Somehow I make it through the morning workshop, wedged in between Val and Lex in the crowded library while someone from Actor’s Equity drones on and on about how the union works. But all I’m thinking about is that missing notebook. It isn’t in the box of things my father has in Dallas.

Did he throw it away?

Or did it get lost?

Does Glory have it?

She had notebook #2. She kept it all these years. So that seems like the most likely answer. At least it’s someplace to start.

When I show up at her desk that afternoon, I hit her square in the jaw with my question.

“My mother had another notebook,” I say. “That summer. Do you have it?”

Glory looks up from the email she’s writing, and I see the panic on her face.

“Another notebook?”

I nod. “The one you gave me was marked number two. I need to know if you have number one.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know anything about another notebook.”

I feel the frustration bubbling up inside me. Because nothing is ever easy. But I’m in the mood for answers this afternoon, and I intend to get one. So I fire off another round.

“My mother was cheating on my dad. Wasn’t she?”

Glory looks up from her computer and stares at me for a second. “No,” she starts. And she shakes her head. “That’s not . . . I don’t . . .” I can see her wheels spinning. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? It was a long time ago.”

She stands up and moves to the copier. I watch her open the lid and put a piece of paper on the glass. She closes the lid and presses the buttons. The air hums with the sound of the machine. The hiss of copies spitting into the sorting tray.

“Are you sure?” I press. Because I already know she’s lying to me.

Glory’s still facing the copy machine. “I don’t—” she starts again. Then she stops and takes a deep, shaky breath. “Nicki was my friend,” she tells me. “The closest one I’ve ever had. And, honestly, that’s all I know for sure anymore.” She turns around to face me, and there’s so much pain on her face. She sits down in her office chair. She’s staring at her desk. “Everything else about that summer is . . . hazy.”

I don’t know what to say. I hadn’t meant to upset her. Glory’s been so good to me. I just wanted to see if she might know anything else. Something she hadn’t said yet.

Because I’m getting desperate.

When I walk into the cafeteria for dinner, Lex, Jude, and Val are already gathered at our usual table. I grab a pork chop and some rice and slide into one of the plastic chairs.