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Madeline tucked her dyed-black locks behind her ear and sang another verse Halfway down the winding stretch of Campbell Avenue, Madeline’s cell phone bleeped She pulled it out of her pocket and checked the screen, one eye on the road Her face settled into a scowl

"Everything okay?" Eht ahead, as if the traffic light they’d stopped at was infinitely interesting "Just more Thayer crap Whatever" She threw the phone into the backseat It hit the cushion hard

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emma asked

Madeline let out a little exclamation point of a breath "With you?"

"Why not?" That hat good friends did, wasn’t it?

I’ my friends and I weren’t exactly the touchy-feely kind

The traffic light turned green, and Madeline hit the gas Her eyes were glassy, as though she was about to cry "It’s just, the cops toldfor him anymore," she said inmore they can do"

"I’m really sorry," Emma said She’d hunted around Facebook for information about why Madeline’s brother had run away, too, but there were hardly any e dedicated to the fact that he wasthe details of what Thayer had last been wearing (an oversized polo shirt and ca trails near the Santa Ritathat there had been a search that had yielded nothing, not ashoe, not an empty water bottle, absolutely no trace of Thayer There was an 800 number for people to call if they had any information Sutton wasn’t Facebook friends with Thayer, so E more She did notice that Laurel interacted a lot with Thayer--there were shared pictures of the around, YouTube posts on their Walls, and co rock shows at the U of A But Laurel’s page didn’t tell her much else In fact, Laurel didn’t even comment on Thayer’s disappearance--her only entry the day he went a in November! Super psyched!"

The windshield wipers squeaked and groaned The rain had cleared, stopping allittered A rainbow appeared on the horizon Eood luck"

Madeline sniffed "Luck is for du on Madeline’s keychain, wondering if she really believed that "You know, runaways usually do okay," she said gently "Wherever Thayer is, he’s probably found other kids like hi care of each other"

Madeline’s eyes flashed "Where did you hear that?"

E the heie she’d picked fro She knew tons of foster kids who’d run away to escape their crappy situations In fact, she’d even run away once, escaping froht, she’d packed a bag and took off, hoping to get to Los Angeles or San Fran or soing out in an abandoned trailer park on the way there They had set up a little campsite with several tents, blankets, and pots and pans Soed a couple of bikes, a skateboard, and a PSP whose battery they regularly recharged at the local Dunkin Donuts Because Emma was barely eleven, the older runaways took her under their wing, always letting her sleep in a tent, always h to eat In some ways, they’d taken better care of her than most foster parents had The police had co coot sent back to various foster houess I saw it on TV," Emma finally explained

"Yeah, well, it doesn’t , shiny hair over her shoulder Her face snapped back into its hard, beautiful expression "It’s nothing a little credit card da new to Charlotte’s sleepover toht Maybe one of those short shirt-dresses from BCBG And didn’t you want new J Brands for your birthday party?"

They pulled into the big parking lot at the sprawling outdoor ine The two of them started toward the escalators to the upper level The air felt fresh and clean after the rain Muzak played softly over the round level, Emma spied a storefront in the very back of the mall: BELLISSIMO SECONDHAND A butterfly flapped in her chest

"Can we stop in there for a sec?" Eer and made a face "Ew Why?"

"Because you can find as in secondhand stores"

Madeline narrowed her eyes "But we never go in there"

Eny’s really into vintage So is Rachel Zoe" She pulled Madeline down the corridor "Come on We need to break out of our co for two-hundred-dollar skinny jeans That ay out of her co the Mercers’so frivolous Besides, she couldn’t let all of her personality disappear just because she’d stepped into her sister’s life

The bells jingled as Eh the front door The store se shops did, a little like moth balls and cardboard boxes and old ladies A bald, s what looked like a snow leopard–skin jacket sat behind the counter thuh Cose wall of heels and boots on the back wall

Eh a rack of dresses Madeline stood motionless near the door with her arerlasses of the rack on the wall "Vintage Gucci"

Madeline took dainty ballerina steps until she was next to Emma "Those are probably fakes"

"They aren’t" She ran her hand over the interlocking Gs and pointed at the label that said MADE IN ITALY "These are a total find And a steal, too" She flicked the price tag hanging froe Forty dollars "I bet they’d look awesome on you And think of it this way--no one else has them You’d be special"