“Sometimes,” said Edie. “So, she hasn’t been here?”

“We could be on different schedules. Maybe Whitney knows. They share a room. I’ll take you up,” she said. “I’m Rita.”

Stavros buzzed Edie in. Rita picked up her toilet paper and mail and walked with her toward the elevator, pressed the button for the twelfth floor. “I should warn you, there’s been some drama between Claudia and Whitney.”

“I thought you hadn’t seen Claudia?”

“I haven’t, but Whitney’s been talking. A lot.”

“About what?”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped off. A girl talking on a phone tucked inside her hijab stood waiting to go down, a nylon bag of laundry at her feet.

“Long story short, Whitney had been hooking up with a guy, and then he started hooking up with Claudia. At least that’s what Whitney says. I don’t know all the details. I just know Whitney is super pissed.”

Rita unlocked a door with four names on it: Whitney, Rita, Yuko, and Claudia. Whitney, Yuko, and Rita had each decorated their name tags with stickers (crosses and angels and a Dallas Cowboys star for Whitney; a Bernie sticker and comedy-tragedy mask for Rita; a magazine cut-out of Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw for Yuko). Claudia, of course, couldn’t be bothered. Stickers? Really? Are we ten?

Whitney, blond and bland, was in the suite, and just as Rita described, she was pissed.

“Claudia knew we were dating,” she said. “Or, at least she should have known if she wasn’t so self-involved. I mean, she’s seen us together. I’ve talked about him.”

“She’s not here all the time, though,” said Rita. “Like, almost never on weekends.”

“She knew.”

“So, when did all this happen?” Edie asked.

“They must have hooked up over spring break,” said Whitney. “He brought her to church. It was insane.”

“Church?”

“Oh, Trevor pretends to be a Christian. But he’s a fucking fake. He’s the fakest person I ever met.”

“Okay,” said Edie. She was annoyed at having to see through this girl’s jealousy. Was what she said about this Trevor true? Or was she just jilted and angry? “When was the last time you saw her?”

Whitney shrugged. “I don’t think she’s been here since then.”

“When?”

“Since she came to church last weekend. I haven’t seen Trevor much, either. I figured they were off somewhere together.”

“Can I look in her room?” asked Edie.

“Whatever.” Whitney gestured toward the door behind her.

Edie wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but there wasn’t much of Claudia in the narrow room. Edie recognized a couple pairs of shoes and a Gucci bag that officially belonged to their mom. Whitney had photos pinned everywhere, but all that was on the wall beside Claudia’s bed was a schedule for a yoga studio in Chelsea.