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"Come toward her bedrooaze away fro slanced over at her

"Coo"

We moved into her room, where she shut the door behind us Folder in hand, she pointed at the bed "Sit down"

"I’htning flashing through the room almost instantaneously The rain started, a sudden downpour that echoed through the room like radio static

The folder beneath her crossed arms, she walked to one end of the roo to have to put it back" She lifted her head "This caet it out of their hands, which we did--yay, us--but noe’re going to have to put it back And that’s going to be tricky"

"Great," II don’t need to worry about right now But before we figure out how to sneak into Foley’s office and drop off a student file without her knowing it was gone, can I see it, please?"

"No"

That silencedand glanced over atto help you If there’s anything weird in here--about your parents, for exaive you things to obsess over Things to worry about"

"And it’s better if only Veronica and MK have that information?"

Silence

"Good point," Scout finally said, then handed it over "You read I’ll plot"

My hands shaking, I flipped it open My picture was stapled on the inside left, a shot of aht was an information sheet, which I skimmed--all basic stuff A handful of documents was stapled behind the information sheet Health and immunization records A letter from the board of trustees about my admission

The final document was different--a letter on cream-colored stock, addressed to Foley

"Oh, es again as the world seemed to contract around me

"Lily? What is it?"

"There’s a letter ‘Marceline,’ " I read aloud, " ‘as you know, the reed to admit Lily to St Sophia’s We believe your school is the best choice for the reh school education As such, we trust that you will see to her education with the saor that you show to your other students’ "

"So far so good," Scout said

"There’s more ‘We hope,’ " I continued, " ‘ that you’ll be circuarding our work, regardless of your opinion of it’ It’s signed, ‘Yours very truly, Mark and Susan Parker’ "

"Your parents?" Scout quietly asked

I nodded

"That’s not so bad, Lil--she’s just asking Foley not to worry you or whatever about their trip--"

"Scout, my parents told amore In New York But in this letter, they tell Foley not to talk to me about their work? And that’s not all" I flipped the folder outward so that she could see the letter, the paper, the logo

"They wrote the letter on Sterling Research Foundation letterhead"

Scout’s eyes widened She took the folder froo "SRF? That’s the building down the street The place that does the medical research What are the odds?"

"Medical research," I repeated "How close is that to genetic research?"

"That’s what Foley said your parents did, right?"

I nodded, the edge of my lip worried between my teeth "And not what they told me they did They lied to me, Scout"

Scout sat down on the bed beside me and put a hand on my knee "Maybe they didn’t really lie, Lil Maybe they just didn’t tell you the entire truth"

The entire truth

Sixteen years of life, of what I’d believed my life to be, and I didn’t even know the basic facts of my parents’ careers "If they didn’t tell me the entire truth about their jobs," I quietly said, "what else didn’t they telloutouton and why they’d lied And if they hadn’t lied exactly, if they’d only omitted parts of their lives, why they hadn’t toldone I had to calether, before that phone call And that’s when it dawned on e reasons, scary reasons, why they hadn’t co information from me Maybe they hadn’t told erous Since I’d now seen an entirely new side to the world, that idea didn’t seeo

No, I decided, this wasn’t so I could rush I had to know more before I confronted them

"I’m sorry, Lil," Scout finally said into the silence "What can I do?"

I gave the question two seconds of deliberation "You can get me into Foley’s office"

Fourteen minutes later--after the brat pack had left the common suite for parts unknoere on our way to the ader bag,as we tried to look nonchalant on our way through the study hall and back into theWe had two missions--first and fore, she’d only consider one likely source--me I really wanted to avoid that conversation

Second, since my parents’ letter assumed Foley already knew about their research--and apparently didn’t like it--I was guessing there wasResearch Foundation, or on my parents, in her office We’d see e could find

Of course, it was just after dinner--and only a few s of study hall--so there was a chance Foley was still around If she ere going toto sneak inside and figure out what more we could learn about the life of Lily Parker

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