“Nancy!” I heard someone calling me. “Over here!”

I looked to my right, and sitting on a bench in front of the museum were Bess, George, and a boy I didn’t recognize. I was relieved to see my friends again. Even though I knew it hadn’t actually been that long, I felt as though we had been separated for a while. I was also eager to tell them everything that had just happened.

“Hey,” I said as I approached them. “Where did you guys go?”

“Sorry,” said Bess. “It was just so crowded in there, we had to step outside.”

I thought back to all the people inside and told Bess that I completely understood. “I’m Nancy, by the way,” I said to the boy sitting next to Bess and George.

“Right,” said Bess. “Nancy, this is Lucas. He’s here for the DeSantos exhibit as well.”

I held my hand out to Lucas, and he said, “I was just telling Bess and George that I’ve been in town since the exhibit opened, about a week ago. So I’d be happy to show you guys around if you’re interested.”

Lucas had a nice, wide smile and large brown eyes. He was wearing a leather jacket, and a shark tooth hung on a chain around his neck. I also noticed that when he offered to show us around town, he looked at Bess specifically. That didn’t surprise me: Bess usually had this effect on boys.

“Yeah,” I said. “That would be great. Are you a fan of DeSantos, then?”

Lucas shrugged. “Not especially,” he said. “I’m an art history student, specializing in historic photography. And I go to school a few hours from here.”

“Oh, interesting,” I said. “Are you a photographer too, then?”

Lucas laughed and said, “No, I’m a terrible photographer! I always loved the subject, though, so now I just study it.”

“It must be an exciting thing to study,” I said. “Do you—”

Before I could finish my thought, I happened to glance over at George. She was looking at me with wide eyes and was shaking one of her legs. I realized that she had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout this entire conversation, and I immediately became worried that something was wrong.

“George?” I asked. “Are you all right?”

George quickly looked around. Then, speaking in a voice that was both a whisper and a shout, she said, “We saw Beverly DeSantos!”

“George,” said Bess, glancing over at Lucas. Lucas looked between George and Bess, as if one of them might explain why seeing Beverly DeSantos was such a big deal. Neither of them did. “Is now the best time to talk about this?”

I knew what Bess meant. This conversation might sound pretty strange to someone who had just met us.

George ignored her cousin and continued on anyway. “Beverly DeSantos stormed out of here just a few minutes ago,” she said. “Right before you came out. She looked pretty upset.”

“Well,” I said, “there might be more to that story.”