by Cj Omololu
Officer Lawrence smiles. “Well, if you don’t mind, can we see some ID?”
“No problem, Officer,” she says. “I think our bags are in the family room. We’ll go get them.”
Detective Naito takes a step forward, and I can feel the mood shift. What was a friendly exchange has just become a little more serious. “Why don’t we have just one of you go?”
“Okay.” Ava seems unfazed. “Lex, can you bring my wallet too? It’s in the Juicy bag.”
I rush back down the hall, wishing we’d just told the truth. I fumble around in Ava’s bag and find her gold wallet right away, grab mine, and run back to the front door. Ava is chatting with the cops, who are still standing on the porch, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was enjoying herself. I wonder what other career choices Alicia made while I was gone.
“Here,” I say, handing her the wallet. My hand is visibly shaking.
Ava doesn’t look nervous at all. She opens her wallet and flashes her license at them.
“Do you mind taking it out of the wallet?” Detective Naito asks.
“Not at all,” she says, and takes it out to show it to him. It says “Ava Rios.”
“Thanks,” he says, and she shoves it back into her wallet. “And yours?” he says to me.
As I hold my wallet, I suddenly realize that Alicia’s license is sitting right in the little plastic window. I didn’t take it out when I got home last night. “Right,” I say, struggling to pull my real license from behind it.
“That’s okay,” he says, putting a hand out. “You can leave it in there.”
“No,” I say, tugging even harder until my license finally pulls free. “I’ve got it.” I’m sure the detective must notice me close the wallet quickly, but he just glances at the name and my photo and then hands it back. “Thank you, ladies.” Detective Naito leans forward and hands me a card. “Will you please have Alicia call me as soon as you get in touch with her? It’s important.”
“Can’t you just tell us what you want to talk to her about?” Ava asks. “Then we can give her a message.”
“I’m sorry. I can only talk to Alicia.” He taps the card. “But it’s important, so please let her know we came by.”
“We will,” Ava says, waving.
I can’t get the door closed fast enough. I lean against it and stare at the little card with a tiny police shield and the name of the detective on it. “Why the hell did you start that in the first place? It would have taken two seconds to clear up the whole Alicia mistake.”
She looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Because they had the license,” she says. “Someone must have known that Casey was out with Alicia, and they found her in the system. I don’t need to get busted for getting a fake ID.”
“So you’d rather be taken in on suspicion of murder?”
“Oh, come on,” she says. “Who said we had anything to do with Casey’s murder? I’m sure they’re just tracking his acquaintances, trying to find out where he’s been, stuff like that.”
I try to hand the card to Ava, but she puts her hands up. “Nuh-uh. You’ve got the ID. I don’t want anything to do with this.”
“Wait a second.” I look closer at the ID. “I thought you said you got this from a guy on the Internet.”
“Yeah. So?”
“But it’s not real, right?”
“Of course not. I gave the guy a photo and paid him a hundred and seventy-five bucks.”
I wave Alicia’s license in her face. It does look real, even to me. “If this is fake, then how did the cops get it on their computer? It shouldn’t be in the system anywhere.”
“How the hell should I know?” she says a little defensively. “They’ve got everything on their computers these days.”
“Something’s wrong.…”
“Jeez, Lex. Let it go.” Ava puts one hand on my shoulder. “Look, I’m sure it’s no big deal. Stop worrying. It’ll all blow over. I doubt they’ll be back.”
I put the cop’s card into my pocket. “Right,” I say, knowing that, like a killer showing up at a funeral, these things rarely, if ever, blow over on CSI.
The drums are so loud, I can feel them through the soles of my boots, and I’m sweating so much that drops of water roll down my back. The music cascades into a wave that washes over all of us up in the front, arms pulsing, bodies writhing, and up onstage Eli is controlling it all.
My eyes are closed as I let the beat move through me, but I can feel the heat and vibrations of the crowd as they press toward the front of the stage, some people singing, others jumping and pumping fists in the air as the guys ram their instruments harder and faster, building to a crescendo that suddenly drops off a cliff to a momentary silence, before the deafening applause and whistles fill the small club. I’m so glad I caved and agreed to see Eli again. This is just what I needed tonight. An escape. From Stanford pressures. From the cops. From Ava.
The bass player plucks the intro to the next song, and many people in the crowd whistle in anticipation. Eli stands at the front of the band, looking back at the drummer, his guitar slack in front of him, one hand on the microphone, waiting for his turn to join in. His skin is glistening with effort, and I can see the glint of euphoria as he turns back to the crowd, momentarily locking eyes with me and flashing a quick smile. There’s always a hum of energy around him, like something special could happen at any second, but now I can see how truly alive he is when he’s up onstage, orchestrating the emotions of hundreds of people at the same time. He licks his lips and leans toward the microphone, and I realize that I’m standing completely still in the middle of the pulsing bodies, the desire I feel for him at this very moment threatening to overwhelm me.
I feel a hand on my arm and turn to hear a girl shouting into my ear. “I’m going for a drink. You want to come?” For a second I can’t remember her name, but then it comes to me in a rush—Linzey, the drummer’s girlfriend.
I glance back at Eli, wanting nothing more than to stand here and marvel at the change that’s come over him, but I’m not so far gone that I don’t recognize an opportunity when I see one. “Sure,” I say, taking one last look at Eli as I turn away. She and the other band girlfriends were nice enough when I met them before the show, but there’s a general wariness that hangs over all of them, and I’m guessing I’m not the first girl he’s brought to a club. As she grabs my hand to lead me through the crowd toward the bar, I wonder what’s suddenly changed to make her actually want to talk to me. We push through and get two tight spots against the wooden counter, and she pulls out a few crumpled bills from the pocket of her jeans and tries to straighten them out on top of the bar.
“I hate carrying a bag,” she says with an apologetic shrug.
I reach into the tiny purse with the long strap that Ava loaned me and fish out my wallet. “Let me get this,” I say, meeting her peace offering with one of my own.
“Thanks,” she says, shoving the bills back into her pocket.
I hold the bill in my hand like I’ve seen other people do, not so high up that it looks like I’m waving it in the bartender’s face, but high enough so that she can’t miss it.
“They sound good tonight,” Linzey offers tentatively, turning around to put her elbows on the bar and get a better look at the band.
I glance back, keeping one eye on the bartender. “Yeah, they do.” I hesitate. I can’t tell one song from another yet, but Ava said she’d seen Eli’s band a few times. “This is my favorite song.”
Linzey nods in time to the music. “Yeah, Eli really got this one right. I love the line about feeling like you’re holding part of his soul in your hand.”
I smile, because that is my favorite part too. I’ve tried to hold back, give myself a dose of reality whenever I can, but watching him onstage gives me a sense of longing that actually makes my chest ache. Can Alicia have a relationship? Can she have one if I don’t tell Ava? The thought of never seeing Eli again makes me miss him already, but how could I possibly tell
him now that I’m really Lexi? He’d never forgive me for lying to him, and besides, he’d never like the real me. I glance back at the stage. If I want to keep seeing Eli, I have to keep being Alicia.
The bartender finally catches my eye and walks over, rubbing the bar casually with a wet rag. “What can I get you ladies?”
I pull myself up to my full height. Alicia would definitely go for it. “I’ll have a Corona,” I say. I turn to Linzey. “You want one too?”
The bartender shakes her bright red hair and grins. “Nice try.”
“I lost my ID.” I give her what I hope is a sincere smile but am afraid I just look terrified.
“Look, that didn’t work last night, and it’s not going to work tonight.”
“I wasn’t here last night.”
“Don’t give me that crap. I have a memory for faces. You stood right here and tried to give me some story about losing your ID.”
My mind races, trying to remember where Ava said she was last night. Why is she being so secretive all of a sudden? “Fine,” I say with a shrug. “Can’t kill me for trying.”
“So a Coke for you.” The bartender turns to Linzey. “I’m assuming your ID has also mysteriously disappeared?”
“I’ll have a Diet Coke,” she says, not even bothering.
Diet Coke. Damn. That’s what Alicia would get—I totally forgot. I look at the bartender, but changing my order now would look weird.
Linzey grins at me as the bartender turns to get our drinks. “You had to give it a shot.”
“Yeah.”
“Weird that she thought you were here last night.”
I try to play it off. “It happens sometimes. My sister looks a lot like me.”
“Oh,” she says vaguely. Eli must not have said anything about us being triplets. We watch the band for a few minutes before she speaks again.
“Did you hear that Melissa got them some gigs up in Seattle next week? I’m going to try to drive up with some of the other girls. Are you going?”
My heart sinks as I realize that Eli hasn’t mentioned it at all. Not like I could go, with school and all, but it might be nice to be asked. I’m trying to come up with an intelligent answer, when a dark-haired girl walks up and punches Linzey in the arm. “Where the hell did you run off to? I go to pee, and you vanish.”
Linzey shrugs. “I was thirsty, so sue me.”
The girl glances at me and then turns completely toward Linzey so that I’m staring at the heart tattoo on the back of her left shoulder. I haven’t totally figured her out yet. She seems to have some kind of relationship with Danny the bass player, but I saw him with his arm around another girl backstage, so I’m guessing it’s not exclusive. She leans down and whispers something to Linzey that I can’t hear, and the two of them burst into laughter. The bartender comes back with our drinks, so I slip her some money and push Linzey’s drink toward her on the bar.
The dark-haired girl grabs Linzey’s hand and pulls her back toward the stage, but as she goes, Linzey smiles at me and raises her glass. “Thanks for the drink. Don’t mind Rebecca. She’s the girl Eli wrote the song about last year, and she’s a little bitter about it.”
Rebecca. So this is the jealous ex that Eli was talking about. As if she can hear me, she turns and glares in my direction, planting herself right in front of Eli and mouthing all the words as he sings, staking her claim. She’s been around a lot longer than I have, and she’s not letting go that easily. I watch Eli sing the last chorus, lifting one arm behind him as he pours all his energy into the song. Rebecca and Linzey are swallowed up by the hands waving in front of the stage.
I glance around the crowded club and feel a sense of satisfaction. Regardless of what Rebecca thinks, Alicia belongs in a place like this. She totally fits in with the makeup and the leather boots and the people who are just out to have a good time.
An hour later, the lights are on and the disgusting reality of a club after closing is revealed. One of the bartenders sweeps the grungy floor as the guys pack up their instruments onstage. Linzey and some other girls are sitting in a clump in one of the fake leather booths, waiting for the guys to be done. I don’t see Rebecca anywhere, and I wonder if she’s actually giving up. Eli’s finished first, jumps down off the stage, and crosses toward where I’m sitting on a barstool trying to stay out of the way.
“Hey!” he says, his eyes still shining with excitement. “I’m glad you came.” He puts his hand on my arm for just a split second, but that’s all it takes. A small group of girls who have been hanging by the back door turn away at this possessive gesture, and I smile. Eli’s taken, all right. At least for tonight. He reaches behind me for the glass that contains mostly brown-tinted melted ice. “Can I have the rest of this?”
“Of course,” I say, enjoying his assumption that we share glasses now.
Melissa comes over and hands Eli a small white envelope. She’s the band manager and is the only one in the group legally allowed to drink. “Here’s your cut.”
“Thanks,” Eli says, shoving the envelope into his back pocket. He glances at the clock up on the wall above the bar. “Do you have to go home soon?” he asks me.
“No,” I say. No school tomorrow because of spring break—not like Alicia would care. I almost tell him I don’t have to be home at all, but I tuck that information into my back pocket like my own small white envelope, ready to pull it out if I need it later. When Cecilia’s not working, she spends her days and nights at her sister’s house, and her cousin Francesca comes to stay with us if Dad’s gone. Unlike Cecilia, who stays up and waits for us even when she pretends she’s not, Francesca is a deep sleeper, so as long as we’re home by daybreak, it’s fine. Information that is usually only useful for Ava. I smile up at him. “I’ve got time tonight.”
“Excellent,” he says, flashing me a smile.
Melissa’s girlfriend, Amy, walks up and gives her a big kiss on the back of her neck. She’s as tall and blond as Melissa is tiny and dark, but somehow they suit each other perfectly. Melissa turns and kisses her squarely on the mouth, and for a second I’m jealous—of their closeness, of the ease they have together and the permission they have to kiss each other in public. I can feel Eli standing so close to me, and I wonder if he’ll ever kiss me like that.
“It’s still like a million degrees out there,” Amy complains. “And the AC in the van is broken.”
“Let me go give out the rest of the money and I’ll meet you outside,” Melissa answers.
Everyone drags themselves toward the open back door, where the air is only a few degrees cooler than it is inside. It’s one of those stagnant inland nights with no breeze, and for a moment I wish I could invite everyone back to my house for a midnight pool party. “So, what now?” Amy asks. “Denny’s in Carlsbad? At least it’ll be cooler by the beach.”
“How about WaterRidge?” Linzey tosses out, one hand tucked into Adam’s back pocket.
Amy whirls around. “Oooh, yes! We haven’t done that for ages.” Nods and murmurs go through the group, and it seems like the decision is made.
“I don’t feel like WaterRidge,” Rebecca says, walking up and grabbing Danny’s arm possessively.
“Then don’t come,” Amy says, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
“Come on. What else are you going to do?” Linzey asks.
Rebecca glares at Eli and me standing so close together. I almost expect him to say something in view of such open hostility, but he doesn’t, just looks at the ground sheepishly.
“Fine,” she finally says. “I’ll go to stupid WaterRidge with you guys.”
“Put your crap in the van and let’s go,” Melissa agrees, and the guys shove the black instrument cases and amps into the back of the dented white panel van. I keep my eyes on Rebecca as she climbs into Danny’s car.
“What’s WaterRidge?” I ask.
Eli turns to me, his features made sharper by the lights of the passing cars. “You’ve never been to WaterRidge?”
&
nbsp; “Nope,” I say. “Never even heard of it.”
“And here I thought you hadn’t had a deprived childhood,” he says. “Don’t worry, you’ll like it.” He grins. “You can run fast, can’t you?”
“Um …,” I say, not sure how to answer that.
“Don’t worry. If there’s trouble, I’ll take care of it.”
I study Eli, who has an expectant look on his face. Everyone else in the group is already in their cars and heading out of the parking lot toward the street. Ordinarily I’d never do something like this—get into a car late at night bound for destinations unknown. Although, this is probably something Ava would do. And definitely something Alicia would do, if only to make sure that Eli isn’t alone with Rebecca.
“Let’s go,” I say, opening the door to Eli’s truck. I suddenly want to be somewhere far away from my real life. With Eli. He smiles and climbs in, and we follow Melissa and Amy out of the parking lot and onto the empty street.
After about fifteen minutes of driving, we turn into some kind of office park—tall cement buildings with hundreds of windows surrounding tiny patches of lawn. I see a large metal sign at the entrance to one of the buildings: WATERRIDGE.
Eli glances around at the big empty parking lot and flips his lights off as all the cars park as close to the buildings as we can. Everyone is quiet as they drag themselves out of the cars, the only sounds some muffled laughter and scraping and squeaking as doors open and close. Melissa grabs a boogie board from the back of the van and hands another one to Eli.
I look around at the silent, empty buildings. “What are we doing here?”
Linzey hears me and laughs from outside Adam’s truck. “Ooh. A WaterRidge virgin. Nice.”
Melissa grins. “We’re going swimming.”
I take in the acres of asphalt and dozens of buildings. “Where?”
“There,” Eli says, pointing to a giant fountain that cascades in levels in front of the tallest building. Even though it’s the middle of the night, the water is flowing in chutes down the side, until it ends in a dark pool at the bottom.