I just need to take a few days away to think things over. I’m taking the early bus to Boston. (I’ll call Mom and Dad from the bus—don’t worry, you don’t have to tell them.) Not sure when I’ll be back. Keep an eye on Marlene for me, okay?

Love, Lo

Scarlett jumped out of bed and pushed open Lola’s closet door. Her little wheeled suitcase was gone. She immediately ran to Spencer’s room, because this sort of thing—a brazen, dumb move—was his department. It took a few knocks to rouse him, tousled, unshaven, and confused.

“Lola’s gone,” she said. “She went to Boston.”

Spencer left the door hanging open as an invitation to let her come in, then walked back to his bed and dropped himself on it face-first, bouncing as he hit.

“Uh-huh,” he mumbled from the pillow.

“She ran off in the middle of the night,” Scarlett said, standing over him shaking his shoulder. “She…ran away.”

Seeing that he wasn’t going to be able to escape this conversation, Spencer reluctantly pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “She’s eighteen. She can handle a little road trip.”

“But this is Lola,” Scarlett said. “Lola doesn’t run away. And what about her job?”

“Let her go blow off some steam for a few days, lose another retail job. It’s not the end of the world. It’ll be fine.”

But Scarlett didn’t feel fine. She felt queasy. Lola wasn’t a creature of clockwork predictability, but there was a soothing rhythm to her actions, like a loose, flowing embroidery made of even, careful stitches.

“I don’t like it,” Scarlett said, shaking her head at the note. “I think there’s something wrong with her.”

“Look,” Spencer said, “everyone rebels. Lola’s way overdue. Going to Boston is nothing. I did way stupider things than that. One time, I went to Jersey to see a girl I’d never even met in person.”

“Jersey is a lot closer,” Scarlett said.

“Not when you go by bike. I didn’t have the twenty bucks for the train and it looked a lot closer on the map. FYI, it’s not close. Can you trust me on this one? She’ll be back in a few days to obsess about the towels and yell at me for whatever. This is actually a good thing. It shows she’s normal.”

“You’re sure?” Scarlett asked.

He flipped over on his side, toward the wall.

“Have I ever been wrong?” he replied.

Temptation

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STRANGE GAMES