Allie had been there when Jill died, hugging her in hysterics, clinging to her like a kitten hooking its flimsy nails into a sweater. Allie had been heartbroken, devastated, reeling at the prospect of a life that no longer included Jill. Allie didn’t know who she was without Jill. She was not-Jill in a world that was Jill’s, in a family that revolved around Jill’s illness, specialty meds, and therapies.
Allie didn’t know how her family would fill the hole that Jill left because it was everything. It wasn’t a hole, it was the whole. So it could never be filled. Now Jill was gone and so were the hospital bed, commode, nebulizers, oxygen tanks, and pill bottles. But somehow Jill was everywhere, in the very air. Her absence was her presence, and the girl who could never get air had become it. The Garvey family breathed Jill every moment.
The thought made Allie’s stomach knot, and sweat broke out on her forehead. Tryouts for the cross-country team were coming up, and she needed an extracurricular to get into a good college. She couldn’t sing well enough to make choir, didn’t play an instrument, and was too shy to be onstage. Her guidance counselor told her she should write about Jill for her personal essay, but Allie wasn’t about to write My Sister Died So Let Me into Penn.
Allie kept running, panting hard, her legs hurting. She’d gained fifteen pounds and was falling so far behind the others she didn’t know how she would catch up. It was how she felt all the time lately. Behind. After Jill’s funeral, Allie was supposed to go to school like nothing ever happened, but that was impossible. The other girls had best friends, but Allie’s best friend was Jill. She didn’t fit in any of the cliques, like the pretty princesses, the field-hockey jocks, the fast girls who smoked, the goths, druggies, mathletes, or Ecology Club hippies. The boys called her Allie Gravy, and she was behind everyone, a permanent little sister to the world.
Suddenly a silhouette appeared at the top of the hill. It was Sasha Barrow, captain of the development’s running team and one of the most popular girls in school. Sasha was tall, lean, and totally beautiful, with big blue eyes, a tiny nose, and not a single zit. She had on a cool blue Nike tank and silky dolphin shorts, like a professional runner compared with Allie’s thick Phillies T-shirt and old gray gym shorts. Sasha ran for the development team as a way to stay in shape for the cross-country team at school.
“Hurry up!” Sasha shouted, her hands on her slim hips.
Allie sped up, but her ankle turned and she tumbled to the ground, landing on her butt. Her face went red and hot. She tried to get up, but her ankle hurt and she eased back down. Her knee was skinned, a grid of droplets.
“What are you doing down there?”
“I fell!”
“I can see that!”
Then why did you ask? Jill would have said. But Allie didn’t.
“Come on!”
“Just go! I’m fine!”
“What’s your name again?” Sasha came down the incline, her sleek ponytail swinging back and forth. She had on a wide black headband that Allie could never wear because they popped off her head.
“Allie Garvey.”
“Are you in my class?” Sasha reached Allie and stood over her.
“Yes, in the other section. I live in Brandywine Hunt, too, on Percheron.” Allie realized she was answering questions she hadn’t been asked. She didn’t know how to act around Sasha Barrow, who was wearing blue mascara. Allie hadn’t even known that mascara came in colors.
“I’m on Pinto.”
“I know,” Allie said, then regretted it, wiping her brow. Sasha wasn’t sweating and smelled like vanilla. Allie sweated like a pig and smelled like cellulite.
“Okay, so get up, Allie.”
“Please, go back with the others. I’ll be fine.”
“Try!” Sasha’s pursed lips glistened with pink gloss.
“I’m not going to make the team.”
“Duh.”
Allie’s mouth went dry. She felt nervous around Sasha Barrow. She tried to think of what Jill would have said. Jill had attitude.
“Allie. You really can’t get up?”
And then, Allie did it. For one moment, she summoned Jill’s spirit and said exactly what Jill would have said. “If I could, would I be sitting where worms could crawl in my vagina?”
Sasha burst into laughter, and Allie could see why Sasha was popular, and it wasn’t only that she was pretty. There was a wild spark about her, a natural confidence.
“I’ll try to get up.” Allie shifted.
Suddenly Sasha pointed down the hill. “Look,” she whispered. “What are they up to?”
Allie turned to see that two boys in tennis whites were digging under the base of a tree with a sharp bend in its trunk, at the bottom of the hill. Leafy branches covered the boys from view, but Allie recognized David Hybrinski right away. He was dreamy, with a great smile even though he never had braces. His hair was thick and wavy, a reddish-brown color, and he was tall, with a muscular body that made him look older. Allie always saw him hitting against the backboard at the tennis courts while Jill was swimming the laps that were supposed to increase her lung capacity. When David hit the ball over the fence, he’d call to the kids, little help, please, and they’d fetch the ball for him like puppy dogs.
“Who’s the boy with David?” Allie whispered.
“Julian Browne. He lives across the street from me, but he goes to Lutheran now.” Sasha’s eyes glittered. “Let’s bust them.”
“What?” Allie asked, but Sasha was already cupping her hands around her mouth.
“Hey, down there! Freeze, this is the police! You’re under arrest!”
The boys looked up, startled, then burst into relieved laughter, which echoed in the quiet woods. Sasha pulled Allie to her feet, looping an arm around her shoulders, and started down the hill with her, while Allie smoothed her hair back, trying to look good, though this wouldn’t have been the day she’d pick to meet David Hybrinski. She’d sweated off her flesh-toned Clearasil, and her long brown curls frizzed. At least her braces were finally off and her eyes were a nice blue, but boys weren’t into eyes. She pulled her damp T-shirt away from her body, so David couldn’t see the blubber that made her belly button into a big O, like a mouth shouting, LOOK AT MY FAT!
They got closer, and Sasha called out, “What are you doing?”
“Nothing!” Julian was shorter than David and handsome in a preppy way, with hazel eyes, a refined nose, and a small mouth with thin lips. His hair was straight, brown, and shiny, and he looked lean in a white T-shirt that said CRT SPORTS CAMP. He covered whatever they were digging, then stood up as the girls reached the bottom of the hill.
“What’s going on?” Sasha let go of Allie, as the boys stood side by side. Their bicycles and backpacks lay on the ground nearby.
“I told you, nothing,” Julian repeated, his smile sly.
“Buried treasure,” David added. “Gold doubloons.”
“Come on, what is it?” Sasha took a step toward them. “Tell me.”
David noticed Allie and flashed her a smile. “I know you. You’re in the other section.”
“Yeah, and I live in the development, too.” Allie couldn’t believe David Hybrinski knew who she was. She felt so seen, and he had such a nice way about him, like a gentleman. Up close, his eyes were as brown as a Hershey bar.
Sasha gestured at the other boy. “Julian, where are your manners? Introduce yourself to Allie Garvey.”
“Julian Browne,” the other boy said, flashing a big grin, and Allie started to wonder if the cool kids were just big smiles hanging in the air, like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. Jill used to read it to Allie when she was little, and Allie had thought the title was Allison Wonderland.
Julian kept smiling. “I don’t know if you can keep a secret, Sasha.”
“Of course.” Sasha snorted. “And if you don’t tell me what it is, I’ll come back and dig it up myself.”
David turned to Allie. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Yes.” Al
lie hid her excitement that he was talking to her.
“Okay, then. Come look.” Julian moved the backpack, crouched, and started digging with his hands. “I had this project for Environmental Bio. Indigenous wildflower identification. I was looking for bluets.”
“What’s that?” Sasha asked.
“It’s a blue flower.” Julian kept digging as he spoke. “It’s like a cornflower or a forget-me-not.”
“And you have to do this over the summer? Is this a private school thing?” Sasha made a face, but Allie didn’t think anything bad about private school. Her parents had talked about private school for Jill, but they ended up with tutors, which was how Allie learned some French. She and Jill used to say tant pis because it sounded like tant pee, then Jill started saying tant penis, which cracked them up.
Julian kept digging. “My mother told me that bluets don’t bloom late in the summer, so I should look now, in the woods. Of course it’s not a real woods. We have to leave a certain percentage of the woods or the township won’t let us build.”
Sasha said to Allie, “Julian’s father built the development.”
“His company did,” Julian corrected her. “He does business as Browne Land Management.”
“Oh,” Allie said, impressed. Her father was an orthodontist in Exton, and he didn’t do business as anything but Dr. Garvey. It bugged him that he hadn’t gone to medical school, only dental, and one time, at their hotel in Orlando, one of the guests got sick and the manager called her father. He had to admit he wasn’t a medical doctor.
“I saw a patch of bluets under this tree. I started taking pictures, then I noticed this paper sticking out of the dirt.” Julian finished digging, and both boys moved away from the hole, revealing a wrinkled piece of newspaper wrapped around something. They unwrapped it like a gift, but it was a gun.
Allie gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
“Whoa!” Sasha hooted. “Let me have it!”
CHAPTER 3
Sasha Barrow
Let me have it!” Sasha felt a bolt of excitement when she saw the gun, which had a short shiny barrel and a dark wooden handle. She leaned over to pick it up, but Julian caught her hand.
“No, don’t.”
“I want to hold it.”
“Why?”
“Why not?” Sasha couldn’t believe that Julian was asking her such a stupid question. She couldn’t believe that he was saying no to her, either. He’d been in love with her forever. “Have you ever held a gun?”
“Not before this one.”
“David, have you?” Sasha turned to him.
“Sure. My uncle hunts. He has rifles and a handgun just like this.”
“What kind of gun is it?”
“A .38 special. A revolver. It’s old.”
“How old?”
“I don’t know. This newspaper is from June 2, 1995.” David held up a crumpled sports page. “Doesn’t mean it was buried that day, but whatever.”
Sasha returned her attention to Julian. “Julian, it’s not yours just because you found it.”
Julian smiled. “Ever hear of finders keepers?”
“How old are you? Twelve?”
Julian’s smile evaporated, and Sasha reminded herself to be nicer. Her father always said you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar and that her mother should try it sometime. Sasha knew her parents were going to get divorced someday, because her mother was human vinegar.
Sasha forced a smile. “Can I please just hold it?”
“Guys?” Allie raised her hand. “If you found a gun, I think you should take it to the police. I mean, you guys heard about Columbine. You can’t have a gun. It’s zero-tolerance. Just turn it in.”
“Who asked you?” Sasha glared at Allie, who wasn’t even a friend of theirs.
“But it could be a murder weapon.” Allie shuddered. “Why would somebody bury a gun? Is it loaded?”
“No,” Julian answered.
Sasha snorted. “Julian, let’s load it!”
“We don’t have any bullets.”
“Then buy some! Don’t you want to shoot it? Let’s do it!”
Julian shook his head. “We can’t. People will hear. The houses are too close.”
“So let’s go somewhere else!” Sasha threw up her hands. “Duh!”
“No, don’t.” Allie clucked. “You probably need a permit, and it’s dangerous.”
Sasha turned to her, angry. “Allie, don’t be stupid. It’s a gun, not a bomb. No police are going to know we have it. We could put it in a backpack.”
David shook his head. “I agree with Allie. I don’t think we should move it. Even though it’s old, the owner could come back for it. We don’t want to let on we found it.”
“Oh, enough!” Sasha dove between the boys, grabbed the gun, and scooted a few steps away.
Julian advanced on Sasha. “Give it back, please. It’s not a toy.”
“Oh my God, this is amazing!” Sasha loved holding the gun. It felt heavy in her hand and packed so much power. Even without bullets, it excited her.
Julian held out his hand. “Sasha, please?”
“No, I just want to see it!” Sasha held him off with an arm. The metal was silver, and she ran a fingertip along the side, where it had been damaged. “This is scratched.”
Julian nodded. “They destroyed the serial numbers so the gun couldn’t be traced.”
“How do you know that?”
“I researched it. The round part is the cylinder, where the bullets go. The holes that hold the bullets are called ‘chambers.’ There are five, so it holds five bullets. Or ‘rounds.’ ”
“And the cylinder revolves.” Sasha pressed a little lever, which freed the cylinder to spin. “That’s why they call it a revolver.”
“Exactly.” Julian smiled.
“It feels really good.” Sasha aimed the gun, double-fisted. She was pretty sure she could hit anything she wanted. It was a thrill.
David frowned. “Sasha, you’re being freaky.”
Allie added, “Sasha, we have to get going. They’ll notice we’re missing.”
“Almost done.” Sasha flopped the gun over in her palm and pressed the lever again. The cylinder popped open, revealing five perfectly round chambers, then she closed it again.
“Give it back.” Julian held out his hand. “And you have to agree to not tell anybody about it. Agree?”
“Bang!” Sasha shouted, pretending to shoot him, and they all laughed.
Except Allie.
CHAPTER 4
David Hybrinski
David worried that the gun wasn’t a secret anymore. He hid his annoyance as Sasha gave it back to Julian, who rewrapped it in the newspaper. Sasha had a million friends, and she wouldn’t keep it to herself for long. She was used to having her own way. Pretty girls got away with murder.
“Here we go.” Julian started to put the gun in the hole, but Sasha stopped him, frowning.
“I think Allie should have to touch the gun, so all of our fingerprints are on it. Like, we’re in possession, and we could get caught, so she should be in possession, too.”
Julian hesitated, but David knew that Julian would do whatever Sasha wanted. He always did. David, Julian, and Sasha had gone to elementary and middle school together, but Julian had gone to Lutheran Academy for high school. David had thought Julian was going to jump off a bridge because it wasn’t Sasha’s school, but his parents had made him go. They didn’t think he was challenged enough in the public school. When David told his mother that, she laughed. Because she was a teacher in a public school.
Allie made a face. “I don’t want to touch the gun.”
“You have to,” Sasha shot back. “Why don’t you want your fingerprints on the gun?”
“It’s not that, it’s just that I don’t, well, I don’t really want to touch it.”
Julian unwrapped the gun. “Allie, you should touch it. We all keep the secret. We’re all in the pact.”
“W
hat pact?” Allie frowned, leaning back on her hurt ankle.
“Just do it.” Sasha raised her voice, and David knew Allie was no match for Sasha, who was definitely going to win this argument. Allie was too nice, and he remembered that her big sister died. He couldn’t even think how he would feel if his big brother died. The school planted a tree for Allie’s sister, but David doubted that was any consolation.
Sasha met Julian’s eye directly. “Give it to Allie, so she can touch it.”
Julian held out the gun. “Allie, it’s not that big a deal.”
David felt bad for her. “Allie, do it to make them happy.”
Sasha shot David a dirty look, but didn’t say anything.
“Oh, fine.” Allie patted the gun quickly, then handed it back to Julian. “Here.”
David liked Allie for standing up to Sasha. Sasha was too mean to other girls. He remembered how, a few years ago, some girl skater tried to break Nancy Kerrigan’s leg, and he’d thought, That’s something Sasha would do.
There was a shout, and they looked up to see one of the other runners standing at the top of the hill. “Sasha, Allie!” she called out, her shout scattering the birds from the trees. “What are you doing?”
“Allie turned her ankle!” Sasha called back coolly. “We’ll be right up!”
David edged his backpack over the open hole. Sasha stepped next to him, blocking the girl’s view.
The girl called down, “Is Allie okay?”
“Yes, go back and tell them we’re coming!”
The girl turned around and ran off.
David exhaled slowly, with relief.
“Let’s bury this thing.” Julian squatted, moved the backpack, and put the gun in the hole.
“Pack it deep.” David knelt next to him, shoving mounds of dirt over the gun. His father would kill him if he got in trouble. He had to get good grades and do well. He played varsity tennis and was already a nationally ranked junior player. The next Pete Sampras, his father always said. Meanwhile Sasha and Allie were starting up the hill.
“See you guys,” Sasha called over her shoulder.
Someone Knows Page 2