Page 56 of Did You See Evie

“And?”

“We’re still in the process of talking to all the girls,” he says. “That’s why we haven’t done anything yet.”

“Did you talk to Evie?” I ask.

“We didn’t get a chance.” He sighs and leans back in his seat, hands folded over his stomach. “We’d planned to talk to her this week at school, but obviously that changed.”

“What about the girls? What did they say?”

“The students we talked to said that it’s just harmless fun,” he says. “Not that I’d expect them to say anything else.”

“Exactly! You should have talked to Evie first.”

“Last week was a busy week,” he says, lowering his voice. “Although it’s nothing in comparison to what this week looks like. Between the championship game and spring midterms, we didn’t want to add any more stress.”

“Think about the stress Evie must have been living with!” I shout. “She’s juggling sports, school and being bullied, and no one is even doing anything about it.”

“We were trying.”

“If you were trying, why didn’t you come to me?”

Mr. Lake has always been a transparent leader. It’s why he’s never hidden the fact that people want another coach to replace me. If the bullying claims are as serious as Kelly makes them sound, he should have told me about them, unless he’d thought they’d be a distraction. Knowing Reynolds is after my job keeps me focused; punishing some of my best players for bad behavior would only hurt the team.

“Again, it was a busy week?—”

“Screw the stupid game. If there were behavior issues with the girls on my team, I deserve to know. I’m the head coach.”

“Don’t you think you should have known?” he says. “Kelly was very clear in her allegations against the girls, but you spend more time with them than anyone. If Evie was being bullied, don’t you think you would have noticed?”

My insides flutter with agitation. Yes, I spend the most time around them, but as Nadia pointed out, all the girls are bound to be on their best behavior in my presence, just as I was whenever I was around Coach Phillips. All of us in the girls’ lives—their parents, teachers, coaches, friends—only see certain sides of them. None of us get the full picture.

“Kelly said you told her not to come to me,” I say.

“I wanted you to focus on the team,” he says. “Last week, all you cared about was winning the game.”

Is that all I cared about? Is that why they were able to get away with so much? If I’d put my attention elsewhere, maybe I would have picked up on the girls’ cruel behavior. Maybe Evie would have felt comfortable coming to me sooner.

“We need to talk with the girls again,” I say. “It’s obvious there was more going on between them than they are letting on.”

“You can’t really think they are involved in Evie’s disappearance?”

“I think they’re not giving us the full story,” I say. “And if they knew you planned on talking with Evie after the lock-in, that gives them a motive for wanting to keep her quiet.”

He laughs. “These girls are thirteen and fourteen. They’re not criminals.”

A memory from childhood comes back to me. Nadia and I sneaking into the kitchen, stealing the liquor bottle kept under the kitchen sink.

I stand, trying to keep my thoughts clear and in the present.

“You should have come to me sooner,” I say, walking toward the door. “If you had, Evie might still be here.”

THIRTY

My chest is swollen with rage. I storm out of the building, knowing it’s best for me to control my anger before confronting the girls.

I knew Evie felt like an outsider when stacked beside the rest of our team. Some of the most obvious reasons—her complicated home life and poor social standing—were negative, but there were positive differences, too. Like her talent. Evie’s skill and drive is far above that of her peers. It’s what secured her a place at this school, and I knew there was some jealousy about that from the other girls, but I never could have imagined this.

SoEd. Same outfit every day. Each time the phrase rolls through my mind, my hands ball into fists. I have to remember I’m only dealing with young girls, even if the cruelty behind their actions seems far older.

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