But he was already following the girls through the door. Why couldn’ t anyone answer me? I grabbed the still-closing door and tromped into the warm shop. Shannen had her cell phone out and was holding it up as if to take a picture as Faith strode up to the counter . “Mr. Ryan?” Faith said with a gasp. “Oh my God! Is that you ?” My heart took a nosedive. Mr . Ryan? As in—? The man behind the counter was tall, slim, graying, and stunned. He wore a white shirt, a stained black apron, and a matching visor. He was getting paler by the second. Ally’ s father . I was looking at Ally’ s father . “Hello, Faith . . . Shannen. How are you girls?” He looked at Shannen, who was still holding up her phone. “Are you—is that a camera phone?” “No,” Shannen said, waving her phone around. “I just can’t seem to get any bars in here.” My fingers clenched into fists at my sides. Suddenly I realized what she was doing. She was taping this onto her video card. And he had no idea. “Hi, Mr. Ryan,” Hammond said, walking up to the counter . “Sorry to surprise you like this. Shannen didn’t tell us where we were going,” he said through his teeth, staring Shannen down. “What? I didn’t know he worked here,” Shannen said. Her acting was completely believable. “Do you actually work here?” she asked, training her phone on Mr . Ryan. “Well . . . yes. I do. I have . . . for about a year now,” Mr. Ryan said, looking suspiciously at the phone. “Chloe’ s father was kind enough to give me a job while I get back on my feet. I’ve been trying to get my old job back.” “Yeah? And how’s that working out for ya?” Shannen said, leaning her elbow on the countertop and ke eping the lens trained on him. “I mean, it’s gotta be tough after you cheated dozens of people out of, what, millions of dollars?” His lips clamped together , and he looked like he was about to hurl. “It . . . it wasn’t like that,” he said. “It’s complicated. You kids couldn’ t understand —” “Well, why don’ t you try explaining it to us?” Faith said snottily . He slipped his visor off. Bowed his head. Mopped his brow with the back of his hand. “I . . . I didn’ t . . . I never meant to . . .” That was it. I couldn’ t take it anymore. “All right. That’ s enough.”
Shannen whirled around, surprised. It was like she’d forgotten I was there. I grabbed the phone out of her hand and exited camera mode. “What’s your problem?” Shannen asked. “Excuse us, sir,” I said, clamping my arm around Shannen’ s shoulders. “We were just leaving.” I dragged Shannen out of there, feeling her tense under my arm. “I just wanted to say thanks a lot, Mr. Ryan,” Faith said behind me. “If it wasn’t for you, my parents wouldn’ t be getting divorced.” Unbelievable. This was why we’d come into the city? To torture Ally’s dad? “Faith, I’m so sorry ,” he r eplied. “I didn’ t—” “Whatever .” We were back out on the cold sidewalk, but my skin was so hot I didn’t feel the chill anymore. “What the hell was that?” Shannen shoved me away from her with both hands. “Y ou don’ t get to throw me around!” “What were you doing in there, Shannen?” I demanded. “You can’t just ambush somebody like that.” “Why not? He ambushed us when he stole all our money!” “He’s right, Shannen,” Hammond said, joining us. “That was not cool.” Shannen rolled her eyes. “Of course you guys would defend Ally’ s dad.” “What the hell does that mean?” Hammond blurted. “Are you forgetting what that guy did to us?” Shannen said, ignoring his question. “So what if seeing us made him feel bad for five minutes? I feel bad every fucking day of my life thanks to him!” “She’s right. He deserves it,” Faith put in, shoving her hands into the pockets of her white coat. Her nose was all red and her eyes watery, but I couldn’ t tell if it was from the cold or because she was upset. “I can’t even believe Chloe’ s dad would give him a job.” “Not to mention a place to stay,” Shannen said, looking up at the apartments over the deli. Another stiff wind nearly blew us all off our feet. “What a traitor .” “He’s not a traitor,” Hammond spat, turning up the collar of his coat again. “He saw a friend in trouble and helped him out. Any one of us would do the same for you.” “Yeah, Shannen,” I said. “You of all people know that it’s not all black and white when it comes to friends.”
Her eyes flashed, and she glared at me. We both knew I was walking a fine line, talking about the Hammond/Chloe/Ally situation right in front of the others. But I was right. I knew I was. “What I don’ t get is, why tonight?” Hammond asked. “Chloe spilled back before Christmas. Why the sudden motivation to come find him?” Shannen shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Something happened after the game last night that inspired me,” she said, looking me right in the eye. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. Was she doing this because she thought I liked Ally? Trying to remind me that the Norm wasn’t worthy because her dad worked in a deli? How shallow did she think I was? “Whatever . I’m over this conversation,” Shannen said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” She turned around and grabbed Faith’s hand, speed walking down the street. Hammond and I looked at one another , sighed, and followed. All I could think about for the rest of the night was the look on Mr. Ryan’s face when he’d seen Faith. He looked scared. Like he was watching his life pass before his eyes. I knew the feeling. I’d seen Ally’s dad. I knew right where he was. Where he worked, where he lived. The question was, what the hell was I going to do about it?
m a r c h
Okay. Ally R yan just texted all thr ough Fr ench class. So? So!? Who is she texting? I saw her hanging out with Marshall Moss at Starbucks last night. No. Seriously? She just br oke up with David Drake. Um, that was, like, a month ago. I bet he’ s the one who sent her all those flowers. David? No. Marshall. He seems like the r omantic type. Not possible. Marshall was still going out with Kristie Murphy on Valentine’ s Day. He got her those gold earrings and then she dumped him? So, wait. In the last month Ally R yan has had David Drake, Marshall Moss , and some secr et admir er all over her? Yeah. I thought she was supposed to be un popular .
Quinn twirled across the stage in a sequined pink leotard and huge, graceful tutu, her arms perfectly turned, her hair perfectly bunned, her feet perfectly pointed. Everyone in the audience applauded as she finished her circuit, my mom more enthusiastically than anyone. I checked my watch and sighed. When was this thing going to be over already? My mother looked at me and clucked her tongue. But what did she expect? I’d never been a dancer, I’d never been remotely interested in dance, and yet here I was, sitting through a three-hour -long dance recital just so I could catch Quinn in one group number and one solo? Was this really how she thought I wanted to spend my Saturday? I couldn’t even believe this was where she wanted to be right now. But she’d said that Quinn had asked her personally to come, and she couldn’ t turn her down. I guess the two of them were getting closer or something. Which of course completely wigged me out. I mean, it was sad that Quinn’s mother had passed away and all, and I’m sure it was nice for her to have a mom-type figure here watching her performance. But why did it have to be my mom? Okay, that was selfish and immature. But still. I didn’t like where this was headed. It felt way too blended-family If I wasn’t st ep-freaked before, I definitely was now . Of course, it wasn’t like I had anything better to do. Annie was working. David was still avoiding me. Marshall and the guys from the basketball team were going to a Knicks game tonight and spending the day in the city. And Jake was not an option. Today was his birthday . I’d texted him to wish him a happy birthday that morning, but so far, no r eply. He’d probably gotten his license and a brand-new car and was now out with Hammond and the twins and Shannen doing something Crestie. Something I couldn’t be a part of. As soon as the lights came up at intermission, I was out of my seat. The vending machines were calling my name. If I was going to make it through