Leo Estrada: Not my biggest fan right now, but will probably turn around. (crossing fingers)
Ace Rogers: Doesn’t hate me at the moment as far as I know, but will not like me very much when I completely ghost him. Oh, well.
I didn’t notice Brianna behind me when I stepped into class. “Nice stuffie,” she smirked. “What are you? Like five years old.” She laughed and so did Jessica and Maddie, her two sidekicks. They were usually glued to her. Brianna was the queen and they were her lowly servants.
When I turned around, she was staring daggers at me.
Yep, she still wants me dead.
“Well, if you must know,” I began, hoping the tremble in my voice and the blush on my cheeks weren’t noticeable. “It’s a thing I have with my little sister. And it’s none of your business.”
I sat down and didn’t look at them again.
“Welcome back,” Mrs. Renault cheered. “I hope you’ve all had yourselves a great weekend.” With a loud slam, she propped open the gigantic Social Studies textbook we all had to carry around. A lot of the class material was digital, and we used our tablets often, but we still had quite a few textbooks.
“Open your textbooks to page ninety-six,” she ordered. “Last week we delved into--”
Philippe’s cheerful voice came on the intercom.
“Hello students of RAMS. Happy Monday. We request the presence of the following students at the front office.... Brianna Williams, Leo Estrada…”
The sound of Leo’s name made my heart skip a beat.
“Kendra Smith, Annabelle Jenkins, and Ace Rogers. Please make your way to the front office immediately.”
It had taken me a second or two to process the announcement. Brianna was already on her way out the door. I didn’t think I was in trouble -- I knew this had something to do with Haley’s case. I was excited, but as I gathered my things, I told myself not to expect too much. Expectations usually led to disappointment.
When I got there, everyone was already sitting in the waiting room, with the exception of Ace, always so fashionably late. Brianna scowled at me, and Kendra smiled. Leo didn’t even look at me, and it broke my heart. I thought we were past this. We’d had that whole amazing conversation. I chalked it up to MMM (Monday morning moodiness).
Simone peeped out of her office and checked her watch. “I see that Mr. Rogers is late again.” She scowled. “Please come in.”
Just as we settled in the half-circle of chairs across her desk, Ace finally graced us with his presence. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“Sit down, Mr. Rogers,” Simone commanded -- she didn’t seem to be in the best of moods.
Ace sat next to me. I didn’t look up or smile, or say hi. I’d vowed to never look him in the eye ever again. Was it possible to carry on an academic relationship with someone without ever looking at their faces?
“I’ve called you all in because I wanted to keep you updated on Haley’s case.” She fiddled with a fancy silver pen. My eyes were drawn to the glass paperweight on her desk; a crystal ball with a rainbow swirl of colors.
“Following this weekend’s events, and Anna’s latest discovery,” she went on, “the police were able to identify the mysterious redhead.” She opened a folder.
My chest swelled.Don’t get too excited yet.We might still have a ways to go. We might be on the wrong track. Haley might be…No, she was alive and well. I could feel it in my bones.
“She was identified as Natalie Foster,” Simone continued. “Twenty-seven years old. Single. Lives at 33 Bentley Street in Farmington Hills. It would appear that she and Mason Henderson met at a leisure baseball league run by the city.” She looked up from her notes. “Special thanks to Miss Jenkins and Mr. Estrada. Excellent work.”
I smiled shyly and looked over at Leo who shot me a sweet quiet smile. The small gesture tugged at my heart.Can’t you see? We make a great team, I longed to say.
“You’ve all done an excellent job,” she went on. “I have a good feeling about this.”
I was feeling pretty good when the other shoe dropped.
“Unfortunately, although the detectives were able to identify her, they weren’t able to locate Miss Foster.”
My heart sank like a heavy stone.
“Miss Foster could not be found at her home,” Simone carried on. “She still lives in her parent’s home, nor could she be found at her place of work, a hair salon nearby. She was scheduled to work on the day following Haley’s disappearance, and she never showed up. She apparently told her parents that she was spending the weekend with an old friend in Detroit. Her parents didn’t think anything of it. Yet, when they contacted said friend, she told the detectives that she hadn’t been in touch with Natalie for months. The police are considering her their prime suspect at this point, because of these facts, and her relation to Mr. Henderson.”
“Wow,” Kendra whispered.
