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Eain and faced the Greyhound bus station TUCSON DOWNTOWN, said a low-slung sign out front After hours of sitting on a bus next to a guy with a devil beard and a serious addiction to jalapeño-flavored Doritos, she was finally here She was teive it a big, wet kiss, but then her phone vibrated in her pocket and she scrambled to answer it Alex’s photo appeared on the screen

"Hey!" Emma clutched the old BlackBerry to her ear "Guess where I aasped on the other end

"I did" E and sat down to rest Alex had finally written back to Eht E out the whole story in one long, breathless sentence

"I left Clarice a note," Es out of the way as an older couple pulling wheeled suitcases passed "Social Services won’t check up on hteen"

"So what are you going to say to this Sutton girl? I mean, if she’s really your sister, do you think you’ll be able to hed wistfully "It’s like Cinderella, except without the laazed at the purplish et too far ahead of things," she said "Let’s just see if we even get along"

It was all an act The entire bus ride, Ee her life Maybe she could et to know Sutton’s adoptive parents, too Maybe they’ll even let me move in with them, she dared to consider Goose bu shot, but who knew? It was like a cooler version of Cinderella

But first things first: the reen cab on the other side of the bus station and waved it over "Please don’t tell anyone, okay?" she said to Alex

"I proreed "Good luck"

"Thanks"

Eave Sabino Canyon as her destination, barely able to teiddiness in her voice The cabbie pulled away and wove through Tucson’s streets E at the various college buildings of the University of Arizona, including one that had PHOTOGRAPHY INSTITUTE on a big sign out front Eo inside and check out the exhibit Next they passed the college green Students loitered in the sun A running group pranced by like a herd of deer There was a girl dressed up as a n that said HONK 4 WEED! The cabbie honked

Next they pulled onto Highway 10 and drove north The houses grew larger and the streets were speckled with fancy gyourmet markets, and upscale boutiques Emma passed the entrance to La Encantada Mall, and then the lush Elizabeth Arden Red Door spa Maybe Sutton and I can have a pedicure day, she thought

Actually, that otten a professional pedicure before Whenever soh like Ernie on Sesame Street

As for me, all I felt was numbness as the car whipped past these landmarks Certain eue blips of elation and thrill as we passed a restaurant called NoRTH, the smell of jasmine perfume as the cab swept past the shops at La Encantada--but nothing solid eed Questions buzzed in my head like a swarm of bees Who had written back to Emma? Had anyone else discovered I was dead? I was desperate to get another look at ain A whole day had passed since my death--maybe more; where did everyone think I was? And why hadn’t soain, if someone had murdered me, I could be chopped up in a zillion pieces by now

I wanted to cry out I wanted to wail But all I could do was follow Emma in a state of mute shock and panic It was like those terrible drea down, down, down fro I always tried to call out for someone to catch me, but no one ever answered

The cab took a left, and a n said SABINO CANYON "Here you are," the driver said, pulling to the curb

This was it Eravel to a bench She inhaled the ju hikers stretched their calves against a parking barrier a few feet away The shie interrupted the blue sky Little pinpricks of pink, yellow, and purple wildflowers dotted the trail

It’s perfect, Eht On instinct, she pulled her old Polaroid caht that e of clothes, the cao anywhere without it She’d left e locker at the Vegas bus station The devicenoise as she snapped a photo E-Lost Sisters Meet for the First Time, she mentally captioned

It was six on the dot She sat down on a bench, pulled out a Maybelline compact, and took stock of her reflection She wore a striped jersey Gap dress that she’d found at Cinnamon’s, a secondhand shop near Clarice’s house, and she’d sloss over her lips She covertly sniffed her skin, hoping she didn’t s Sutton re into a new foster ho, discerning look, instantly deciding whether she passed or failed Please like ht as she stood in countless kitchens or on interchangeable front porches Pleaseout of ed from the canyon trail Emma checked the clock on her phone It was 6:10 What if Sutton was late to everything? People like that drove E to say to each other, anyway? "Hi, Sutton," E a s out her hand, and then shook her head and pulled back They’d hug, wouldn’t they? What if they just stood there aardly, staring into space?