JENNIE

135, 134, 133 days to go

Manoban doesn't show up at school for a week. Someone says she's been suspended, others say she overdosed and was carted off to rehab. The rumors spread the old-fashioned way—in whispers and texts—because Principal Yang has found out about the Bartlett Dirt and shut it down.

Wednesday. First period. In honor of the Dirt's demise, Jordan is passing out celebration candy. Jackson Wang sticks two suckers in his mouth and says around them, "Where's your girlfriend, Jennie? Shouldn't you be on suicide watch?" He and his friends laugh. Before I can say anything, Jordan yanks the suckers out of his mouth and throws them in the garbage.

On Thursday, I find Jaehyun Jen-o in the parking lot after last period. I tell him I'm working with Manoban on a class project and that I haven't heard from her for a few days. I don't ask if the rumors are true, even though I want to.

Jaehyun tosses his books into the backseat of his car. "That's just her thing. She comes and goes when she wants." He takes off his jacket and throws this on top of the books. "One thing you'll learn is she is one moody old todger."

Seulgi Kang walks up and past us and opens the passenger door. Before she gets in, she says to me, "I like your glasses." I can tell she actually means it.

"Thanks. They were my sister's."

She looks like she's thinking this over, and then she nods okay.

The next morning, on my way to third period, I see her in the hallway—Lalisa Manoban—only she's different. For one thing, she's wearing a ratty red knit cap, loose black sweater, jeans, sneakers, and these fingerless black gloves. Homeless Manoban, I think. Slacker Manoban. She's leaning against a locker, one knee bent, talking to Yuna, one of the junior-year drama girls. She doesn't seem to notice me as I walk by.

In third period, I hook my bag over my chair and take out my calculus book. Mr. Heaton says, "Let's start by going over the homework," but he barely gets the words out before the fire alarm starts blaring. I gather my stuff and follow everyone outside.

A voice behind me says, "Meet me in the student parking lot." I turn, and Manoban is standing there, hands shoved into pockets. She walks away as if she's invisible and we aren't surrounded by teachers and faculty, including Principal Yang, braying into his phone.

I hesitate and then start to run, bag slapping against my hip. I'm scared to death someone will come after me, but it's too late to go back because I'm already running. I run until I catch up with Manoban, and then we run faster, and no one has shouted at us to stop, come back here. I feel terrified but free.

We race across the boulevard that cuts in front of the school, and alongside the trees that separate the main parking lot from the river that splits the town in half. When we come to a break in the trees, Manoban takes my hand.

"Where are we going?" I'm breathing hard.

"Down there. But be quiet. First one to make a noise has to streak back to school." She is talking fast, moving fast.

"Streak how?"

"Streak naked. That's what 'streaking' means. It is, I believe, the very definition of the word."

I slip and slide down the embankment while Manobab leads the way soundlessly, making it look easy. When we get to the edge of the river, she points across it, and at first I can't see what she's showing me. Then something moves and catches my eye. The bird is about three feet tall, with a red crown on a white head, and a charcoal-gray body. It splashes in the water and then pecks around the opposite bank, strutting like a man.

"What is it?"

"A hooded crane. The only one in Indiana. Maybe the only one in the United States. They winter in Asia, which means he's about seven thousand miles from home."

"How did you know he was here?"

"Sometimes when I can't stand it over there"—she nods in the direction of the high school—"I come down here. Sometimes I go for a swim, and other times I just sit. This guy's been hanging around about a week now. I was afraid he was hurt."

"He's lost."

"Uh-uh. Look at him." The bird stands in the shallows, pecking at the water, then wades deeper and starts splashing around. He reminds me of a kid in a swimming pool. "See, Jendeuki? He's wandering."

Manoban steps back, shielding her eyes because the sun is peeking through the branches, and there is a crack as her foot comes down on a twig. "Bollocks," she whispers.

"Oh my God. Does that mean you have to streak back to school now?" The look on her face is so funny that I can't help laughing.

She sighs, drops her head in defeat, and then pulls off her sweater, her shoes, her hat, her gloves, and her jeans, even though it's freezing out. She hands each item to me until she's wearing only her boxers and sports bra and I say, "Off with them, Lalisa Manoban. You were the one who said 'streaking,' and I believe 'streaking' implies full-on nakedness. I believe, in fact, it is the very definition of the word."

She smiles, her eyes never leaving mine, and, just like that, she drops her boxers and sports bra. I'm surprised because I only half thought she would do it. She stands, the first real-live naked girl I've ever seen, and doesn't seem one bit self-conscious. She is long and lean. My eyes trace the thin, blue veins of her arms and the outline of muscle in her shoulders and stomach and legs. The scar across her middle is a bright-red gash.

She says, "This would be a helluva lot more fun if you were naked too." And then she dives into the river, so neatly that she barely disturbs the crane. She cuts through the water with broad strokes, like an Olympic swimmer, and I sit on the bank watching her.

She swims so far, she's just a blur. I pull out our notebook and write about the wandering crane and a girl with a red cap who swims in winter. I lose track of time, and when I look up again, Manoban is drifting toward me. She floats on her back, arms folded behind her head. "You should come in."

"That's okay. I'd rather not get hypothermia."

"Come on, Jendeuki Remarkable-kim. The water's great."

"What did you call me?"

"Jendeuki Remarkable-kim. Going once, going twice …"

"I'm fine right here."

"All right." She swims toward me until she can stand waist-deep.

"Where were you this time?"

"I was doing some remodeling." Shw scoops at the water, as if she's trying to catch something. The crane stands still on the opposite shore, watching us.

"Is your dad back in town?"

Manoban seems to catch whatever she's looking for. She studies her cupped hands before letting it go. "Unfortunately."

I can't hear the fire alarm anymore, and I wonder if everyone's gone inside. If so, I'll be counted absent. I should be more worried than I am, especially now that I've gotten detention, but instead I sit there on the bank.

Manoban swims toward shore and comes walking toward me. I try not to stare at her, dripping wet and naked, so I watch the crane, the sky, anything but her. She laughs. "I don't guess you've got a towel in that enormous bag you carry around."

"No."

She dries off with her sweater, shakes her hair at me like a dog so that I get sprayed, and then pulls on her clothes. When she's dressed again, she shoves her hat into her back pocket and smooths her hair off her face.

"We should go back to class," I say. Her lips are blue, but she's not even shivering.

"I've got a better idea. Want to hear it?" Before she can tell me what it is, Taehyung, Roamer, and JK Jeon come sliding down the embankment. "Great," Manoban says under her breath.

Taehyung comes right over to me. "We saw you take off during the fire alarm."

Roamer gives Manoban a nasty look. "Is this part of the geography project? Are you wandering the riverbed or just each other?"

"Grow up, Roamer," I say.

Taehyung rubs my arms like he's trying to warm me up. "Are you okay?"

I shrug him off. "Of course I'm okay. You don't need to check up on me."

Manoban says, "I didn't kidnap her, if that's what you're worried about."

Roamer says, "Did he ask you?"

Manoban looks down at Roamer. She has a good three to four inches on him. "No, but I wish you would."

"Faggot."

"Lay off, Roamer," I snap at him. My heart is battering away because I'm not sure what's going to happen here. "It doesn't matter what he says—you're just looking for a fight." I say to Manoban, "Don't make it worse."

Roamer gets up in her face. "Why are you all wet? Decide to finally shower after all this time?"

"No, man, I'm saving that activity for when I see your mom later."

Like that, Roamer jumps on Manoban, and the two of them go rolling down the bank into the water. JK and Taehyung just stand there, and I say to Taehyung, "Do something."

"I didn't start this."

"Well, do something anyway."

Roamer swings and hits Manoban's face with a thud. He swings again and again, his fists smashing into Manoban's mouth, into her nose, into her ribs. At first Manoban isn't fighting back—she's just blocking the shots. But then she has Roamer's arm twisted behind his back, and she's plunging his head into the water and holding it under.

"Let him go, Manoban."

She either doesn't hear me or isn't listening. Roamer's legs are thrashing, and Taehyung has Manoban by the collar of her black sweater, and then by the arm, and is pulling on her. "Jeon, some help here."

"Let him go." Manoban looks at me then, and for a second it's like she doesn't know who I am. "Let him go." I snap it at her like I'm talking to a dog or a child.

Just like that, she lets him go, straightens, picks Roamer up, and drops him onto the bank, where he lies coughing up water. Manoban goes stalking up the hill, past Taehyung and JK and me. Her face is bloody, and she doesn't wait or look back.

I don't bother going back to school, because the damage is done.

Because Mom won't expect me home yet, I sneak over to the parking lot, unlock Leroy, and ride to the east side of town. I cruise up and down the streets until I find the two-story brick colonial.

MANOBAN, it says on the mailbox.

I knock on the door, and a girl with long black hair answers.

"Hey," she says to me, like she's not surprised I'm there. "So you must be Jennie. I'm Sorn."

I'm always fascinated by how the same genes rearrange themselves across sisters. People thought Jisoo and I were twins, even though her cheeks were narrower and her hair was lighter. Sorn looks like Manoban, but not. Same coloring, different features, except for the eyes. It's strange seeing Lisa's eyes in someone else's face.

"Is she here?"

"I'm sure she's up there somewhere. I'm guessing you know where her room is." She smirks a little, but in a nice way, and I wonder what she's told her about me.

Upstairs, I knock on her door. "Manoban?" I knock again. "It's Jennie."

There's no answer. I try the door, which is locked. I knock again.

I tell myself she must be sleeping or have her headphones on. I knock again and again. I reach into my pocket for the bobby pin I carry with me, just in case, and bend down to examine the lock. The first one I ever picked was to the closet in my mom's office. Jisoo put me up to it because that's where our parents hid the Christmas presents. I discovered lock picking was a skill that comes in handy when you want to disappear during gym class or when you just need some peace and quiet.

I give the knob a shake and then put the bobby pin away. I could probably pick this lock, but I won't. If Manoban wanted to let me in, she would.

When I get back downstairs, Sorn is standing at the sink smoking a cigarette out the kitchen window, her hand dangling over the sill.

"Was she in there?" When I say no, she throws her cigarette down the garbage disposal. "Huh. Well, maybe she's asleep. Or she could have gone running."

"She runs?"

"About fifteen times a day."

It's my turn to say, "Huh."

"You never can tell what that girl going to do."