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turned instinctively to Blaze, only to realize that Blaze was gone.
     In her place stood Jonah.
    “What did you spill on your shirt?” he asked. “You’re all wet and sticky.”
    Ronnie searched for Blaze, wondering where she’d gone. And why. “Just go away, okay?”
    “I can’t. Dad’s looking for you. I think he wants you to come home.”
    “Where is he?”
    “He stopped to go to the bathroom, but he should be here any minute.”
    “Tell him you didn’t see me.”
    Jonah thought about it. “Five bucks.”
    “What?”
    “Gimme five bucks and I’ll forget you were here.”
    “Are you serious?”
    “You don’t have much time,” he said. “Now it’s ten bucks.”
    Over Jonah’s head, she spotted her dad searching the crowd around him. Instinctively she ducked, knowing there was no way
     she could sneak past him. She glared at her brother, the blackmailer, who’d obviously realized it as well. He was cute and
     she loved him and she respected his blackmailing abilities, but still, he was her little brother. In a perfect world, he would
     be on her side. But was he? Of course not.
    “I hate you, you know,” she said.
    “Yeah, I hate you, too. But it’s still gonna cost you ten bucks.”
    “How about five?”
    “You missed your chance. But your secret will be safe with me.”
    Her dad still hadn’t seen them, but he was getting closer.
    “Fine,” she hissed, digging through her pockets. She passed over a crumpled bill and Jonah pocketed the money. Glancing over
     her shoulder, she saw her father moving in her direction, his head still going from side to side, and she ducked around the
     booth. Surprising her, Blaze was leaning against the side of the booth, smoking a cigarette.
    She smirked. “Problems with your dad?”
    “How do I get out of here?”
    “That’s up to you.” Blaze shrugged. “But he knows what shirt you’re wearing.”
    An hour later, Ronnie was sitting beside Blaze on one of the benches near the end of the pier, still bored, but not quite
     as bored as she’d been before. Blaze turned out to be a good listener, with a quirky sense of humor—and best of all, she seemed
     to love New York as much as Ronnie did, even though she’d never been there. She asked questions about the basics: Times Square
     and the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty—tourist traps that Ronnie tried to avoid at all costs. But Ronnie
     humored her before describing the real New York: the clubs in Chelsea, the music scene in Brooklyn, and the street vendors
     in Chinatown, where it was possible to buy bootlegged recordings or fake Prada purses or pretty much anything else for pennies
     on the dollar.
    Talking about those places made her absolutely
long
to be back home instead of here. Anywhere but here.
    “I wouldn’t have wanted to come here either,” Blaze agreed. “Trust me. It’s boring.”
    “How long have you lived here?”
    “Just my whole life. But at least I’m dressed okay.”
    Ronnie had bought the stupid Nemo shirt, knowing she looked ridiculous. The only size the booth had in stock was an extralarge,
     and the thing practically reached her knees. Its only redeeming feature was that once she donned it, she’d been able to slip
     unseen past her father. Blaze had been right about that.
    “Someone told me Nemo was cool.”
    “She was lying.”
    “What are we still doing out here? My dad’s probably gone by now.”
    Blaze turned. “Why? Do you want to go back to the carnival? Maybe go to the haunted house?”
    “No. But there’s got to be something else going on.”
    “Not yet. Later there will be. But for now, let’s just wait.”
    “For what?”
    Blaze didn’t answer. Instead, she stood and turned around, facing the blackened water. Her hair moved in the breeze, and she
     seemed to stare at the moon. “I saw you earlier, you know.”
    “When?”
    “When you were at the volleyball game.” She motioned down the pier. “I was standing over