. “Where is she?”
Robert dives under. His friends follow suit. It is Xavier who lifts her body after a few moments, but she seems unconscious. He propels her to the muddy bank, where they perform CPR. Lucy is unresponsive.
“Fuck!” says Charlie, rummaging through his clothes andall his crazy elbow pads and gear. “My phone doesn’t have reception!”
“Is she dead?” says Xavier. “Is she dead?”
“Lucy!” yells Robert, shot through with terror.
“We need to call 911!” says Charlie. “My phone doesn’t work! We need to call 911!”
“What’s wrong with her?” says Xavier. “Is she dead?”
“My dad’s going to send me away,” says Robert. “We have to say we don’t know her!”
“Wedon’tknow her,” says Xavier.
“Promise me,” says Robert. “We don’t know her. We just found her.”
