by Jessie Rosen
“No, no. Don’t worry. She didn’t say anything. She was being totally respectful to you. She just said you’ve been through a lot and are still working through some things, so I figured the last thing you would want is some fake journalist following you around for a silly school-newspaper article.”
Leave it to Amanda to use him in her dirty work. Charlie wondered if she could see the steam pouring out of his ears from wherever she was on campus at that moment.
“Yeah,” Charlie said, “Just some family stuff. But you know what, I think the article would be good for me. It’ll give me the chance to show people who I really am.”
“Wait, you’re not really a seventeen-year-old, Caucasian, male soccer player? This article just got way more interesting…”
Charlie laughed. He liked how Laura kept him on his toes. She was funny, but still so sweet.
“Well, let me talk to my editor, and I’ll get back to you,” she said. “For now I’ve got to run home and Skype with some of my friends from back home before they head out for their sunset surf.”
“God, that’s cool,” Charlie said. “Why did you ever leave that place?”
“I had to,” Laura said. “But so far…” she looked up at Charlie and smiled, and his heart skipped a beat. “I’m not totally devastated that I did.” And with that she turned and walked off toward her car.
Sasha
Sasha went wild gathering every piece of information she could on her first official leads: Charlie Sanders and Amanda Hunter. As she suspected, a quick hack through their online chat history delivered their full names and a whole lot more.
Charlie Sanders was a soccer player and honors student whose mother worked at the overnight call center for doctors at Jersey Shore Medical Center. There was no info on Charlie’s father, so Sasha assumed he was gone. From what she could tell, Charlie and his mom had moved into some crappy apartment in the only rough corner of Englewood when he was in middle school. Charlie seemed focused and competitive, serious, but also relaxed, and confident, but still clearly under Amanda’s thumb. From what Sasha could find, the two dated earlier in high school but broke up right around the time that the Sarah story surfaced. Sasha typed that fact on a Post-it note and tagged it to the digital board she created marked “CLUES.”
Amanda Hunter was a typical alpha girl from the town’s most alpha family. Mr. Hunter was mayor and had been for the past six months, but had a decades-old reputation as a prominent town lawyer and community leader. Mrs. Hunter served as president of the local hospital board. The family seemed to have more money than God, and they spent it for the whole world to see—they owned a huge mansion, the ritziest cars, and designer clothes for Amanda and her younger twin sisters. Amanda was the clear center of the Hunter family world. She surprisingly wasn’t an Englewood cheerleader, but she was president of the student class, head of the annual Dance Marathon charity event, and founder of the ski club and organizer of its annual ski trip. It appeared that most of the fun anyone at Englewood had was because Amanda Hunter planned it. It made sense why she was so popular. Sasha had never been one to admire a queen bee, but Amanda didn’t seem like the typical terror—at least, not in the online world.
For a second, Sasha wanted to stop. She’d spent months and months desperate to uncover any information connected to the apparent suicide, but now that she had exactly what she’d been looking for, she was terrified. What did they know? Who had they told? Their conversation didn’t give much away, but one line kept playing over and over in Sasha’s head: I would never torture you about her. That told Sasha that Charlie and Amanda had some kind of relationship with Sarah. This new girl, Laura, was the trigger that brought the memories back for them, but what were they going to do next?
Sasha needed more from Charlie and Amanda. The question was how to make them talk more. Sasha needed to create another trigger—maybe a news article about Sarah’s death? That might work, but there was no news to report. The detectives had done their work, and the local newspapers covered it from every angle. Unless a completely new discovery was made, they would have nothing to write. Besides, Sasha wasn’t ready to get other people involved. She needed to handle this one on her own until sharing her information felt safe.
But what if there was something connected to Sarah’s story that might come up for a different reason? Something that Sasha could slip in front of Charlie and Amanda’s faces to gauge their reaction? Perhaps…some memory of Sarah.
Sasha spent the next few days combing through every detail of the Sarah Castro-Tanner case, looking for a way in, but there wasn’t much to work with. Sarah hadn’t been involved in any school clubs, didn’t have any record of interacting with Charlie or Amanda, and had been alone for the entire day before she jumped off the Navesink River Bridge.
After hitting so many dead ends, Sasha decided to take a few days away from the Charlie-and-Amanda angle of her project. A clear mind would be helpful, plus she had work to do on another facet of her research: securing just the right part-time job. Then, two days later, she found the inspiration for her next move on the cover of a Business Week magazine that arrive in her dad’s mail. Among the lists of articles in the table of contents was a headline that caught her eye: “Smart Brands Use Real Teens to Sell Clothes.”
Sasha flipped to the page and found a full spread of ads all featuring real high school students from average American towns wearing clothes from a specific company or using products from a certain brand in their everyday settings. There was a shot of three kids at a diner in New York all playing with smartwatches as they scarfed down fries, a shot of ballerinas in Boston wearing a hot, new fitness brand to warm up for class, and a couple running together, each in a his-and-hers edition of some retro-brand sneakers.
That was the image that made the light bulb go off for Sasha. She knew exactly how she’d lure Charlie and Amanda back into the conversation about Sarah.
Chapter 5
September 16
Laura
It was Wednesday afternoon, which meant Becca was sitting backward on her rolling desk chair with three pens stuck in her knotty ponytail, running the weekly editorial meeting. It had become Laura’s favorite hour of the week.
Their “newsroom” consisted of: two terrified freshmen—nicknamed Dee and Dum—who Becca pressured into being underclassman reporters; Tommy Skendarian, the tech wiz who managed to lay out the entire newspaper in the three hours Becca gave him before it needed to go live; Claudia Bishop, who covered the arts and texted through every single meeting; Dan Jackson, who missed every single meeting; and Becca. It was a miracle they produced a weekly paper at all.
“Listen, people. We had ten articles this week and five were written by Rivers. If you’re not going to pull your weight, leave,” Becca said.
“But then Rivers will have to write all the articles,” said either Dee or Dum.
Becca rolled her eyes. No one was ever going to take the paper as seriously as she did, but Laura was growing to be a close second. The Chronicle had become her safe haven in the weird social world of Englewood High, and that was worth almost all the work.
“Rivers, how’s that Sanders soccer profile coming? I want to start sending a photographer to cover practices if it’s looking like the piece is going to work out,” Becca said.
There was also that incentive…
* * *
Laura and Charlie had sat down for two informal interviews over the course of the previous week—one of which included listening in on an interview he was doing with ESPN magazine about the top high school athletes in the nation. It was Laura’s idea to eavesdrop. Charlie could barely talk about the profile without getting red in the face, but Laura got the sense that her support put him at ease.
Their time alone seemed to diffuse any awkwardness that was still lingering after that first week of school. Either Charlie was no longer worried about Amanda getting jealous, or something had changed between them. Either way, he was fully focused on her when the
y met and seemed to ask her as many questions as she asked him.
Laura fully intended to write a brilliant article for the paper, but she also had a feeling this proximity with Charlie would help answer some questions that wouldn’t end up in print.
“Can you talk about what makes you nervous on the field?” Laura asked during their second session together. It was an unusually warm day for late September, and they were sitting in the gazebo outside the greenhouse that the horticulture club had just finished constructing.
“Disappointing people,” Charlie said, a hint of sadness in his voice. The response was almost instant, but Laura had a feeling he didn’t say those words often, if ever. “I put a lot of pressure on myself because I know that I can do it if I work hard enough.”
“Define ‘it’?” Laura asked. Charlie paused for a second. He looked like he might be a little embarrassed.
“Become a doctor,” he said. “Crazy, right?”
“Whoa. I mean, it’s not crazy. But it was not what I was expecting to hear,” she said. “What does that have to do with playing soccer?”
“Soccer is just the way I’m going to make it happen. My grandpa wanted to be a doctor in the army, but he didn’t even have an eighth-grade education. Then my mom wanted to go to nursing school, but she had me so young that she could never afford to put herself through college. Please don’t print this, but if all works out, I’m going to be the first Sanders to ever actually make it past high school. And if I do, I’m going all the way.”
“That is a beautiful thing,” Laura said. “I won’t print it, but I’m really glad to know it.”
Charlie smiled, relaxed now. “Thanks, Cali,” he said, “You’re easy to talk to. So now you get to tell me something really deep.”
“Like what?” Laura said. She liked that he’d taken to calling her Cali exclusively, even if it was a bit of a cliché.
“Like…what makes you nervous?” he asked.
Laura thought for a second. Since her first day at Englewood, she’d committed to being bold and brave, wearing what she wanted, making friends she liked no matter their social status, and not hiding how much she enjoyed her classes—even the tough ones. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t constantly thinking about what everyone thought about her and it was liberating; she actually felt lighter walking around in her body.
“I guess I’m nervous about slipping back into the person I used to be,” she said. Charlie raised an eyebrow, surprised by the honesty.
“Who did you used to be?” Charlie asked.
“This really quiet, nervous version of myself that let people walk all over me,” Laura said. “I wasn’t as confident before. You know, in California all the schools are open air, so you eat lunch at an outdoor cafeteria and walk from class to class on this veranda thing.”
“Ugh don’t make me more jealous than I already am…”
“Yeah, well, people make a big parade out of the whole strutting and sitting in the sunshine, and I hated how image-focused it always was. I would compare myself to all of them and spend forever trying to figure out how to impress them, which never worked, of course. I didn’t know how to be myself. It’s not really a place that supports that. But I decided to start over when I came here and just be exactly who I want to be. I think that’s made a huge difference.”
“I get that,” Charlie said, “I definitely fell into the Englewood way when I got here, especially when I started dating Amanda. I guess we have a lot in common, Cali.”
Laura smiled. She wasn’t sure if he was flirting or just being a sweet guy, but right now, she didn’t care. They were becoming friends and that was worth more to Laura than any temporary crush—that meant Charlie liked her as a person, not just some girl to date and forget about later.
“Hey. This is a little awkward, but do you want to come back to my house to watch me work out?”
Laura blurted out a laugh. “Um, that is awkward,” she said. “Why do you want me to do that?”
“I knew it sounded weird…” Charlie said, laughing himself. “I just figured we could talk about what it’s like to keep up with the fitness part of being on the team while I’m at home. I could even give you some pointers if you want.”
“Are you saying I need to buff up?” she asked, joking.
Charlie reached out and gave her right bicep a squeeze. “Whoa, Cali. You could have some serious guns up there if you put a little work in.”
“Well, then, let’s go,” Laura said.
Fifteen minutes later she was staring at Charlie’s arms as he showed her the proper way to do a push-up in the little garage gym he had set up. He’d changed into a tight T-shirt and soccer shorts and Laura could see almost every muscle in his completely built body. Plus his summer tan was still in full effect. Laura hoped to God she didn’t have to perform whatever move he was currently demonstrating, because she wasn’t listening to a word he said.
“Okay, Cali,” Charlie said, as if reading her mind. “You’re up.”
Laura was pretty sure he could hear her gulp. Not only did she have zero upper body strength, but also she was currently wearing the super-short, gingham shirtdress she’d had on all day at school. Maybe that could be her excuse.
“I would absolutely love attempting to be remotely as strong as you, but I’m not sure I can tackle that in this little number I’m wearing.”
“I don’t know,” Charlie said with a smile. “I feel like you’ll look great doing mountain climbers in that dress.”
Laura’s body reacted before she could and she gave Charlie a playful shove.
“Excuse me, but I am a very professional journalist!” she said.
Charlie responded by reaching over and grabbing her notebook off his lifting bench. “Oh yeah? What have you got on me so far? Let’s take a look.”
Laura went to snatch it back, but Charlie was too quick. The next thing she knew, she was chasing him around his garage.
“Do ten mountain climbers and you get it back!” he yelled.
“No way, you just want to see up my dress!” she yelled back.
“Take it as a compliment, Cali!”
But somewhere around the second lap, Charlie’s phone started to ring and did not stop.
“Cease fire!” he finally said on what had to be the tenth straight ring. “This could be my mom.”
Laura pretended to agree to the truce, but the minute Charlie reached for the phone, she grabbed her notebook back. Charlie responded with the raise of one eyebrow, impressed.
“Hello,” he said. “Okay. Whoa. Calm down. Breathe… What??” Charlie paused for a second, not looking up from the spot on the ground where he was staring. Laura could see the panic all over his face. “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Oh my God, was that your mom? Is she okay?” Laura asked as Charlie hung up.
“No,” he said, “It was Amanda. She’s…someone…it’s a long story. But I need to go over to her place. I’m really sorry about this.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, “I’m fine. Things are weird between us right now, but she needs me.”
“Well then you’re a good friend, or…whatever you guys are,” Laura said.
“Friends,” Charlie said, “I guess.”
Charlie tried to mask whatever was going on inside his head with a smile, but Laura was getting to know him too well to be convinced. Whatever Amanda said had him in a panic, and whatever war was going on between them was nowhere near over. If only this was the article I was writing, she thought to herself as she followed Charlie up the garage steps.
Charlie
Amanda was pacing around her living room when Charlie walked in. He wished that he could say he’d never seen her quite so stressed, but that wasn’t true. Right now what he wished even more was that he hadn’t seen her just as unhinged about the exact same thing.
“Still think I’m the one pranking you, Carly?” she said, her voice as wild as her eyes.
Amanda grabbed her laptop off the coffee table and shoved it in Charlie’s hands. The email was open on her desktop.
Hi, Amanda,
We received your email in response to our original offer for the Spring Fashion campaign shoot and are disappointed to hear that our original creative vision won’t work for you and Charlie Sanders.
Charlie stopped there.
“Wait,” he said. “Original offer? Is this the second email from this person?”
“Yes,” Amanda said, that quintessential, defensive tone in her voice.
“And why didn’t you tell me about the first one?”
“Well, first of all, I didn’t think anything of it. And second of all, you had recently accused me of sending you vicious pranks on VidBit. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to do a romantic photo shoot with you.”
“But the first email mentioned the bridge, too?” Charlie asked.
“Yes,” Amanda said. “But not like this one does. Keep reading.”
We would be willing to consider focusing the shoot on you and not Mr. Sanders, but we are unfortunately set on the location of the Navesink River Bridge. Can you explain why that location is an issue for you? If it’s heights, we have tricks to ensure our models are comfortable with the elevation. If it’s the outdoor nature of the shoot, then that is not a problem. We use heating lamps and can protect you with a warm trailer while you change. Or is there something else about that location? Maybe something you’d rather not say over email? If so we’d be happy to meet you in person to discuss…
“I don’t know,” Charlie said as he placed the computer back down on the table. “What if it’s just a harmless comment?”