“But that was last year,” I protested as we walked through school on Tuesday, three days before Halloween. “I’m serious, you know how people are. They forget about things.”
“Oh, really?” Roux said, then turned and smiled at a brunette passing us. “Hey, Julia, what’s up? How are things?”
“Slut,” Julia responded, and kept walking.
Roux just looked back at me knowingly. “You were saying?”
“Roux …”
“Here’s how it works,” Roux said, not even slowing her pace. “Once you fall, you fall. You’re like that ring thing in the lava. You’re not coming back.”
“The ring thing?”
“With the short guys.”
“Oh, you mean The Lord of the Rings.”
“Yeah, that. I don’t get to climb the social ladder anymore. Maybe if I move to Poughkeepsie, then I’ll have another shot at glory, but for now, I’m not going anywhere. I’m dirt. And dirt,” she concluded just before she ducked into her English class, “isn’t exactly welcome at parties.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I told Angelo on Wednesday as we drank hot chocolate in front of the New York Public Library. (He had summoned me there with a quick pencil sketch of two lions reading books.) “I’ve tried everything.”
“Flattery?”
“Duh.” I poked at the marshmallows in my rapidly cooling cup. “Why don’t we ever meet somewhere warm? Why can’t we meet at the movies?”
Angelo raised an eyebrow. “I was unaware that you enjoyed films.”
“I can learn if it means I’m warm.”
“You are a fast learner, I’m sure you’d be quite proficient in French—”
“Quit the flattery. You’ve heard my accent.”
Angelo smiled and adjusted his scarf a little. “Well noticed. So your friend Roux—charming name, by the way—”
“Ha. Wait till you meet her before thinking that.”
“—refuses to go along with you to this Halloween party. And you’re upset. Can you go by yourself?”
I guess my face gave it away because Angelo kept talking. “Obviously not. Well, then, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“That’s it?”
Angelo merely shrugged. “I don’t know this Roux as well as you do. I can only tell you what I would do if I had to convince you to do something.”
I waited but he didn’t say anything. “And?” I prompted. “Throw me a rope here.”
“I would tell you that you couldn’t do it.” He was getting a bit of a hot chocolate mustache, which looked hilarious on him. “What if I told you that you wouldn’t be able to crack a safe? What would you do?”
“Learn how to crack it, then crack it,” I admitted. “As fast as I could.”
“Well, then, there you have it. Roux and you sound very similar. Let me know how it works out.”
“We sound similar? Really?”
“Very much so, yes. Witty, talented, and in need of a friend.” He patted the top of my head and neatly balanced his empty cup on top of an already overflowing trash can. “Let me know if you need any costume ideas.” He gestured to his pinstripe navy suit. “I can be quite dapper.”
“So are penguins!” I yelled as he disappeared around the corner, but I wasn’t sure if he heard me. It was probably for the best if he didn’t.
Chapter 7
On Thursday morning, I waited for Roux to find me. I’m not a patient person, as you can imagine. I hate waiting. My dad always says that I would be terrible on a stakeout and could probably never work for the FBI. I replied that I couldn’t work for the FBI because of that whole Luxembourg thing, much less my lack of patience.
Anyway, waiting. I hate it.
And waiting for Roux was even worse. If my reverse psychology plan didn’t work, then I’d be stuck going to Jesse Oliver’s party by myself, and it’d be nearly impossible to snoop around if I didn’t have a sidekick to distract everyone else while I dug through personal files and whatnot. By the time third period rolled around and I still hadn’t seen Roux, I was convinced that she was out sick, or worse, was trapped under something heavy in her apartment. When I didn’t see her by fourth period, I was sure that she had contracted and succumbed to smallpox, all within a twenty-four-hour period.
When I finally saw Roux in the courtyard at lunch, I ran over to her and gave her the biggest hug imaginable. “I’m so glad you’re alive!” I gasped.
“Mmmmpphow.”
“What?” I took a step back.
Roux looked annoyed. “Why are you hugging me?”
“Oh. Sorry.” I let go of her and hastily straightened the lapels on her school uniform. She seemed, in a word, displeased. “Sorry, I just didn’t see you and I was worried that maybe you were sick or something.”
“I am. I was just crushed to death.” She smoothed her hair, then shook it out again. “My ribs hurt.”
“Sorry,” I said again. “Do you need an Ace bandage?”
“Like a hole in the head. What’s up?”
I sighed deeply, just like I had practiced in the mirror the night before. “I just wanted to apologize to you.”
She frowned. “For what?”
I sighed again and drew a line on the ground with my toe, just like I had seen Roux do when she was so contrite the other day. “Oh, you know, just bugging you about the party. I know it makes you uncomfortable and you probably don’t want to go to parties anymore.”