Rhythm & Clues: A Young Adult Novel Read online

  Present Day

  A dull pain throbs in my finger as Isla heads to my house. Which is in entirely the wrong direction of the Krystal’s old hospital room. But Isla wouldn’t know that of course. I lean toward the front seat, putting my hands on both head rests. “Hey, Isla. Before we go to my place, there’s a detour I have to make.” I wave my injured finger at her. “My finger is killing me. I think I should get it checked out at the hospital.”

  “Right!” Sabrina catches on. “The hospital. Yeah, I think we should get that looked at.”

  “Hospital? Déjà vu two weeks ago.” Through the rear-view mirror, Isla’s eyes search mine for something. She sighs, and then clicks on her blinker and veers off at the next exit.

  Sabrina bites her lip. “How is your mom anyway?”

  A grimace tightens my lips. “She’s fine. Still can’t work.” Fine isn’t exactly true. Somehow, with her being out of commission, I gained more household responsibilities. Cooking and cleaning for two instead of just myself, like we’re a real family. Only with roles reversed.

  At the hospital, I fight back the emotions that swarm like charging bees at me when we step over the threshold. The stale scent threatens to make my knees buckle but I combat the sensation by picturing Gavin. He needs me to be strong. I hold my bruised finger snug in my palm so the girls won’t see how trivial the injury is. “Sabrina, while I get this checked out, did you want to go visit your friend? You know, the one staying in room three-twelve?”

  She stiffens before spinning on her heels to go search for the next clue.

  “You have a friend here?” Isla takes a step toward Sabrina. Behind her, a TV blasts the local news and the people in the waiting room shift in their seats, restless. “I want to meet your friend!”

  Before I can stop her, she trails off down the hallway behind Sabrina to find some random person lying in Krystal’s old spot. Or maybe an empty bed.

  I don’t actually need to get my finger checked out so I head to a payphone to try Ty in 90C again.

  “Ty’s shack of love,” he says in his familiar greeting.

  I laugh to myself. “Hi, I called earlier and—”

  “I remember. I’ve been waiting for you, my love.”

  “I’m sure you have.” I check down the hallway for the girls, my feet tapping impatiently. “Any updates?”

  “No teens with flowy hair came by, but some older guy did. He had flowy hair, like on the cover of a romance novel. Does that count?”

  I perk up. Chuck Tully had hair but I wouldn’t exactly call it flowy. More like…receding. “What did he want?”

  “Entrance to my room.” He makes a sound like an incorrect gameshow buzzer. “Access denied. Only the ladies get inside.”

  “That’s it? He just left?”

  “No. He wouldn’t leave until I threatened to call campus security. I would have fought him off myself, but I prefer to preserve my precious hands.” He lowered his voice. “For video games.”

  “Thanks, Ty. Listen, I’m going to give you a number you can reach me at from now on. Call if anything else comes up.” I give him Isla’s phone number. “Oh, and I may stop by tomorrow. Are you going to be around?” Just in case we end up at 90C, it can’t hurt to get this guy on our side.

  “Bring yogurt!”

  I take that as a yes do a mental eyeroll. A few minutes after I hang up, the girls shuffle down the hallway. Sabrina lowers her head while Isla gabs her ear off. At least she’s not wallowing about her fight with her dad.

  I meet them halfway and plead with Sabrina’s eyes. She flicks hers toward Isla in the universal sign for we’ve got a nosy eavesdropper in our proximity. So I switch gears. “I spoke to Ty. He said some older guy stopped by, but he didn’t let him in.”

  “Who’s Ty?” Isla eyes both of us.

  Sabrina’s eyes widen. “Older guy?” Sabrina ignores her.

  “I think he may have been hot with flowy hair. Ty sounded jealous.” I mull over the romance novel comment.

  Sabrina shrugs. “It could be nothing.”

  But something told me this wasn’t a coincidence.

  “I want to know about the hot guy.” Isla leans closer. “Gavin has flowy hair,” she reminds us unnecessarily. “And he’s hot,” she adds even more unnecessarily.

  I keep my attention on Sabrina. I still haven’t asked her if she knows Dennis Cunningham but I skip that clue for now. I’ll tell her it when I can get her alone. “Did you find… your friend?”

  Isla snorts. “No! She made me go into an empty room. It was creepy. So sterile. And I told her they wouldn’t have the earring she lost. They clean those rooms thoroughly. That would be kind of gross if it was still there.”

  “Moxie, it’s gone. I’m sure of it. I checked everywhere.” Sabrina purses her lips.

  Cold panic sluices through my body. Gavin’s clue is gone. What if this piece is vital to completing the puzzle he left for us?

  I wobble to the car in a daze, my fingers stiff and trembling. Halfway to the car, Sabrina’s feet stop dead.

  “What if…” She turns to me, her eyes swimming in the glow of the street lamp, watery and luminescent. An ambulance screeches by, the doors flying open as paramedics pull a gurney into the ER. “What if it’s not there because someone took it? And that’s not all they found.”

  Apprehension forms a lump in the base of my throat. I know what she’s asking: does this mean someone found Gavin too?

  As we approach my double wide, I expect Isla to snicker or something more sinister. She just puts the car in park and gets out silently.

  I creak the door open, afraid any sounds might wake Krystal. The TV blasts as she dozes on the stained plaid couch, her leg extended. Isla only ever saw her when she had big hair, done up and teased to perfection. Now, it radiates from her head in every direction, not brushed in weeks, her brown roots acting as a halo around her face.

  The girls take in as much of the décor as they can, both standing there with mouths parted. In all my friendship with Isla, I’d never invited her over. Their eyes scan the piles of dirty plates on the coffee table in front of my mother, the lime green carpet with scuff marks and stains that create an interesting pattern, the stack of bills and paperwork—Krystal’s filing system—that replaces the spots on the mantel usually reserved for elegant vases in other people’s homes. I’ve long since given up on trying to organize the papers in a drawer, allowing this location because I know it’s the only place Krystal will actually glance at them and remember to send checks. At least the furniture surfaces gleam without dust, something I’m proud of. There were no dirty plates when I left for school yesterday.

  “In there,” I whisper, pointing. Neither of them budges from the foyer, so I give Sabrina a slight push. She stumbles, and then drags Isla into my room.

  I nudge Krystal as I sit down next to her. She doesn’t move, but her chest rises and falls. Not an overdose.

  I shake her harder. “Krystal, wake up.”

  She opens her eyes, squinting at me. She groans groggily, and then mumbles. “I didn’t mean for you to follow my example.”

  She must be sleep talking. “Go to your room,” I say, officially reversing our mother-daughter roles.

  She swats me away. “The school called. You tried to hit a tree?” She yawns, closing her eyes again.

  “Oh.” Right, my escape method this morning. “About that…my car’s dead too. But I think I have enough from my grocery store savings to buy a used one we can share. Or rather, a new used one.”

  She doesn’t answer, but her body spasms in shivers. I tuck the knit blanket up to her neck. At least under the blanket, she looks peaceful and happy. Something bulky bunches up underneath the blanket by her stomach. I reach under the blanket and yank it out, knocking her cast free of the blanket.

  A book. Battered and used, a plastic cover encasing it. From the library. The title reads: How to Become a Receptionist in 10 Easy Steps (and other entry level positions).

  My mou
th opens and closes like a fish. She wants to become a receptionist? Her eyes close before I can ask her. I fight back a smile and go to slide the book back where I found it when my eyes land on the writing on her cast. Underneath Gavin’s original lyrics, there’s something new written. Something that definitely wasn’t there the last time I looked at her leg. The ink looks shiny and fresh like the concert. Written with the same pen.

  Breaking Free of Silence.

  My body thrums. We didn’t lose the clue.

  When did Gavin come here? Friday night? Before or after his date with Isla? And was I asleep?

  If I was asleep, he could have woken me up and told me about the clues. Hell, he could have given me the clues. It doesn’t make sense.

  I push open the door. Both girls are flopped on my bed, gabbing about boys Isla plans to introduce Sabrina to at Milford Brook. They giggle when I enter. These two are the last people on earth I ever imagined being the ones I would choose to let into my bedroom.

  My room isn’t as embarrassing as the living room. It’s my sanctuary, the one place I can live clutter-free. The only thing on top of my dresser is my sewing kit filled with safety pins stacked in neat compartments and colorful thread. My simple white bedspread makes the room feel clean. It was one of my first purchases with my grocery earnings. Something luxurious with a thread count that laughed at my old quilt, which Krystal had haphazardly sewn for me. I’d been slowly replacing my furniture set with sturdy hardwood pieces purchased at the local store rather than yard sales. Only my make-shift nightstand that doubles as a metal filing cabinet sticks out like a sore thumb. I cringe looking at it and vow to buy the last piece of my set soon.

  “You know he’s at the Mermaid Lounge every night hoping I’ll be there?” Isla continues with whatever train of thought she was talking about before I entered. “Sometimes I feel bad for him.”

  “He’s pretty cute and clearly into you. You should give him another chance.” Sabrina leans back against my wall, her feet dangling off the front of my bed.

  Isla wrinkles her nose.

  I sit down at my wooden desk, my head pounding with the last clue. Breaking free of silence. There was a super popular song recorded by a girl band in the 90s with that name. The song holds the record for most weeks at number one…in every country. The song was a phenomenon, sparking a dance craze that the school dances still do. It’s the same song that Chuck freaked out over the night Gavin and I performed at Mermaid.

  I can only remember the chorus but I hum it to myself.

  Because I’m breaking free of silence

  Sound surrounding me

  You brought the music to my life

  And we found harmony

  I drag out the end of the word harmony like they do in the song, repeating the last syllable several times. I’m into the song, my eyes closed, when all of a sudden all background noise ceases. I snap open my eyes to see Isla sitting up straight.

  She tilts her head at me. “My dad…knows the guy who wrote that song you’re singing.”

  My brow furrows. “I thought it was a girl bad?”

  Isla’s entire face lights up. “Well, yeah, but Dennis Cunningham is the producer. His brother’s the manager. They created the band and wrote the song.” She lifts her nose in the air in a clear humble brag. “My dad and Dennis are besties.”

  Sabrina gasps and covers her mouth. “Dennis Cunningham?”

  Isla nods. “Dennis is an investor in the Mermaid Lounge but he’s always too busy to stop by. He and my dad have been talking about starting a record label together. Dennis is brilliant.” This time, she doesn’t stumble over the word dad.

  Sabrina keeps widening her eyes at me, but the wheels are already spinning in my mind. “Brilliant? And he wrote the song?” Ty’s flowy hair comment comes back to me. “What does he look like?”

  Isla squints at me in confusion. “I don’t know. I’ve never met him. My dad just always talks about him.” Her features lift back into a smile. “Do you guys remember the dance? It was so lame. But oh so addicting.”

  Before we can respond, Isla hops up and demonstrates the dance, sticking her hip out to one side, sliding her foot across the floor and bringing her knee up to her hip. She slams her foot down and twists at the same time, switching positions. She criss-crosses her hands over her head, and then ducks all the way down, bouncing for three beats before doing a spin clap and starting the routine over again.

  On the next round, Sabrina joins in, picking up the steps quickly. The two giggle as they dance. Sabrina waggles her fingers at me to join in. With a groan, I swing my hips to match Isla’s, dipping low, bouncing. Our first few tries are haphazard in a bad So You Think You Can Dance audition way. But then we click, like we belong together. We hit each movement perfectly.

  We fall back into the bed, smiling and panting. Sabrina’s cheeks puff out as if she’s about to burst.

  And then she does. She glances at Isla once, biting her lip, before blurting, “Dennis Cunningham was my dad’s roommate at boarding school.”

  “What? Oh my God!” Isla bounces on the bed.

  My eyes flick to Isla for a moment and I make the same decision as Sabrina. Isla’s already part of this. “Breaking Free of Silence. That’s the eyelash clue. It was here all along, written on Krystal’s cast. And Dennis Cunningham’s name was written on the wall at The Mermaid Lounge.”

  Sabrina’s hand covers her mouth, realizing the connection. “Do you think they both roomed in 90C?”

  “Is Dennis the romance novel guy who tried to go there? And what does that have to do with 90C?” We now have two clues that point us toward Dennis Cunningham. Maybe this whole thing is about him, not the Tullys. I feel like Neil Armstrong, taking a giant leap that’s really only a small step.

  “Do you think evidence is in 90C like Gavin’s clue implies or will we find just another clue there?”

  “Or maybe it’s evidence about 90C, not in it.”

  Sabrina slumps.

  Isla crosses her arms. “Clue? What are you drinking, because I want some of it.”

  I stand up, pacing the room. “Gavin ran away.”

  Isla gasps. “Shut up. You’re joking.” But my face confirms the truth. She sinks onto the bed with a heaviness that makes my springs squeak. “How do you know? Is he okay?”

  “We don’t know.” Sabrina scrunches herself up on the bed. “We’re trying to find him. He kind of left us clues. To his whereabouts we hope. But we’re not entirely sure.”

  We tell her about the clues, our adventures earlier that day, and the Ford Focus.

  “Show her the mp3 player,” Sabrina says. “Maybe Isla can help us decipher these things.”

  I bite my lip. “About that…when we were at Mermaid, I ran into your father, Isla.”

  Isla’s back stiffens and she stares at me, her mouth agape.

  “He told me Gavin mentioned to him that I’d recorded a demo. I didn’t know what he meant. But the only thing I had was the player. So I gave it to him.”

  Isla and Sabrina both stand up at the same time, the bed bouncing like a trampoline, my teeth snapping together.

  “I can’t believe you gave that away!” Sabrina says at the same time Isla asks, “Is that all he said?”

  I hold up my hands. “I didn’t plan this. Gavin did. He obviously told your dad about the mp3 player and asked for a VCR, and he knew I’d follow the clues to Mermaid.”

  Isla’s face relaxes.

  I let out a huff. “I think Gavin wanted me to give away that clue. The question is… why?”

  “You still shouldn’t have given it away.” Sabrina crosses her arms. “What if Gavin’s in danger and we need that to save him?”

  “If his life hinges on an mp3 player, I think we’re on a flimsy mission to begin with. Maybe I made the wrong decision, but whatever. It’s done now. We listened to it, we tried it in the computer, if there was something else to find on that player, we would have found it by now. And we still have two more clues to g
et. The stupid white powder with the weird 1 of 2 label. And the stuffed bunny.”

  “Stuffed bunny.” Isla mulls it over. “That’s from the beach scavenger hunt, isn’t it?”

  I refuse to meet her eyes. “Yeah.”

  Instead, she nods. “Okay, but what does that random date have to do with Dennis Cunningham’s song, an mp3 player you gave away, and a VCR you randomly received?”

  “Or Gavin running away?” Sabrina adds.

  I cluck my tongue. “And a made up fire at Lockhart Academy.”

  Sabrina bolts upright. “Which is why we should go there.”

  “After we get the next to clues,” I say.

  For the rest of the night, we throw out crazy theories. Like Chuck Tully is so jealous of Dennis Cunningham’s success, he banned secular music forever more and Gavin ran away to be a groupie in Dennis’s girl band comeback tour. Isla surprises me, contributing like she’s been in on it since the beginning. I give them old clothes to wear to bed and let them use my bed while I take the floor.

  Soon the rhythmic sounds of breathing provide a lullaby in my dark room. Usually the only thing I can hear is silence and the tick tick of my heart. The fact that Isla is here, sleeping peacefully, pulls at the core to me. In our years of friendship, I’d never had the guts to invite her over. Or let her into my life outside of school. When our friendship ended, it crushed me, turning me bitter and cold. Pushing me to the outskirts of high school. Making me seek a haven in Gavin.

  This is the first time beside him that I felt whole again.

  Emotion bubbles in my throat at all the things I’d dreamed of sharing with her but never did…and also the moment I threw it all away. “I’m sorry,” I whisper into the dark. Tomorrow I’ll have the courage to tell her to her face.

  “For what?” Isla asks in a groggy voice after a moment.

  I freeze, heart racing. I hadn’t meant for her to hear. She sits upright and I can make out her shadowy form in the dark, staring at her.