“What’s this about?” Gideon asked, following Cy, Ophelia, Tiffani, Angela, AJ, and Louie.

“We’re on a nudie picture hunt,” AJ joked. Tiffani slapped at his arm. “Hey, what’s that for?” AJ grumbled. “You people sure are being physically abusive to me lately.”

“That was for being a perv,” Ophelia replied. To Gideon, she explained, “We’re trying to figure out why S has been disappearing.”

Gideon rolled his eyes. “Then why didn’t you ask me? You know I know everyone’s business.”


AJ ran into S’s room, followed by Tiffani. “This room’s too damn clean,” AJ grumbled.

“And such girly wallpaper,” Tiffani remarked. She looked around the room, trying to find the very thing that Ophelia said should be there. “AJ,” she instructed, “see if you can find any reading material. Not the kind that you like-- the kind with more words than pictures.”

“Oh, the boring kind,” AJ groaned. “I hate real books.”

“Well, this one might be a big clue.”

“Every single time I try to have fun, you or Louie ruins it. I just want to go chick-watching and look at dirty magazines.”

“Keep it up, and you’ll have all the time you want to do that, because I'll leave you,” Tiffani shot back. “Now focus.”

She yanked book after book off of the bookshelf and groaned in frustration. “It’s not here!” she yelled. "Damn!"

Ophelia peeked her head in the room. “Guys,” she called. “We’re going to need to head to the college campus. Gideon said S has been heading there every day. Since S is taking most of his classes online, and none of his classes are anytime around when he’s leaving, this definitely does not have to do with schoolwork. If we find S, we can probably find the book too. And given that we didn‘t find any of the sheet music in question downstairs either, that‘s probably with him too.”

Tiffani sighed. “So, back to the Cy-Mobile?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

“You bet,” Ophelia responded, nodding.

“Fine. Except one thing,” Louie spoke up. Everyone stared at him. Louie grinned. “I call shotgun.”


Cy ran up to the help desk in the University Center. Valo looked up from the book she was perusing.

“Hey, Cy,” she chirped. She shifted her gaze to the cluster of teens who stood near the entrance, a distance away from the help desk. “I didn’t know we were running tours today.”

“We’re not,” Cy responded. “These are some friends of mine.”

“Oh,” Valo murmured. Her eyes widened behind her thick spectacles. “OH!” she cried out. “I remember now-- you were the ones performing at that arts fundraiser. Very decent. I’m glad there’s still people out there who care about creativity enough to do something when funding is cut to the art programs.” She grinned broadly.

“So, Valo, I need your help with something.”

“Sure. That’s what this is here for, though I’m usually answering questions like ‘Where’s the bathroom?’ and ‘When does the building close?’”

Cy leaned closer. “Are there any plays that are set to be performed in the next few months?”

“Of course,” Valo replied. “Every few months, a bunch of the drama students and professors do a play. I think there’s one that set to be performed next month.”

Ophelia pushed forward. “Which one is it?”

Valo thought for a moment. “West Side Story, I think.”



“So, Valo’s good for something besides advice, making people laugh, and writing bad stories and poetry,” Cy mused, as the group headed to one of the buildings.

“Is her name really Valo?” Ophelia asked. “It’s short for Valerie, I bet.”

“Wrong,” Cy replied. “Her name is really Jessica DeSidiro, but everyone calls her Valo because she’s a big fan of the group HIM. Like you. Actually, you two would probably get along well.”

“Maybe. She seems kind of weird.”

They tugged the doors open and hurried through the doorway and down the hall. Just then, Cy put up a hand.

“Everyone stop and shut up for a second,” she said. The teens froze in their tracks, wondering what was wrong. Just then, they all heard it.

“Music,” AJ muttered.

Ophelia smirked and listened closely. “It sounds like a piano… and… whoever it is, they’re playing Tonight.”

Quickly but quietly, the group followed the music down the hall, until they came to a set of double-doors, behind which seemed to be the source of the sound.

“Do we just go in, or…?” Tiffani mused.

“Goodness, it would be terribly rude to just walk in on them,” Angela remarked.

“Tough. We need closure,” AJ responded sharply. “The sooner we get done with this, the sooner we can get on with our lives. I have magazines to… uh… well, it’s not important. Point is, I have things I’d like to be doing now, things that do not involve listening to piano music.”

“Oh, what a shallow life you lead,” Ophelia muttered. “And I thought you actually were concerned about your sister.” She pushed open the doors and strode into the room. The others exchanged startled looks and followed her.

The action in the room stopped, and everyone turned to stare at the intruders, including Emily, who was clutching a paintbrush.

Ophelia looked over at her friends, feeling awkward. Way to go, guys. Guess I have to say something, she thought. Ophelia faked a big smile and called out, “Hey, guys. We’re here to talk to Emily and Samuel.”

“Over here,” S called, waving at the group. To Emily, he called out, “You keep with your work; I’ll explain to them.” Slowly, everyone else returned to their tasks of sewing costumes, practicing dance scenes, and rehearsing lines.


Ophelia, Cy, AJ, Tiffani, Angela, and Louie walked over to S. “So, you figured it out, eh?” he asked, shuffling his sheet music back into order.

“Kind of. How come your copy of the play wasn’t at your house?” Ophelia asked.

“Because I don’t have a copy of it. I’m not performing in it. I’m just playing music for certain scenes,” S explained.

“So, why’s Emily here?” AJ asked.

“We needed someone to play the role of Anybodys, and also, we needed help with sets and costumes.”

“Did Emily design either?” Ophelia asked.

“Partially. Everyone involved with the show brought in some sketches and stuff, and the people in charge of sets and costumes used the best stuff. Since Emily has such a small role in the play, she’s been given the job of painting the sets and being prop master.”

“That makes sense,” Cy murmured slowly. “But why all the secrecy?”

“Emily wanted it to be a big surprise for everyone,” S explained. “She thought that if she told any of you, then Ophelia or AJ or Cy or Louie would regularly check in on her and more or less hover around, rather than letting her do her own thing.”

Ophelia shifted a little, feeling uncomfortable. She knew that it was the truth, that she felt responsible for keeping people from hurting Emily. Perhaps that tendency to protect was stifling Emily a bit.

“…I guess that our tracking her down just proved her right,” Ophelia finally murmured.

“Yeah. We were worried, but we also didn’t trust Emily to be a responsible adult,” AJ remarked, in a rare instance of deep thought.

“And we all know that Emily doesn’t do stupid stuff, so why were we worried?” Louie mused.

Ophelia sighed. “Guys, I think we should just go now. Emily’s a big girl. She can take care of herself. And if anything happens, S is right here. We need to stay out of her business and just let her live her own life.”

“I guess…” AJ muttered. “So, we’re leaving?”

“Yeah,” Tiffani replied.

“I call shotgun,” AJ called out.

“Fine,” Ophelia acquiesced, “but I get to pick the radio station. No offense, Angela, but we’re not that crazy about that really old stuff by Elvis and… uh… those other people.”



“They were such idiots,” Angela murmured, stretching gracefully. “They’re freaks, the lot of them. AJ, the hormonal horror… Tiffani, the snobby slob… Cy, the unnatural lady-boy… Ophelia, the dark demonic feminist freak from Hades… Louie, nerd-boy extraordinaire… and of course… Emily, the unladylike brainy un-beauty.” She heaved a sigh. “They’re a burden that I suppose I must tolerate. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

“Indeed,” Dunstan replied, sitting beside her. “You are very much the diamond in the rough.” Angela smirked slightly. “However,” Dunstan continued, “you know that there are people who know too much. They can bring an end to everything, including… oh, let’s see… my ability to buy you everything that you wanted but could never have.”

Angela’s eyes widened. “What can I do?” she asked.

“There’s two people who are a danger to me,” Dunstan began. “One of them, I will have to work on myself. The other, you will have to keep close dibs on and report to me everything you see and hear.”

“Who is it?” Angela asked.

Dunstan’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Ophelia Foley.”