Chapter Seven: Secrets and Lies

Getting Original Cindy alone for a few minutes was a task far more difficult than Sketchy had expected. For one thing, the rival messengers had started packing baseball bats, and Max insisted on riding with her friend all morning to make sure that the jerks left her friend alone. Moreover, both Max and Original Cindy were giving him weird looks all day. He couldn't decide if they knew what he was thinking, and thought he was an idiot, or if he was the one acting strange and secretive, and that's why they were looking at him differently.

However, lunchtime, as usual, was Sketchy's savior. Max had plans with Logan, so Original Cindy was left to her own sad little lunch at her usual table. Despite the fact that Sketch ate at that table every day, it took three tries before he was able to successfully complete the approach. His task accomplished, he was mildly disappointed that Original Cindy didn't even look up.

"Hey," he said, feeling really dumb, but at least it resulted in Original Cindy looking up and at him. "How's your lunch?" Lame.

"Bland. You?"

"Oh, I…uh… already ate," Sketchy lied. The truth was that he'd been so energized that morning that he'd been unable to stand still long enough to make his lunch.

"Right…" Original Cindy said quietly, obviously sensing a lie. She looked Sketchy right in the eye, and cocked her eyebrow. That was what he'd been waiting for. That was her "what's going on?" face.

"OC," he began, scooting his chair closer to hers and leaning over the table to whisper conspiratorially, "how well do you know Logan?"

OC shrugged and her attention returned to her sandwich. "You got the wrong girl, Original Cindy's not sleeping with the man."

"That's what I mean," he explained, "Max has been friends with this guy for years, but we know nothing about him. Yeah, he helped out in Terminal City…"

"And came in when this hellhole was surrounded," she interrupted to remind him.

"Right. Who does that?"

"Sketch, did you ever get that bump on your noggin looked at? I think it may be affecting your thinking." She wasn't looking at him. She was looking everywhere but at him. That was unusual. She was generally a look-you-in-the-eye-so-you-get-the-point kind of girl. Weird. It was becoming far too weird.

"OC," he said pointedly, pulling a folder out of his backpack and removing the poster from inside it, "Who does this look like?"

"Sketchy! Why did you draw on a picture of Eyes Only?" she asked, sounding as if she were trying very hard to sound exasperated.

"Who does it look like?" he pressed.

"It looks like Eyes Only," she replied snippily, taking a large bite out of her sandwich.

"Who else?" She had to see it! How could she not? It was perfect. The resemblance was absolutely uncanny. If she couldn't see it, then she needed glasses, and he feared for any pedestrians that happened to be in her way on the street.

"It's just Eyes Only with glasses."

"No, it's not."

"Why don't you just tell me so I can finish my lunch, and you can go be all wiggins somewhere else?"

"Logan!" Sketchy nearly shouted. Cindy flinched. She flinched! He saw it!

"Logan?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sketchy groaned in frustration. "Yes, Logan! How can you not see it?"

"Fool, that don't look anything like Logan," she condescended, the volume of her voice dropping considerably. "You need to get your eyes checked."

"OC!" he protested, but suddenly couldn't think of all the reasons that had led him to his discovery. God, why didn't he ever take a debate class in high school?

"No," OC said firmly, holding up her hand to prevent any further attempts to convince her. "Now, Sketch, whatever you been smoking, you have got to stop, 'cause its frying your brain."

"OC, I swear, I'm completely sober! I haven't had anything in two days!"

It was no use. She'd shut her ears to him. He knew the stony face that sat before him. It was the same expression she wore whenever she didn't want to hear any more excuses as to why he still hadn't been able to pay back the cash he'd borrowed from her.

Resigning himself to the fact that Original Cindy wasn't going to help him talk to Max, and feeling suddenly very heavy, and almost sad somehow, Sketchy quietly excused himself. He knew he wasn't crazy. It was just the idea that seemed crazy. Yet, was it so hard to believe that Logan was Eyes Only?

Turning to take one more look at his friend, Sketchy saw that she was resting her head on her hands, looking as if she were completely exhausted. She shook her head slowly, and he wondered if he should go back and apologize. Before he could take a single step, however, he saw her reach into her vest pocket and pull out a small cell phone. She pressed a few buttons, probably scrolling through the phone book, then held the phone to her ear and waited. Now, Sketchy wasn't really an expert at lip-reading, in fact he'd never even attempted it, but he'd known Original Cindy for years. Without a doubt, the first word out of her mouth before she turned her back to the rest of the building was "Max."

TBC...