“So?”

Mrs. Ratner lets the other kids ask me questions for a few more minutes. They ask me some questions that are okay, like what is my favorite movie or my favorite TV show. But they ask me a lot of other questions that are weird. Like, why am I wearing socks with a dress? And that same kid who asked if my dad was an alien asks me if I believe in aliens and if I’ve ever seen one.

When I go back to my seat, the boy next to me is staring at me. It’s pretty annoying, and I finally say to him, “What is it?”

And then he says, “If you are an alien, you are the prettiest alien I have ever seen.”

I don’t even know what to say to that. But then Mrs. Ratner shushes us, so I don’t have to think of what to say back.

When it’s time for lunch, the boy who was sitting next to me follows me to the cafeteria. Well, I am pretty much following everyone else since I don’t know where to go, but I feel like he is behind me the whole time. And then when I get into the line, he is right in line behind me.

“Hi, Ada,” he says. “I’m Gabe.”

“Hi,” I say back.

When I was in kindergarten or first grade, all the kids in our class were about the same size. But in fifth grade, some kids are a lot bigger than others. Like, there are kids that only go up to my shoulder, and then there are other kids like Gabe who are super tall and kind of tower over me.

“So how do you like the school so far?” he asks me.

I don’t like it at all. But I can’t say that. So I just shrug. “It’s fine.”

“How come you moved here?”

“My parents think it’s a good place for kids to grow up or something.”

“Oh, it’s not.” Gabe’s eyes bug out, and for a moment, he reminds me a little bit of the praying mantis that Nico wants to get. “Did you know that this kid disappeared a few years ago? Like, one day he was here, and one day he wasn’t.”

I don’t know what he is talking about. If this town wasn’t safe, my parents wouldn’t have moved us here. “From our school?”

“No, he lived a few towns away, but we all went to the same camp together.” Gabe looks way too excited to talk about this missing kid. “He was really good at archery, but I was a better swimmer. His name was Braden Lundie. And like I said, one day he just never came home from school, and nobody ever figured out what happened to him.”

“They say it’s usually someone in the family.” I heard my mom saying that once to my dad when they were watching the news and thought I couldn’t hear them.

“No, it wasn’t,” Gabe insists. “Braden’s parents were working with the police and trying so hard to find him. But they never did.” He gives me an ominous look. “He’s probably dead now.”

“Maybe he ran away.”

“He was only eight years old! Where would he even go?”

The idea of an eight-year-old disappearing makes goose bumps pop up all over my arms. I have to make sure to wait with Nico for the bus. If we’re together, nothing can happen.

“If you want,” Gabe says, “I can walk you home so nothing happens to you.”

“I take the bus.”

And even if I didn’t, I do not want to hang out with Gabe. As much as I want to make some friends, he’s creepy. It’s something about his thin curly hair. Also, he smells bad. He needs to take a shower. I take one every night because Mom says it’s important to smell good.

“Well,” he says, “maybe you can come over to my house after school today.”

“I’m not allowed,” I say. “I’m supposed to come right home after school.”

“Maybe another day?” he asks hopefully.

“Maybe.”

I don’t want to hang out with Gabe any day, but I’m hoping he will just leave me alone if I say that. But he doesn’t leave me alone. He talks to me the entire time we are waiting in the line for our food, and then he follows me to my table. I don’t really want to sit with him, but I guess it’s better than sitting alone.

SIXTY-THREE

Nico and I ride the bus home from school together. It’s not surprising that he made a bunch of new friends today, but he still sits next to me.

“How was school?” I ask him.

“Pretty good,” he says. “A lot of kids like to play baseball.”

I wish I was good at sports like Nico. I’m good at swimming because Dad taught me, but it’s not a group activity. I don’t even think there’s a swim team for kids my age. The other thing I like to do is read, and that’s not a group activity either.

“Some of the kids are going to the park this weekend to play baseball,” he says. “Maybe Mom will let me go.”

“Just be careful,” I say. “Did you know that there was this kid named Braden Lundie who disappeared a few years ago? He was about your age too. Nobody even knows what happened to him.”

“So?”

“So! Something happened to him. Maybe somebody killed him.”

“Geez, Ada.” Nico rolls his eyes. “You worry more than Mom.”

He might be right. I don’t know why I worry about things so much. I wish I could turn off my worrying.

“If you’re worried,” Nico says, “you can come and watch.”

I might do that, but really, I would rather be spending time with kids my own age. I didn’t make any friends today. Well, except for Gabe, and I really, really don’t want to spend any time with him outside school. It’s bad enough I have to see him at school.

“Did you sleep better having your own room last night?” I ask Nico.

He thinks about it for a minute and shakes his head. “No, I was scared. I missed you.”

I’m glad he said that. I had so much trouble sleeping last night all alone in my room. “I miss you too.”

“Maybe we can have a sleepover sometime?” he suggests. “I can bring a sleeping bag and sleep on the floor in your room.”

“Or I can sleep in your room?”

“We can take turns,” he says happily.

The bus arrives on Locust Street, which is the dead-end street where we live. Nico and I climb out, along with that kid Spencer who lives across the way. Spencer’s mom is already waiting for him and immediately takes him home, but our mom is waiting in the house. I’ve got the keys to the house in my bag, and Mom says if she’s not home from work yet when we get home, I’m in charge until she gets back.

As we pass the house next door to ours, I notice somebody at the window. It must be our neighbor. It’s a man about the same age as Dad, and when he sees us, he waves. Nico waves back, and so do I, but I feel weird about it. I don’t know why that man is standing at the window, watching the school bus arrive.