I said I didn’t think so. That it was pretty obvious that Joseph Wither wrote it and that Rachel ran away with him and Jordyn said that was just stupid. That made me mad and I said, “You just think everything is stupid today. I want to include it in the movie.” I looked at Violet and waited for her to agree with me but she didn’t say anything.

“Well, Violet and I don’t want it in the movie, do we?” Jordyn said so loud that I was sure the librarian was going to come over and tell us to be quiet.

Violet said that we probably shouldn’t include Rachel Farmer in the movie because we had no way of proving that he was the one who took her. Then Jordyn butted in and said that I was probably the one who drew the heart around Rachel’s head and wrote the initials.

I shouted. I mean, really shouted, “I did not!” That’s when the librarian did come over and told us to keep it down.

Then Jordyn said we needed to find someone really old to talk to—someone who was around in the ’40s who would remember what had happened. I barely said anything after that. I was too mad. I was mad at Jordyn for saying my idea was stupid and at Violet for taking Jordyn’s side.

Jordyn said we should start with interviewing some of the old guys who hang out at the bar, that they have a story for everything, and said that tomorrow after school we could go to the bar and ask some of the old farts who go there for a beer and a burger at like five o’clock because they go to bed at eight every night.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go and that I wouldn’t even bother asking my parents. My mom doesn’t like me hanging out at Petit’s. That’s so stupid because Petit’s isn’t just a bar—lots of families go there to eat pizza and hamburgers—but my mom still says no, that it’s no place for girls to spend time without their parents. I don’t even think I want to go. Right now I’m so sick of Jordyn being so bossy and never listening to my ideas. I ended up telling them that I have an appointment tomorrow after school, which was a total lie.

I’m kind of jealous that Violet and Jordyn have been spending so much time together on the project without me. Violet is my best friend but Jordyn always finds a way to get in the middle of things. I thought about lying to my mom and just going to Petit’s with them but my mom knows everyone and it would just get back to her, anyway.