The next day, when Eli was heading home from class, he saw Michael congregated with a group of his friends on the front porch. He tried to get pass them and into the door without talking to any of them, but someone called him back.
"Hey, Eli," said Genesis Williams. "Leaving without saying hello? I haven't seen you since winter. You've been back for months. I feel like you've been avoiding me!"
"Avoiding you?" said Eli, with absolutely no emotion in his voice. "Why would I possibly do that?"
"I don't know, but I miss my Eli. How was your trip anyway?"
"Good, good. You'd never guess who I ran into there. An old friend of yours. Faith Diaz. And her cousin, Grace Griffin. Do you know her?"
Shock, irritation, panic all flashed on her face for a second. But she was a better liar than that. It was soon gone. "Grace, oh yeah, we've met before. She's awesome."
"She sure is."
"How long was she done there, exactly?"
"About two and a half weeks."
"And you saw her a lot?
"Almost every day."
"She's nothing like her cousin."
"No, you're right. They're very different. But I think Faith gets better once you get to know her."
"Oh do you, now?" he said. "And why's that? Did she actually start talking to after a while? Has she learned how to feign manners? It's actually too bad, it's best when people like that can't mask what they really are."
"You'd know all about that, of course," said Eli, with a smile. "But don't worry. I think I've managed to see what she really is, just fine."
Genesis stared at him, very unsure of what Eli was suggesting, to nervous to speak until Eli said more.
"To make myself clear, Genny, when I said she gets better, I don't mean that I saw a real change in her behaviour, or in her personality. I just meant I understood her nature better."
"But you didn't really see her in her true element. She always has to behave when she's in front of her family. I bet you never saw a nice side to her when she was here in Toronto. Believe me, she has no interest in people who aren't at her level."
"Uh huh. Well, I have to get going."
Eli would not leave her relieved with knowing how much he knew. He was glad to keep her guessing.
Later that night, he got a call from Uncle Benjamin, which he did about once a month. Eli told him how frustrated he was with the situation with Michael.
"That's too bad. Well, there's no use in moping about it. If Michael gets to have fun, so should you. Look, you don't have any plans for Spring Break, do you?"
"No…"
"Come on down here, then! We'll pay for your train ticket. We'd love to have you over for a week. Don't tell anyone, but I think you'd make much more fun company than Jacob did last summer."
"Are you serious? A week in New York? I'd love to! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
A week later, Michael set off in a minivan east to Quebec, while Eli was on a train south to the U.S.