“A student disappeared from her bedroom last night!” Hannah exclaims. “Nobody has any idea where she is.”
I throw the car into park and look back at Hannah. “Who’s the student?”
Not Olivia Reynolds. Not Olivia Reynolds.
“Hang on…” She’s still scrolling with her thumb. “It’s…” The color drains from her face.
“Hannah?”
Hannah chews on her lip. She glances at Liam, then back down at her phone. “Olivia Mercer.”
“Olivia…” I frown at my daughter. “Olivia… Mercer? What year is she?”
She keeps her eyes pinned on the screen of her phone, her hair falling in front of her face. “She’s, um, a junior.”
I lift my eyes to look at Liam. He is staring at the screen of his own phone, his lips slightly parted. “Liam, do you know this girl?”
“A little,” he says. “I’ve met her. But I don’t know her very well.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Is he lying? I can’t tell anymore. I used to be able to see through him, but he’s gotten too good at deceiving me. He sounds like he’s telling the truth, at least. Maybe he really is.
So instead, I look back at Hannah, who is an open book. Sure enough, she is looking at the screen of her phone, biting her lip hard enough that it’s turned white. I get a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. Oh my God,did I get the wrong Olivia? How many Olivias are there in this goddamn school?
“Maybe you two shouldn’t go to school today,” I say.
Hannah shakes her head. “I’ve got a math test today. And anyway, why would we stay home? We’ll be safe at school.”
“If you’re sure…”
Hannah manages a smile, but it’s strained. “Don’t worry so much, Mom.”
With those words, she grabs her backpack and gets out of the car. Liam reaches for the bag at his feet and starts to do the same, but I seize his arm. I still remember when his arm was so small and skinny, I could wrap my fingers around it. A lot has changed since then.
“Liam,” I say.
He shifts his backpack onto his lap. Hannah has about a million little ornaments hanging off her bag, but Liam has nothing. “I’m going to be late for school.”
“Liam.” I choke out the next sentence: “Where did you go last night?”
He lifts his dark eyes and looks straight into mine. “I just walked around the block.”
“You swear?”
“Mom, stop it. I swear.”
When he was younger, Liam had difficulty maintaining eye contact when he was lying—that’s how I knew. But his eye contact is strong right now. If he’s lying, he’s lying right to my face and doing it very well. The truth is, I don’t know what to believe. But I keep seeing the way Hannah lost her composure when she read that girl’s name off the screen.
“Mom, I’ve got to go.”
“Okay.” I release his arm. “Go. But tell Hannah I’ll pick you both up at school today.”
“I’ve got track team practice.”
“Skip it.”
Liam looks like he’s going to protest, but he keeps his mouth shut. He puts his hand on the handle of the door, poised to turn it. “Bye, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
