“Yeah,” Michael says. “Because we can tell everything about him from his clothes.”

Tressa shoots him a look. He obviously doesn’t care, and I envy him.

“I feel sorry for him,” Brandy says.

“Why?” Tressa darts back. “He is not a nice person.”

“How do you know?” Aimee asks.

Tressa looks at her like she’s a fool.

I have to admit I’m not sure that he’s all that nice, but the little voice tells me to keep quiet about him.

“Hello?” Tressa begins. “Did you just see him? I heard he’s always in trouble and he stole stuff from a room when his father went in to fix something. And he’s a liar, too, because he said he didn’t do it.”

I want to ask how she’s so sure, but I have a feeling that telling Tressa she may be wrong about something is like poking a bear with a fork.

So, as she reports on all of the things she’s “heard,” I stare at him. Ronan is now leaning against a fence in the parking lot with his fists tucked underneath his armpits. I notice the way he pushes his chin forward like he’s ready for a fight . . . while his face is so sad.

Tressa continues. “I don’t know. You should complain, Brandy. You have to live with him at Seaside. Who knows what he’ll do?”

Brandy doesn’t say much. In fact, she doesn’t say anything at all, which isn’t like the Brandy I’ve always known.

Michael turns to Aimee. “We should get going.”

She nods, I hug them both, and they head across the parking lot.

“Let’s go back to the beach,” Brandy says, and I nod.

As we leave, I keep my eyes on the boy in black, who is possibly both a liar and a thief.

Chapter 9

MORE THAN A FLUKE

I was more excited about the whale watch before I found out Tressa was coming.

I think about the gift I got for Brandy and how much she’s going to like it as we board the boat with Mrs. Fiester.

I run up the stairs to the top decks. Tressa and Brandy follow. The boat is filled with blue benches. There are safety ring buoys hanging on the walls. Having been trained by Papa and Henry, I look for the lifeboats, too, and see they are stacked on top of the cabin.

When the boat takes off, I can feel the motor rumbling through the deck. Brandy’s looking at Tressa’s phone, and the two of them are laughing at some video. I want to join in but know Tressa won’t like that. And I’d rather look at the ocean anyway.

Huge waves rise and fall, rise and fall, like a slow-motion watery seesaw. The boat bobs up and down with each wave. It makes me feel tiny. I call to Brandy to come look.

Brandy and Tressa arrive to see the enormous fluke of a whale as it dives. The scientist on board tells us that the fluke, or tail, of a whale is like a person’s fingerprint. Each one is different. I turn to Brandy and say, “That’s so cool!” but she is gone. Those two are already sitting on the bench, watching more videos.