What We Knew Read Online Free PDF Page A

ended. When I woke, the sun had shifted. Lisa was sitting with her chin on her knees and had this angry, faraway look.
    “Hey,” I said, tickling her back with her bathing suit string. “I’m sorry about the Trent thing.”
    “It’s not you,” she grumbled. “Stupid Larry.”
    Stupid Larry is Lisa’s stepdad. Her real father suffers from the same disease as mine: deadbeatitis.
    “He totally went off on me last night,” Lisa complained. “Said he doesn’t care what my mother says—from now on he wants me home by ten. Said I shouldn’t be out ‘tramping’ around. Can you believe him?”
    I didn’t say anything—didn’t even crack a smile—but Lisa swatted me with a magazine.
    “I’m going to the Snack Shack,” she said. “What do you want?”
    “Sour gummies,” I said. I ran my tongue over my teeth. “And a toothbrush.”
    Lisa fished her wallet from her bag. “Keep an eye on Katie,” she warned. “She’ll try to sneak over to the deep end.”
    I checked my phone. Adam had sent me a text on his way to work. It was his first day washing dishes in the hospital kitchen. Lisa and I were the only ones without jobs. Actually, Lisa had a job—watching Katie. Their mom works nights and sleeps days and can’t afford to send Katie to day camp. Me, I had no excuse.
    “Hey, Katie!” I shouted over the pool and the noise. Three separate girls—none of them Lisa’s sister—stopped bobbing and stared. I waved them away. “Not you! Katie Grant!”
    I knew she’d heard me, but she ducked under the rope of red-and-white floats. The water was up to her neck. I waded in after her, my skinned knees burning from the chlorine, and bumped into a kid spinning in circles, making waves with his arm. A kid doing a handstand kicked me in the face. “You’re dead, Katie!” I called, pogoing out to the middle. Katie’s blue lips quivered when I grabbed her wrist.
    “Noooo!” she pleaded. “I’m looking for Ryan! He said he was going to be here.”
    Her pruney fingers swiped at the bangs plastered to her forehead. I plucked a blade of grass stuck to her cheek, looking at her sadly. I knew exactly how she felt. Foley was famous for saying he’d be one place and ending up in another. How many times had I searched for him at Fun Nights or parties or football games? Not Adam, though. He was always right where I wanted him, right where he said he’d be.
    My knees had quieted, so I splashed around with Katie until I saw Lisa coming through the pines. She’d kill me for leaving our stuff out for anyone to steal. I waded out and toweled off and watched her peel away toward the picnic area. Same bouncy walk, same white-blond pigtails, but it wasn’t Lisa. I watched Not Lisa flirt with a shirtless guy kicking around a hacky sack. By the time the real Lisa came back, my bathing suit was dry.
    “What took you so long?” I said. “Where’s my candy?”
    “Forget the candy. I’ve got something better.”
    She opened her fist. Wow, a marble, I thought. Big deal . But then she nudged it with her finger. Blue iris. Pupil black as night. My heart thunked.
    “I went to find my necklace,” she said lightly.
    “Have you lost your mind?” I shrieked. “You could’ve been attacked!”
    Lisa rolled her eyes—I was overreacting. But I wasn’t. We’d spent our whole lives avoiding the woods for that exact reason.
    “It’s not as scary during the day,” she said.
    I looked to the tree line. “Did you find it? Your necklace?”
    She shook her head wearily. “No. He’s probably got my flip-flop, too.”
    “Who’s got your flip-flop?” Katie asked, crashing belly up-on my towel.
    Lisa quickly hid the eye in her bag. “Nobody,” she said. “We brought you here to swim. Go.”
    Katie pretended to shiver. “I’m cold. I want to go home.”
    “She’s bummed because Ryan didn’t show,” I said.
    Lisa packed her sunscreen and sunglasses. “Maybe his house got a flat tire.”
    I tugged my towel out from under