Kendall watched the hairy old guy behind the counter stare at her fake ID for a second before handing it back with her pack of Camel Crushes.

Thank you, Sheila. Kendall made a quick smoochy face at the picture on the card before shoving it back into her neon wallet. She had to thank Sheila every time she successfully used the ID or it was bad karma. That was what she told herself anyway since she could’ve easily returned the thing when she saw Sheila drop it on the subway platform three years ago. But she didn’t. Instead, she used it to buy cigarettes and alcohol – at least until freshman year. That was when she started going solo to bars and letting college boys buy the alcohol for her.

“Have a good one, Sheila.” The hairy guy behind the counter winked at Kendall on her way out. She snorted as she pushed through the door. He wasn’t an idiot – he knew that she wasn’t actually Sheila Mendoza. For starters, she wasn’t a thirty-two-year-old Filipina woman. Mascara did make her look older but she topped out at twenty-one or twenty-two – which was pretty good considering her actual age of fifteen. And the fact that she was wearing her Coventry School uniform.

It was her first official day of sophomore year. Kendall’s parents had offered to let her take it off if she needed but she declined. “I need to go. It’ll be healthy for me to be around classmates,” she said. It was a total line but her tired parents kissed her head and called her a “good girl” for once before seeing her out the door of their old Upper West Side apartment. Kendall tried not to skip till she turned the corner and was out of sight.

Because it’s kind of inappropriate to skip when your sister is missing.

“Miss Bates. I’m so glad you made it today.”

Standing in front of the red brick building on Eighty-Ninth Street was a familiar six-footer with broad shoulders that didn’t match her cutesy name. It was Meredith Tinker, longtime principal at Coventry School and one of the faculty’s most fervent Kendall haters. She’d openly despised Kendall since her arrival in the seventh grade. It wasn’t totally unwarranted. Kendall’s blonde hair was streaked with pink back then and she always rolled up her skirt to make it shorter. Boys who were good students turned into bad students if they shared a class with her and worst of all, she had no interest in befriending Coventry’s most beloved pupils – the pretty girls with the richest parents and big Chanel bags stuffed with color-coded binders. No one ever declined recruitment into their exclusive clique but Kendall did, which made her unpredictable and weird and different and everything that Meredith Tinker hated. So for the past three years, she did her best to avoid her. It would look bad to kick out one of the few low-income students at Coventry without a really good reason so she simply refused to acknowledge Kendall at all. Though that was obviously about to change.

“How are you, honey?” Meredith took both of Kendall’s hands in her clammy ones. Kendall tried not to recoil.

“Oh. I’m… okay. I’m good,” Kendall swallowed, fluttering her brown eyes. Both her parents answered her questions like this lately. Their minds were elsewhere, obviously, and being spoken to always seemed to take them by surprise. Kendall mimicked their aloof expressions as she looked up at Meredith. This is what stress looks like, right? She hadn’t been stressed in a long time so she didn’t really know.

“Good. Incredible.” Meredith shook her head, seeming awed by Kendall’s capacity to say five words. “I’m so glad you’re hanging in there, sweetheart. The school spoke to your parents about this already but we do want you to know that we sympathize so greatly with what you and your family are going through right now, so if you need a break at any time or you just feel overwhelmed, please speak to your teacher. Or me. My door is always open. Okay?” Meredith patted Kendall’s shoulders with her giant hands. Kendall’s knees nearly buckled under their weight but she caught herself. Not that crumbling to the floor wouldn’t totally go with her

“Thank you. That sounds… great.” She stretched her lips into a smile for her principal. It was deliberately unconvincing and it made Meredith look all sad and compassionate again.

“You’re a very strong, admirable young woman, Miss Bates,” she said seriously, giving Kendall another one of her monster pats on the arm before heading off.

Right. Kendall wanted to roll her eyes as she watched three faculty members flank Meredith as she headed up the steps of the school, no doubt trying to get the scoop on the little sister of the Missing Girl. Kendall tried to keep her frown since everyone was watching but she was just so darned amused. She was becoming a hot commodity thanks to Olivia. People at Coventry were always curious about her but no one ever sympathized with her. Boys resented her for only hooking up with college kids, girls held a grudge because she partied harder than they knew how and the faculty hated her for always subtly disrupting the class. But now, everyone looked at her with big, sad puppy eyes – even Chelsey Luke.

Oh, God. You’ve got to be kidding me. Kendall could barely contain her disbelief as Chelsey approached with her giant topknot and glossy pout, leading her usual pack of three to four Chanel-toting followers. She had been the student ambassador of Kendall haters since middle school – the one who first branded Kendall as some damaged slut. But today, Chelsey dropped her quilted bag on the ground to give her a big hug.

“Oh my God, sweetie. I’m so sorry about Olivia,” she whispered. Kendall’s eyes bugged when Chelsey tightened her embrace. She could see all the kids outside staring at the bizarre scene, probably just as confused as she was. Unlike her relationship with the other popular girls at Coventry, Kendall and Chelsey had actual bad blood. They’d gotten into a fight in middle school that ended in cuts and bruises. Technically, Kendall started it but she didn’t see it that way since Chelsey called her a slut, back when the word still fazed her and warranted a smack in the face – and then another when Chelsey pointed out the scar that circled Kendall’s left wrist, calling her a “psycho” and a “cutter.” Kendall recalled the memory as Chelsey sniffled something or another about praying for Olivia.

The fight was all because of Chelsey’s thing for Nick Lambert in eighth grade. He was a skater kid, not a jock, so the crush was made into an especially big deal. It was supposed to be like some sort of reverse Cinderella story – the gorgeous teen queen honors the shaggy-haired skater with her inexplicable love. They’d be a quirky, offbeat couple that people would obsess over and Chelsey would be showered with even more attention than usual. But in the end, it didn’t end up happening because Nick didn’t care about Chelsey’s crush and wound up sleeping with Kendall.

According to the rumors at least.

“Thanks… Chelsey.” Kendall pulled away from the hug, forcing a smile despite the fact that she now had Chelsey’s overpowering peach scent all over her Oxford. Gross. Kendall tried not to wrinkle her nose. She really wanted nothing more than to push Chelsey away and gag at her perfume but she forced herself not to. That was what normal Kendall would do and she wasn’t supposed to be normal Kendall right now. She was supposed to be grieving.

“The news talked about her again yesterday. I was watching with my parents. One of my cousins goes to Abbey Prep.”

“Oh… cool,” Kendall said, wondering if that was the appropriate response. Probably not.

“Have people been giving any tips now that there’s a reward?”

“No.” Not any useful ones at least.

“Ugh, that sucks so much. I would totally donate my own money to the cause but my parents said that’s inappropriate,” Chelsey said, rolling her eyes.

Because it is, you ass. Kendall chewed on her lip till she felt less hostile words on her tongue. “Well… thank you for the thought.”

“You’re so welcome, honey. And please, please let me know if there’s anything I can do,” Chelsey said, giving Kendall another quick squeeze as the bell rang. “I never thought anyone I knew would have a family member go missing. I can’t even imagine what’s going through your head right now.”

You really can’t, Kendall thought as she let Chelsey and her friends usher her into the building. They even walked her to her homeroom, got her seated and then approached Mrs. Murray with loud, dramatic concern, whispering that “she’s really dazed right now” and “I’m not sure she’s gonna be okay.” Kendall tried not to roll her eyes out of her head. It was obvious that they just wanted to be a part of the Missing Girl story in some way or another but whatever, she’d let them.

“Hey Kendall? Will you come up here for a second?” Mrs. Murray beckoned once Chelsey and her flock of minions were gone. She lowered her voice when Kendall reached the front of her desk. “I know you’re having a really hard time right now so let me know if you need a break. I want you to do that, okay?”

Kendall picked at her chipped manicure. Mrs. Murray was actually nice and genuine so her sympathy made her uncomfortable. “Okay,” she said with a short nod before turning for her desk. But as she did, Mrs. Murray reached out to touch her elbow.

“And Kendall…” She frowned into her lap for a second. “I just want you to know that you and your family are in my thoughts. My husband and I pray every night that someone will find Olivia. And soon. So just know that whenever you’re praying, we’re praying with you.”

Kendall studied her teacher’s eyes. After a summer of speaking to cops and reporters, she had become something of an expert in deciphering sincerity in facial expressions. Most people were sincere but their sympathy was tinged with a morbid fascination. Mrs. Murray wasn’t one of those people.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it,” Kendall said quietly before going back to her seat. She ignored her classmates’ eyes when she sat down, staring down at her fingers and the ragged, crimson polish on her nails.

She wasn’t lying. She really did appreciate Mrs. Murray’s prayers because she too wanted this whole thing to be over already. She wanted to find Olivia soon. Maybe in a quiet park somewhere or on the Abbey Prep campus.

Or perhaps the bottom of a river.

“Alright, everybody. Time to sit up, face forward and pay attention.”

Kendall did as she was told, returning the warm smile that her teacher gave her before starting announcements. She did her best to shake the thoughts of Olivia out of her head. There was school to pay attention to now. Besides, she didn’t actually care where her sister was found. That wasn’t the important part at all. The only thing that mattered to Kendall was that Olivia was found, period.

And preferably, when she was, her body would be cold, frozen and dead for months.