Hal Bennett
Before I met Amanda, I used to feel alone a lot. Thanks to her, I don't really anymore. Now I worry that—among lots of other things—she’s the one who's lonely. But, trumpetgirl, you’re right—being alone and being lonely aren’t the same. And I think your mom’s right, too, Linda_Calista. No matter how alone you sometimes feel, there’s always someone going through what you’re going through. And like Alyxtiaz, I think that wherever Amanda is, she’d approve of us helping out at the center. She wouldn’t want those kids to be alone or lonely.
We had a party at the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Center now that it's reopened. They called it an “unbirthday” party, where they celebrate all the kids’ birthdays at one time, which was pretty cool. All the mentors were there with their kids, and a bunch of us volunteers showed up, too. Nia had a family thing, so she couldn’t make it, but Callie and I went. I have to admit, it was a pleasure going to the center without having to pick up a rake or push around a wheelbarrow.
When we got there, most of the mentors were on the playground with their kids. Callie seemed to recognize some of the kids, but we didn't really know anyone well so we wound up setting up the birthday cake and paper plates and stuff in the rec room. While I was unfolding a stack of folding chairs and card tables, two mentors came in, a girl and a guy. The guy looked kinda familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
The girl started arranging the chairs. “So, Noah, you never told me how the Lady Gaga concert was. Did you guys really go backstage?”
At the mention of Lady Gaga, my ears perked up and I froze. I shot a look over at Callie, and I could tell she was eavesdropping, too. “Yep, we went,” Noah said. “Nikki and Ricky had an awesome time. I’m not really into Lady Gaga or anything, but even I thought the concert was pretty amazing.”
Callie was not going to let this go. "OMG, Lady Gaga,” she said, tossing her reddish curls with her voice all maximum I-Girl excitement. You have to hand it to Callie—she can be a pretty decent actress when she needs to be. “I tried to get backstage passes for that but it was totally impossible. How did you snag those?”
“Well, actually. I’m not really sure,” he said, shrugging. He looked kind of baffled that she would be talking to him at all. I know how he feels. “You know those cubbies in the office where they put our schedules and notices and stuff? Well, I checked mine one day and there were three backstage passes inside with a note that said they were a gift for the twins. The twins are my kids—Nikki and Ricky.”
Callie’s cheeks turned bright pink. “Was the note on purple paper?” she practically squeaked.
Noah shrugged, giving Callie a weird look. “Mighta been, I don’t really remember.”
When Noah turned back to the girl he came in with, Callie dropped her handful of paper plates and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me toward the office. “If Amanda left those tickets in the cubbies,” she whispered excitedly, “there might be more clues back there!”
We practically ran for the office. It was empty, since everybody was helping out with the party. We found the cubbies easily enough, but they were totally empty. No sign of purple paper anywhere. We stood staring for a minute, then Callie reached out to touch one of the names under a cubby. It read, “Farn, Noah.”
Callie turned to me, her eyes wide. “Noah Farn? As in--Kyle’s brother?”
Before I could answer, we were interrupted by a loud cheery voice behind us. “Oh, of course, hun, Kyle and Noah are brothers.” We spun around to see Barbara standing there, carrying two plates of cake that she pushed into our hands. “That red hair is a dead giveaway!”
So that was why Noah had looked familiar.
“I’m surprised you two didn’t know that,” she continued. “Kyle’s kind of a celebrity around here. After all, he is…” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head, smiling. “Well, never mind that. You two enjoy that cake!”
As Barbara went back to the party, Callie and I stood for a second, dumbfounded. “Kyle’s brother randomly pops up with three backstage passes to this concert after Heidi has three passes stolen,” Callie said slowly. “Do you think that’s a coincidence?”
trumpetgirl
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