done their work, and the local newspapers covered it
from every angle. Unless a completely new discovery was made, they would have
nothing to write. Besides, Sasha wasn’t ready to get other people involved. She
needed to handle this one on her own until sharing her information felt safe.
But what if there was something connected to Sarah’s story
that might come up for a different reason? Something that Sasha could slip in
front of Charlie and Amanda’s faces to gauge their reaction? Perhaps…some
memory of Sarah.
Sasha spent the next few days combing through every detail
of the Sarah Castro-Tanner case, looking for a way in, but there wasn’t much to
work with. Sarah hadn’t been involved in any school clubs, didn’t have any
record of interacting with Charlie or Amanda, and had been alone for the entire
day before she jumped off the Navesink River Bridge.
After hitting so many dead ends, Sasha decided to take a few
days away from the Charlie-and-Amanda angle of her project. A clear mind would
be helpful, plus she had work to do on another facet of her research: securing
just the right part-time job. Then, two days later, she found the inspiration
for her next move on the cover of a Business Week magazine that arrive
in her dad’s mail. Among the lists of articles in the table of contents was a
headline that caught her eye: “Smart Brands Use Real Teens to Sell Clothes.”
Sasha flipped to the page and found a full spread of ads all
featuring real high school students from average American towns wearing clothes
from a specific company or using products from a certain brand in their
everyday settings. There was a shot of three kids at a diner in New York all
playing with smartwatches as they scarfed down fries, a shot of ballerinas in
Boston wearing a hot, new fitness brand to warm up for class, and a couple
running together, each in a his-and-hers edition of some retro-brand sneakers.
That was the image that made the light bulb go off for
Sasha. She knew exactly how she’d lure Charlie and Amanda back into the
conversation about Sarah.
Chapter 5
September
16
Laura
It was Wednesday afternoon, which
meant Becca was sitting backward on her rolling desk chair with three pens
stuck in her knotty ponytail, running the weekly editorial meeting. It had
become Laura’s favorite hour of the week.
Their “newsroom” consisted of: two terrified freshmen—nicknamed
Dee and Dum—who Becca pressured into being underclassman reporters; Tommy
Skendarian, the tech wiz who managed to lay out the entire newspaper in the
three hours Becca gave him before it needed to go live; Claudia Bishop, who
covered the arts and texted through every single meeting; Dan Jackson, who
missed every single meeting; and Becca. It was a miracle they produced a weekly
paper at all.
“Listen, people. We had ten articles this week and five were
written by Rivers. If you’re not going to pull your weight, leave,” Becca said.
“But then Rivers will have to write all the articles,” said either
Dee or Dum.
Becca rolled her eyes. No one was ever going to take the
paper as seriously as she did, but Laura was growing to be a close second. The
Chronicle had become her safe haven in the weird social world of Englewood
High, and that was worth almost all the work.
“Rivers, how’s that Sanders soccer profile coming? I want to
start sending a photographer to cover practices if it’s looking like the piece
is going to work out,” Becca said.
There was also that incentive…
* * *
Laura and Charlie had sat down for
two informal interviews over the course of the previous week—one of which
included listening in on an interview he was doing with ESPN magazine about the
top high school athletes in the nation. It was Laura’s idea to eavesdrop.
Charlie could barely talk about the profile without getting red in the face,
but Laura got the sense that her support put him at ease.
Their time alone seemed to diffuse any
from every angle. Unless a completely new discovery was made, they would have
nothing to write. Besides, Sasha wasn’t ready to get other people involved. She
needed to handle this one on her own until sharing her information felt safe.
But what if there was something connected to Sarah’s story
that might come up for a different reason? Something that Sasha could slip in
front of Charlie and Amanda’s faces to gauge their reaction? Perhaps…some
memory of Sarah.
Sasha spent the next few days combing through every detail
of the Sarah Castro-Tanner case, looking for a way in, but there wasn’t much to
work with. Sarah hadn’t been involved in any school clubs, didn’t have any
record of interacting with Charlie or Amanda, and had been alone for the entire
day before she jumped off the Navesink River Bridge.
After hitting so many dead ends, Sasha decided to take a few
days away from the Charlie-and-Amanda angle of her project. A clear mind would
be helpful, plus she had work to do on another facet of her research: securing
just the right part-time job. Then, two days later, she found the inspiration
for her next move on the cover of a Business Week magazine that arrive
in her dad’s mail. Among the lists of articles in the table of contents was a
headline that caught her eye: “Smart Brands Use Real Teens to Sell Clothes.”
Sasha flipped to the page and found a full spread of ads all
featuring real high school students from average American towns wearing clothes
from a specific company or using products from a certain brand in their
everyday settings. There was a shot of three kids at a diner in New York all
playing with smartwatches as they scarfed down fries, a shot of ballerinas in
Boston wearing a hot, new fitness brand to warm up for class, and a couple
running together, each in a his-and-hers edition of some retro-brand sneakers.
That was the image that made the light bulb go off for
Sasha. She knew exactly how she’d lure Charlie and Amanda back into the
conversation about Sarah.
Chapter 5
September
16
Laura
It was Wednesday afternoon, which
meant Becca was sitting backward on her rolling desk chair with three pens
stuck in her knotty ponytail, running the weekly editorial meeting. It had
become Laura’s favorite hour of the week.
Their “newsroom” consisted of: two terrified freshmen—nicknamed
Dee and Dum—who Becca pressured into being underclassman reporters; Tommy
Skendarian, the tech wiz who managed to lay out the entire newspaper in the
three hours Becca gave him before it needed to go live; Claudia Bishop, who
covered the arts and texted through every single meeting; Dan Jackson, who
missed every single meeting; and Becca. It was a miracle they produced a weekly
paper at all.
“Listen, people. We had ten articles this week and five were
written by Rivers. If you’re not going to pull your weight, leave,” Becca said.
“But then Rivers will have to write all the articles,” said either
Dee or Dum.
Becca rolled her eyes. No one was ever going to take the
paper as seriously as she did, but Laura was growing to be a close second. The
Chronicle had become her safe haven in the weird social world of Englewood
High, and that was worth almost all the work.
“Rivers, how’s that Sanders soccer profile coming? I want to
start sending a photographer to cover practices if it’s looking like the piece
is going to work out,” Becca said.
There was also that incentive…
* * *
Laura and Charlie had sat down for
two informal interviews over the course of the previous week—one of which
included listening in on an interview he was doing with ESPN magazine about the
top high school athletes in the nation. It was Laura’s idea to eavesdrop.
Charlie could barely talk about the profile without getting red in the face,
but Laura got the sense that her support put him at ease.
Their time alone seemed to diffuse any
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