Northanger Alibi

  And then it hit me.

  I’m going to Washington.

  I’m really, really, really going.

  Honestly, can life get any better than this?

  Two

  Seattle or Bust!

  Three and a half weeks later, I asked myself the same question repeatedly: Can life get any better than this? I thought as I collected my luggage and took it down to the car. I thought it as I hugged and kissed my mom and dad goodbye, promising to say my prayers every night. Yeah. Say my prayers that I meet Edward. And then I asked it out loud as we boarded the plane.

  By the time we landed, I was in that complete nervous-slash-excited state of mind you get when you’re ready for your amazing adventure to begin. I didn’t realize how excited I was until I noticed I was practically running down the long ramp to get to the terminal.

  Cassidy finally caught up. “Why are you walking so fast, girl? The place isn’t on fire!” She panted next to me as she tried to match my long strides.

  “Not yet, it isn’t. If you give me a couple of minutes, I’m sure I can cause enough friction with these shoes to start a fire.”

  She giggled. “The way you were moving, I don’t doubt it.”

  Cassidy and I walked out into the open terminal, then stepped aside and stood near a pillar to wait for Roger and Darlene. I felt a momentary stab of guilt when I realized my actions could’ve been considered rude, running ahead of the group like that. But all my fears were soon put to rest when the Hadleys came bounding down the ramp.

  “Well, there they are!” Darlene exclaimed loud enough to be heard by everyone around us. “I’m so glad to see such eagerness. You girls are going to keep me on my toes, I can tell. It’s about time, too.” She walked over and put an arm through each of ours, and we all followed Roger as he carried their carry-on luggage.

  After a happy squeeze and a giggle, Darlene asked, “So, are you two ready for your first real adventure?”

  “Yes!” Cassidy and I chorused back, laughing. I had never been more ready for anything in my entire life.

  Move over, Seattle. Claire Hart just landed, and I plan on taking you by storm!

  ***

  So, my storm had to be patient as we unpacked and moved into the small cottage Roger had rented for the summer. Cassidy and I shared a pretty yellow room with two twin beds. There was a tiny closet tucked into the corner, and a long, white French-style dresser for our clothes. Each bed had a charming little white nightstand that matched the dresser, with a cute reading lamp and a personal alarm clock. I chose the bed closest to the window.

  Cassidy opened a narrow door she’d found once she closed our bedroom door. She gasped. “What’s this?”

  Probably another closet, I thought. Unconcerned, I dumped my carry-on on the bed and set my wheeled suitcase next to it.

  “Claire, you’ve got to see this,” exclaimed Cassidy in a muffled voice. “You’re never going to believe it!”

  I looked up and couldn’t see her anywhere. The small door was wide open. “Cass?”

  “In here! Hurry!”

  What in the world? I quickly dropped my camera and purse on the bed and went to the door. When I peered inside, my gasp echoed Cassidy’s just moments before. “No way. This is amazing.” I actually had to blink twice before I fully comprehended what I was seeing. It was the largest, most decadent bathroom I’d ever seen—at least the size of our room, if not bigger. It was beautiful and bright, with shades of cheerful yellow and pink and white bouncing off the walls and the soft, plush rugs beneath our feet.

  Just then, Darlene knocked and then peeked into the bathroom. “This place is great, isn’t it?”

  I was about to go off about the awesomeness of the claw-footed bathtub, but she went on. “So, girls, Roger’s classes don’t start until Monday, and since it’s only Friday, what do you say we do a bit of sightseeing while we’re here?”

  “Really?” I said. “That would be awesome.” Even Cassidy looked excited.

  “Roger and I thought we’d ask the president of Northwest Academy and his family to come, too. What do you think?”

  The weird kids—the ones that need friends? My smile waned. “Sure, why not?”

  “We did promise them we’d bring someone they could meet,” Darlene reminded me.

  “Who’s this? You promised we’d meet someone?” Cassidy asked.

  I’d forgotten I hadn’t told my sister anything about the loser teenagers. In hidden disgust, I walked past our host and sat on my bed. I’d let Darlene tell my sister the good news. I had all but blocked out the horror of Darlene’s explanation when I heard Cassidy’s massive intake of breath. With a grin, I caught her panicked look from the doorway just before she smiled happily at our host, obviously trying not to relay any of the warning flags I’m sure were popping up in her head.

  ***

  I prayed for rain. Like, big-time rain. You know—enough to cancel our sightseeing tour and put off the inevitable meeting as long as possible.

  Well, it did sprinkle, but not enough to keep us away from meeting the paragons of awkwardness. In fact, we were soon standing on the slightly damp grass in front of the Space Needle, watching them walk toward us.

  All right, I admit it. Anthony and Eleanor Russo weren’t that bad. I mean, sure, there was something about them that just didn’t sit right, something in their movements or the way they talked. I don’t know—it seemed stilted, not natural. Kind of Stepford-y, if you catch my drift. But other than that, I couldn’t complain.

  One thing was for sure, they were a whole lot cuter than I thought they’d be. Their whole family was this perfect, white-collar, yuppie-type family. They each had beautiful smiles and beautiful eyes and beautiful clothes.

  The parents were Ilene and Jonathan. Both of them looked really young, but they must’ve been in their early forties. And then there was Anthony, who went by Tony, who had just turned seventeen, and Eleanor—Nora—who we later found out was his twin sister.

  They were nice, too—almost too nice. I enjoyed talking to Nora the most, because she seemed just a little bit more real than Tony.

  “Have you ever been to Seattle before?” she asked as we boarded a large boat with wheels, part of our Ride the Ducks tour.

  “No. Does this vehicle really go in the water, too?”

  “You’ve never been on these before, have you?” She smiled at me, then climbed into a row and patted the bench next to her. “You’re going to love this tour. It’s really nice.”

  “Nice?” Crazy, yes, but nice?

  Cassidy and Tony sat down on the bench across the aisle.

  “Fun,” Nora amended. “It’ll be a lot of fun.”

  Now “fun” I understood. “Cool.”

  “Just wait. It’ll drive us all around Seattle, so you can see everything up and down the streets, and then it’ll drive right down a ramp into the ocean. That’s why they’re called ducks, because they’re on land and then the water. They’re really nice.”

  There was that word again—“nice.” Something just wasn’t right.

  Nora’s brother leaned across the narrow walkway between the two benches and asked, “You didn’t tell Claire about the part where we go all the way under the water, did you?”

  Huh? Under the water? I looked out the sides of the duck-slash-boat thing. There were no windows. Just open air, supports, and a roof. The boat would fill up with water in seconds. “Are you kidding?” I asked him.

  Tony’s eyes moved from Nora’s to mine. It was the first time I had made real eye contact with him.

  Wow. He’s—he’s really cute! And, um, close.

  Leaning over like he was, Tony was only about a foot from me. “It’s just for a couple of seconds. It’s not like you’ll drown or anything. You did read the brochure, right? It told you to make sure you only brought waterproof stuff on board.”

  What in the—? I glanced down at the pamphlet in my hand and back up at him, totally thinking he was serious until I saw a playful g
limmer flash in his light brown gaze. “Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and tried to push him back toward Cassidy. My hand collided with solid steel. At least, that’s what his shoulder felt like to me. Not that I had touched a lot of guy’s shoulders, but Tony’s felt pretty strong. Really strong, actually. Almost too strong.

  He must’ve seen my face because he chuckled nervously, then quickly leaned back into his seat.

  A few more passengers moved down the aisle between us and broke our eye contact.

  “What’d you say to Claire?” Cassidy asked him.

  As I sat forward and tried not to think about how strong his shoulder was, I heard Tony murmur something to Cass. A second later she burst into laughter.

  Ha ha.

  “Don’t mind Anthony,” Nora whispered. “He’s always trying to tease people. You should see the stuff he does to me.” She shuddered dramatically.

  It was definitely a sign that they were a normal family. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

  I didn’t have much time to think about them after that, since the boat thingy started up. For the next hour and a half, I lost myself completely to the zany tour. Even the tour guide was hilarious. I couldn’t believe it when he had us singing along with him. He made the most boring sights, like regular cafés and businesses, seem exciting. I couldn’t wait to explore them after the tour was over.

  When we plunked into the water, the energy level, which had been pretty high before, jumped to colossal proportions. It was incredible to see Seattle from the water—it gave the whole city a sort of picturesque quality.

  It was then that it hit me. Really, truly hit me. Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I’m here! I’m in Washington! How did I ever get this lucky?

  So, my first full day in Washington wasn’t bad. It was wonderful, actually—it didn’t turn out anything like what Cassidy and I had imagined. Thank goodness Nora and Tony weren’t total far-fetched basket cases. The day could’ve been pretty bad.

  Dinner at the Space Needle turned out to be a way different story. Believe me—I need a whole chapter to tell that one. Who knew Tony would turn out to be so completely different? I mean, honestly, I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted how our day would end. But now that I’ve had some time to ponder it, I see the signs were there all along. I just hadn’t been wise enough to put them together.

  Three

  Secret Revealed

  It all started out innocently enough. We had begun and ended our day at the Space Needle—with a quick run home and a change of clothes, of course. This time we were going inside, and none of us wanted to go to Seattle’s coolest restaurant in jeans and T-shirts.

  The Space Needle was huge. I didn’t think so just by looking at the picture, but when you stand right underneath it, the building is pretty impressive. It’s awe inspiring the way that large spaceship-looking thing is balanced on such narrow legs. Whoever designed it must’ve been a complete genius.

  The ride to the top in the elevator was crazy. Even though it took less than a minute, it felt like five.

  Cassidy gasped. “My stomach is going to fall right out this window.” Everyone in the elevator laughed.

  I knew exactly where she was coming from. The farther we climbed—and the more of Seattle we saw below us—the farther my stomach felt from my body. I had no idea I was afraid of heights until that moment.

  “Oh, just wait till you get inside,” Tony said next to me. “The restaurant spins so you get to see the whole city.”

  What? “It spins?” I freaked and held on to the side of the elevator. “What do you mean, it spins?”

  “Are you kidding?” Cassidy looked green.

  Everyone in the elevator laughed again, even the strangers.

  “What?” I said.

  Nora shook her head and opened her mouth to respond, but Tony was faster. “You can’t even tell you’re moving, I promise. It rotates so slowly you don’t even realize anything has happened until you look out the window and the scenery has changed.”

  “Well, that’s a relief,” Cassidy muttered. “For a minute there, I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into.”

  I glanced over at Nora to see how she was taking it, but she wasn’t paying attention to anyone except Tony. By the looks of things, they had just started a very heated, whispered discussion. Whatever Tony was saying, it wasn’t making Nora very happy. What’s going on?

  I tuned out the adults completely to try to hear what Tony and Nora were saying, but the hum of the elevator was so loud I couldn’t make out more than a couple of words—“Yeah, well . . .” and “No. Don’t even . . .”

  My sister was a bit closer to them, and I wondered if she could hear any better. After giving her a nudge with my elbow, I was about to ask if she’d heard anything, when we arrived and the elevator doors opened. Darn. Tony and Nora stopped talking and surged forward with everyone else.

  “What’d you bump me for?” Cassidy quietly asked as we entered the main lobby of the restaurant.

  I leaned toward her but caught Tony’s eye. “Nothing, I’ll tell you later,” I mumbled. Then I exclaimed, “Wow—the food smells awesome. I can’t wait to try it.”

  Mr. Russo walked up to the hostess, and I watched as he slipped a folded bill into her palm and announced our names. She pretended to scan the reservation list, and then said with a smile, “We have your table waiting, sir. If you will please follow me.”

  I wondered if anyone else noticed Jonathan Russo’s bribe. If they did, they didn’t say anything or seem to think it was weird. Huh. I hitched my purse higher on my shoulder and followed the group, with Cassidy beside me.

  “Did you see that?” I whispered.

  “See what?” she muttered back.

  Glancing behind him, Tony caught my eye again. The guy must have ears like a jackrabbit. I smiled. “The flowers on the hostess desk. Weren’t they beautiful?”

  “Uh, I didn’t see them.” Cassidy looked at me funny.

  I couldn’t tell if Tony bought it because he’d already turned around. I didn’t know why I was so hesitant to let him hear me, but I was.

  Once we got to our table and saw the view of the city from the window, I felt a little lightheaded. It was beautiful, but it was totally weird to be so far above the world and looking down on it, knowing you were basically floating above it all. One side of the rectangular table was against the window, and I chose the opposite side, so I was as far as possible from the window. Unfortunately, so did Tony.

  Sheesh. It’s like he’s trying to keep tabs on me or something.

  Nora sat next to him, and Cassidy sat next to me. The adults sat across from each other—women on one side, men on the other. I could tell they were all good friends.

  “Are you sure you kids don’t want to sit closer to the window?” Tony’s dad asked. “Claire? Cassidy? I’ll swap seats with either of you, if you like. The view is much better from here.”

  “I think it’s the view they’re trying to avoid, Dad,” Tony jumped in.

  “Oh, I see.” Jonathan smiled knowingly at us before turning his attention to Roger.

  Darlene leaned over as the hostess handed Cassidy and me our menus and said, “This is on us. We really want you to enjoy yourselves tonight, so order whatever you want.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled. Then I opened my menu, and the prices of the food hit me full force. Holy cow! I gulped. Forty-five dollars for seafood? Fifty-five dollars for steak? Are you kidding me? That better be one massive piece of meat. I scanned through the other items to find something more reasonable. I knew the exact second Cassidy became aware of the prices, because she inhaled sharply and then choked out a cough. Her eyes were huge.

  I could tell she was doing the same thing I was—trying to find something that didn’t cost more than a new pair of mall-quality boots. Fifty dollars could feed our whole family for about three days. Just the thought of spending that much on one meal blew me away.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I looked up to
find Tony’s eyes resting on me. For a moment I forgot everything else. “What? Oh—uh, nothing.”

  “Nothing?” He grinned. He really had a nice grin. Like, almost model nice. “Are you sure?”

  My heart skipped a beat when I noticed he had a dimple. A really cute dimple.

  “Claire? Are ya with me?” He smiled again.

  My eyes flew to his. I could tell he knew exactly what I was thinking, like he could read my mind. I blushed in humiliation and hid behind my menu. Tony wasn’t discouraged.

  “Hey.” He gently tugged the menu away from me. “Don’t cover your face. I like looking at it.”

  What? My heart stopped. Literally stopped. Is he serious? There’s no way he’s serious. I decided to play it cool and took a breath to get my heart to beat again. “I’m not hiding,” my voice squeaked.

  Tony’s grin deepened, and I noticed another, fainter dimple.

  I cleared my throat and tried again. “I—I was wondering what you normally ate when you came here.” There. That wasn’t so bad.

  “Me?” His eyes twinkled. “I don’t normally eat when I come here.”

  “You don’t normally eat?” I was confused.

  “No.” He chuckled and folded his menu. “I usually ride the elevator to the top and study the view.”

  “Oh.” I’m such a dork. “You don’t come to the restaurant?”

  “You could say that.”

  I picked up my menu and scanned it again, trying not to hide behind it this time.

  “But I hear the crab cakes are really good. And their seafood trio is awesome. Most people get those together—they’re a nice combo.”

  Nice. There’s that word again. I quickly glanced at the two items he mentioned. I gulped again. Okay, no way. The combined total was seventy-one dollars. Sheesh. How did I get roped into coming to this place? “Thanks.” I decided to stick with soup and salad. That was only eighteen dollars.