Page 79 of What Happened to Lucy Vale
There was something wrong with Sofia Young.
She was pounding on the door of the Aquatics Center, claiming she needed a swim.
She seemed confused. She kept claiming to be a dolphin.
Evie Grant was pretty sure she was on something.
@nononycky:no shit she’s on something
@nononycky:what did she take?
Evie didn’t know. But she needed help. Sofia Young needed water.
We absolutely could not breathe a word about this to Sofia Young’s mom, or we were dead.
Nick Topornycky suggested we tell his uncle, Woody. He knew all about overdoses and how to reverse them. Evie Grant quickly nixed the idea. Woody was checking coats for new arrivals and was dressed in a suit jacket; for the night, he was as good as an Administrative appendage. We rushed instead to the refreshments table to get water and chips, which were being sold for an outrageous four dollars. Webriefly complained about the price tag. Akash reminded us this was a fundraiser; Evie Grant told us to focus.
@ktcakes888:Help
@ktcakes888:Mrs. Young just straight up asked me if I’d seen Sofia
@ktcakes888:what should I do?
@badprincess:what do you mean, what should you do?
@badprincess:Make Some Shit Up
@mememeup:#obviously
Evie reminded us that Sofia Young was our friend. She was our problem.
That was just part of our code.
We kept secrets. We kept quiet.
We lied, and we protected our own.
We hurried into the cold, slipping out from various exits to avoid suspicion and reconvening in the front courtyard. From there we navigated through the parking lot, clutching our phones for light and navigating slicks of unexpected ice. We found Evie Grant outside Aquatics, beneath the overhang of the construction scaffolding that had gone up over the summer, trying to wrangle Sofia Young away from the front doors.
“They’re locked,” Evie said when she saw us coming, as if that explained everything. She had Sofia by the waist, barely. Sofia squirmed and slurred that she needed to go swimming, she was too hot, she would die if she didn’t get in the water.
Alex Spinnaker uncapped a bottle of water and slugged some of it at Sofia, barely grazing her face and mostly dousing Evie Grant.
“I’m trying to help,” he said when we accused him of being a dick.
Sofia Young swiped for the water bottle, tipped some into her mouth, and then spit it out again in an arc.
“I’m a dolphin,” she said. When she laughed, she nearly pitched off her feet. “No. No. I’m ashark.”
We agreed: she was definitely on something.
We talked idly about finding her boyfriend, but nobody moved. Already we regretted leaving the cafeteria. It was deep dark where we stood, and the air was sharp with tiny points of sleet. Will Friske asked Sofia what she’d taken. That snuffed the laughter right out of her. She turned pouty.
“Ask Aiden,” she said. We all looked at one another, bewildered. “Ask him about Mr. Cross. Aiden knows.”
We felt something then, an unconscious shiver that ran back to Mr. Cross lying dead in a bathroom with a needle in his arm, and to Aiden Teller returning so quickly to the pool after injuring his shoulder in a fight.
Suddenly Sofia broke away from Evie Grant and started running. A few of us sprinted after her. Nate Stern caught up with her first, pinioning Sofia around the waist, spinning her back toward Aquatics.
