“What was your impression of him back then?”
Emma frowns. “I’d seen him around last year, you know? With Jack and that crew.” She glances at Aster. I wonder ifthat crewmeans the people Aster knows. I remember Jay mentioning a friend named Jack.
“But you hadn’t met him before then?”
She laughs a little self-consciously and sneaks a glance at Aster again. What is that about? Emma looks like she wants Aster’s approval.
“Nah. I heard he was an ass. But he wasso hot. He was on the water polo team, you know. You should have seen those pecs.”
That checks out. Jay did mention water polo practice once.
“How long were you two ... associating?” I don’t want to saytogetherbecause Jay said they never really were together. And sayingsleeping togetherseems weird.
Emma doesn’t seem to notice my awkward phrasing. “A couple of weeks? Until, like, end of September? He totally ghosted me. I mean, I should have known. Like they say, a giraffe can’t change his stripes.”
“Zebra,” Gracie says, correcting Emma. She looks like she’s holding in a laugh.
Emma waves a hand. “Whatever.”
So it seems Emma wasn’t talking to him anymore at least a month before he disappeared. I really don’t want this interview to turn into aJay was terriblesession, so I guide the conversation forward.
“What else can you tell me about him? Was he close to his family? Did he have hobbies? What did you guys talk about?”
She shrugs. “I dunno. We didn’t really talk that much. He’s from Scarborough, if you can believe it. I guess living there makes you paranoid—he wasconvincedhe was being followed. The guy was so strange—I have no clue how he ended up with Jack’s crowd.” She snorts. “Jay used to take the subway all the way to Scarborough just to get a sandwich.” She makes a face. “I’m sorry, but no sandwich is worth getting potentially shot for.”
Scarborough is a district in the east end of Toronto that has a reputation for being dangerous and full of crime. In reality, the crime rate is no worse than the rest of the city, but Scarborough has a lower average income, is underfunded, and is mostly full of immigrants and people of color. I follow a food blogger from the area, and the food there looksincredible. I’d be tempted to take a long subway ride for a sandwich that good.
Gracie scowls at Emma’s elitist—and frankly,racist—comment. I can tell that Gracie doesn’t like Emma, and that Emma doesn’t notice or care. The only person here that Emma seems to care about is Aster. And Aster seems to be indifferent to Emma’s fawning. She’s mostly looking at Gracie.
What’s the story with Aster, anyway? She has nothing to do with Jay or his disappearance, but there’s something about her that I can’t put my finger on.
“So, were you and Jay exclusive?” I ask.
She blinks. “I thought we were. But after he ghosted me, I found out that Jay Hoque doesn’t do exclusive.”
“Did hesayyou were exclusive?”
She doesn’t answer that question. Between Jay and Emma, clearly Jay is the more trustworthy one. Even though I’ve never seen his body language.
But I still can’t tell if Emma is capable ofhurtingJay. Does she hate him enough for that? I ask another question.
“You said earlier that you knew he was an ass. Where did you hear that?”
“Oh, you know. Around.” She giggles. “Everyone knows he was an asshole, right? It was all overBirdwatcher.”
“Wasn’t theBirdwatcherTumblr taken down last spring?” I ask.
Gracie turns to me, surprised. She might have heard of Birdwatcher, but I don’t think she knew about the Tumblr.
Emma looks around the student center, then leans close, as if she’s talking only to Aster. “You haven’t heard? Birdwatcher isback.” I wonder if Gracie included Aster in this conversation because she knew Emma would be more likely to open up. Seems Gracie truly does want to help me.
Aster raises a brow. “It is?”
Emma nods, grinning. “On Instagram.”
Instagram?I pick up my phone and do a quick search for Birdwatcher on Instagram. All the results have to do with actual birds. Not Jay.
“Who’s behind the account?” Gracie asks.
