It wasn’t till a little after midnight that she thought of her daughter’s blog. She hadn’t been reading it as much, if only because so often what was written there and reality were two separate states of mind. Danica had fully committed to her “fictional” life in Singapore with her father, which hurt Juliet to read. But now, when she pulled up the site, she realized that the previous ten posts were all about that guy, that stranger, Magnum X. Her blood ran cold.
The thing about meeting internet friends in person is that you don’t know who they are, not really. You don’t know whether your personalities from the “REAL WORLD” will match, and you don’t want to risk your internet friend hating your real persona. But Magnum X has finally talked me into a real trip—not just a fake, silly story. I’m so ready to live in the real world! I’m so ready to unshackle from this small town and stop pretending to be happy! I have to pretend to everyone. It sucks!!!
Juliet fell into a total panic after that. Her head swam as she imagined her daughter in all kinds of awful situations: kidnapped, locked away somewhere, screaming for help. Juliet hated how many stories like this she’d heard before of young people trusting internet personas over their own parents. Young people thinking they had control, when it was so clear they did not. She tried to call Danica, Ivy, and Celia again, and when they didn’t answer, she watched herself dial the only other person she could think of just then: Wren.
Juliet couldn’t remember the last time she’d dialed her little sister on purpose. Although they were closest in age, Juliet and Wren had lost track of one another during their teenage years and never really resolved their differences in the year-plus since the Harper sisters had reunited to read their father’s will. Reaching out to Wren felt silly, but she couldn’t imagine waking Theo up, and she felt achingly alone.
To her surprise, Wren answered on the second ring with a bright and happy, “Juliet?”
Juliet could hear sunshine in her sister’s voice. “Wren,” she breathed. “Wren, where are you?”
But Wren heard something sinister in Juliet’s voice. “What’s going on?” she demanded, rather than answering. “Something is going on.”
It didn’t take Juliet long to explain. Soon, she sent Wren her daughter’s blog, which Wren promised to scan for any details she thought were pertinent. “It’s so hard to say if this is real,” Wren muttered. “Most of the blog is fiction, but this guy…”
“He seems real,” Juliet finished. “I don’t know what to do, Wren. I really don’t.”
Wren was quiet for a moment. “You said you’re in the city?”
“With Theo,” Juliet breathed. “We came to, um, research for the reopening of his restaurant.”
“Huh. Wow.” Wren seemed not to know what to say. And then, as though she could read Juliet’s mind over the phone, she offered, “You know, I still think about that night all the time. Prom night. I know it changed your life more than any of ours, but it changed mine, too. I loved Callie. She was like another sister to me, and, yeah. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Juliet scrunched her face into a big, red ball and let out an awful sob. Of course, fear of losing her daughter had always been tied up in the reality of having lost Callie. Of course, with each moment that passed, that she didn’t know where her daughter was, she thought of Callie, of all Callie had missed out on, of all the pain Callie had been saved by, if only because she hadn’t been allowed to keep going.
What had happened to Callie’s mother? Where had she gone when it was all over?
Had she ever forgiven herself for letting Callie go to prom in the first place?
“Listen,” Wren breathed. “You can’t be alone right now. Go down the hall and wake Theo up. He’s the only one who can really understand you, anyway. That night back in ’05 linked you forever.”
It was what Juliet had been thinking all month: that Theo’s soul was forever attached to hers, that they never should have spent so much time apart, that they couldn’t have avoided one another for the rest of their lives if they’d tried. She promised Wren she would go down the hall and talk to him, and Wren said she’d keep reading Danica’s blog for details.
“She’s a good kid, Juliet,” Wren breathed. “We’re going to find her.”
“I hope you’re right,” Juliet echoed back. “I love you, Wren. Come back?”
“I don’t know if I can,” Wren answered softly. “Bluebell Cove can be such a dark place.”
“I know what you mean. But there’s a lot of light there, too,” Juliet said.
23
Callie
April 2005
After Theo asked Callie to prom, she fell into a dreamy state, singing sweetly to herself almost constantly. She sang while she drew. She sang while she and Juliet walked along the cove. She sang as she helped her mother with the dishes and cleaned her room. All she could think about was that magical night at the end of the month, a night during which she’d wear the prettiest dress she’d ever seen up close and dance with that remarkable, funny, handsome, and talented Theo Maddox. It was beyond anything she could have hoped for.
For years, Callie had known that Theo was in love with Juliet. As a trio, they’d gone everywhere together, and Callie had had to get used to Theo, always directing his words to Juliet, always taking photographs of Juliet, always tagging along behind Juliet, hoping that she’d pay attention to him. That was partially why Callie had gotten a boyfriend a couple of years ago. Jeremy had told her she was pretty, that he’d always had a crush on her. It had felt delicious to know that someone could feel for Callie what Theo had so obviously felt for her since they were kids.
Eventually, Jeremy had broken things off, but Callie had come to terms with it. She’d realized that they weren’t meant to be.
Besides, throughout those years of “friendship” with Theo, years of watching Theo pine for Juliet, Callie had harbored a secret of her own: she was in love with Theo. The only way she’d ever expressed this was in her diary, of course. She hadn’t wanted Juliet to know the innermost secrets of her heart. Had Callie told Juliet about her crush before now, Juliet probably would have said, Oh, great, you can date Theo so that he’ll stop obsessing over me. You can distract him! That would be amazing! You’re such a good friend!
But now, things were very different, because apparently, Theo had fallen for Callie, too. He’d fallen for her so hard that he’d already begun talking about marriage, about him owning a restaurant in Bluebell, about Callie working as the art teacher at the high school.
That mural painting had been a godsend, proof to Theo that he and Callie were meant to be. And now, they were in a secret sort of relationship, one that they snuck around to fulfill. They stole kisses behind lockers. They met up in secret after school, telling Juliet they had different plans.
