“I gotta get some water,” Zoe said as we ran by a corner store across from the park. I followed her through some revolving doors that led inside. It took her only seconds to grab a bottle of water from the cooler, but then we had to wait in a long line.

“Maybe I should run ahead and have you catch up,” I said.

“NO. You stay right here, little bro.”

“But Loopy’s fast, Zoe.”

“Yeah, I know. And you have friends out looking for him. Plus, we don’t know if he’s at the Bow Bridge now, or if he’s at the Bow Bridge in the past.”

I scratched my head. “Huh?”

Zoe cracked open the water and took a sip. Then she offered me some. “Yeah, I know. Confusing, isn’t it?”

After a few minutes, we finally made it up to the cashier. By then, I had added another water bottle to our order.

“Time’s getting short, Arcade. Mom’s gonna want us home for dinner in a couple of hours.”

“No worries. I’m sure we’ll find him by then. Come on!”

We ran across the street, into the park, and Zoe’s phone buzzed again. Her eyes bugged out of her head when she looked at the text. “OH, NO! It’s Michael!”

“Michael who?”

Zoe smacked me on the back of the head. “Michael Tolley! We left him at the school!”

I stopped running, grabbed my stomach, and laughed. “Oh, dude! I totally forgot! And you ditched him! He’ll never date you now.”

Zoe stood there, glaring, with her hand on her hip and her chin in the air. “That’s NOT funny, Arcade.”

“I’m sorry. He’ll forgive you.” I stopped laughing. I really did feel bad. Michael’s a nice guy. He didn’t deserve to be ditched. Not by his current Broadway “girlfriend,” Trista, not by me, and definitely not by his hope-to-be-in-the-near-future girlfriend, Zoe.

*  *  *

“Mom, hey, Arcade and I are at the park. We’re going to hang out in the Ramble for a bit.” Zoe talked on her phone as she race-walked with me on the main road that runs along the edge of the park. “Yes . . . I know . . . we’re watching out for each other. Yes, I’m working on my goal. Okay . . . yes. Five-thirty for dinner. Gotcha.” She clicked her phone off. “We have an hour and a half. That’s it for today.”

We took off down some winding paths, heading through the Ramble toward the Bow Bridge.

“Maybe Loopy came in here and he’s resting on a bench or something. Any new notifications from Picture Post?”

Zoe looked at her phone. “Nothing from @LoopDogNYC.”

We ran by another bench, and there sat our pedicab driver friend, Elijah. “Hello, friends! It is wonderful to see you again. Are you searching for the hidden cave, Arcade?” Elijah did not have his pedicab with him.