23

Izzy’s Idea

The next afternoon, Saturday, Izzy went back to hang out with Wren. She sat at her desk, doodling on a piece of paper. Wren was stretched out on Izzy’s bed, her bag of clothes packed and waiting by the closet. Wren’s mom and dad were at the hospital with Hannah. Wren and her dad were going to drive back to New Hampshire right after dinner. Wren’s mom would sleep at the hospital and bring Hannah home in a few days.

“We can’t let them get away with this,” said Wren. She picked up the techno blue envelope next to her on the bed.

“She’s Daphne,” said Izzy. “She gets away with everything. It’s the way life works.”

Wren slid the red beaded bracelet over her hand so that it stacked on top of her hospital ID bracelet. “Do you have any scissors?” she asked. “This hospital bracelet is so annoying. I need to cut it off.”

Izzy looked at her own hospital ID bracelet. It was embarrassing, too embarrassing to admit to Wren, but Izzy wished Wren would keep hers on just a little while longer. She liked the way they matched.

Still, Izzy got the scissors from her desk and brought them to Wren on the bed. She was about to hand the scissors to Wren when she froze. Their matching hospital bracelets, the red beaded bracelet, the invitation to the epic sleepover, her butterfly tin of Sharpies on the desk.

They were dots that connected to form a plan.

“Wait a second,” said Izzy. “I have an idea.”

Two hours later, Nate backed down the driveway with Wren and Izzy in the backseat. “We need some music,” said Nate. “Something doomed, because you two are up to no good.”

“Just drive, Nate,” said Izzy.

She and Wren had thought about walking. But the sun had already set and there was no way their parents were going to let them wander out in the dark anytime soon. So they’d convinced Nate to take them out for pizza before Wren left for New Hampshire with her dad. With just one quick stop first.

“Over there,” said Izzy, pointing to Daphne’s house. “The house with the lights.”

“Be fast,” said Nate. “I’ve got a date.”

“A date?” asked Izzy.

“A date with destiny. If my little sister can save someone’s life, I can ask a girl out. At least if I make it before closing time.” Izzy smiled. She wanted to say something cheesy like “Way to go,” or “I know she’s going to say yes.” But she was too nervous about what she and Wren were about to do. She’d have plenty of time to talk to Nate. Her time with Wren was almost up.

Lights glowed through the windows of Daphne’s house. Izzy couldn’t see Daphne, Phoebe, and Serena inside, but she felt a buzz in the air knowing they were there. Nate pulled to the curb and turned off the engine.

“Okay,” said Wren. “Let’s do this.”

Wren got out of the car and walked up the stone path that led to Daphne’s front door. Izzy followed, stepping off the path and into the shadows by some bushes. Her body shook with nerves as Wren continued up to the front door and reached for the doorbell.

Ding-dong.

Daphne appeared right away, as if she’d been standing in the front hall waiting for this very moment. “Oh, hey, Wren,” she said with a big smile. “Are you here for the sleepover?”

“Awesome,” said Phoebe, who appeared next to Wren.

Waiting in the dark, Izzy’s legs felt soft, like she might collapse. She was tempted to hobble out, tap Wren on the shoulder, and drag her away before they went any further. But then Wren said the exact line that they’d rehearsed in Izzy’s bedroom that afternoon, both of them laughing as they tried different voices, joking that Mr. Blair would finally be proud of them for adding emotion to their words.

“Thanks so much for inviting me to your epic sleepover,” said Wren in the happy tone they’d settled on. “I have my bracelet.”

“Perfect,” said Daphne. “Can I see it? Obviously it’s your ticket to come inside.”

“Sure,” said Wren.

Izzy took a few cautious steps onto the grass. She watched as Wren pushed up the sleeve to her jacket. On Wren’s wrist was her hospital ID bracelet with four letters written in crisp black Sharpie: N I C E.

Phoebe shook her head. She crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not the right bracelet, Wren. You have to have the right bracelet.”

Daphne stepped closer to Wren, ignoring Phoebe and squinting at Wren’s wrist. “‘Nice’? Like you want to tell me how nice I am? I mean, thanks, Wren. That’s super sweet. But that’s not the bracelet that came with your envelope. Do you have that bracelet? Maybe then you can come in.”

Wren shook her head, pretending to be confused. “Oh, right,” she said, slapping her forehead. “Silly me, I do have another bracelet.”

That was Izzy’s cue. There was no turning back. Izzy stepped out of the darkness and onto the stone path. She moved slowly at first, but as she got closer, Izzy saw the confusion in Phoebe’s and Daphne’s eyes. She saw Serena standing on the stairs holding a fat black cat with white paws. Izzy stepped next to Wren and pushed up her own jacket sleeve. Written on her hospital ID bracelet in black Sharpie were the letters T R Y.

Daphne looked from Wren’s bracelet to Izzy’s bracelet. “Nice? Try?”

Serena put the cat down and stepped forward. She read both bracelets out loud and laughed.

“What does that even mean?” asked Phoebe.

“Come on, Phoebe,” said Izzy. “I know you can figure it out.”

Phoebe stuck out her lower lip. She looked from the bracelets to Daphne.

Daphne hesitated. She flipped her hair. Then she opened her mouth to speak. “It means that . . .”

But Izzy didn’t let Daphne finish. “It means that you can do whatever you want with my drawing. I know who you are and so does everyone else. Come on, Wren. Let’s go.”

Izzy grabbed Wren’s hand and they ran to Nate’s waiting car. It was just like the night they chased after Row, how they’d sprinted together through the dark, laughing at nothing except the thrilling combination of excitement and fear and hope.

Maybe Nate had been right when he said that her drawings were missing something.

Maybe what they were missing was not one superhero, but two.