Page 106 of What Happened to Lucy Vale

We were leaden, paralyzed with terror. Discord was silent. There was nothing to say.

It had occurred to us too late: we were not the heroes of this story.

Six

Everyone we knew, and hundreds we didn’t, turned out for the search party in Rockland County State Park. We navigated a thicket of local and state reporters angling for a view with their cameras, all of them trained on the crowd like lidless eyes.

We reported on the reporters’ reporting and captured videos of ourselves being filmed.

Bailey Lawrence, Savannah Savage, and Mia Thompson clutched hands in the parking lot, faces shadowed by matching dance team hats. They stood with heads bowed like mourners while we received instructions from orange-clad volunteers. Akash came with both of his parents and even his older sister who was home on college break. He stayed apart from us, fists balled in his jacket, his eyes raw with grief.

It was possibly the first time we understood: he really had loved Lucy Vale.

Coach Radner and Coach Vernon were there, wearing matching blue-and-red windbreakers. The Steeler-Coxes were noticeably absent. According to Reese, the Steeler-Cox delegation was considering legal action against Rachel Vale for her claims about Jay Steeler. Rachel Vale wasn’t the first person to accuse Jay Steeler of being a predator, but her report was the first to explode in the news cycle. Since then, Reese told us, all of the Steelers had been receiving death threats online. Mrs. Steeler-Cox’s beloved Facebook page, where she rigorously hyped the perfect family image, had gone mysteriously dark. Reese Steeler-Cox,meanwhile, made furtive TikToks from her bathroom and sent sporadic messages to the server that carried the slightly hysterical tone of someone trapped in a bunker at the end of the world.

That day was no exception.

@reesespieces1698:who’s there?

@reesespieces1698:tell me everything

@reesespieces1698:I only have a few minutes

@reesespieces1698:it’s like a war room downstairs

@highasakyle:think Coachella

@highasakyle:but depressing

@pawsandclaws:Coachellaisdepressing

@reesespieces1698:is Noah Landry there for his photo opp?

@mememeup:haven’t seen him

@reesespieces1698:just look for the biggest camera

@reesespieces1698:and the tallest liar

@lululemonaide:where is this coming from?

@reesespieces1698:experience

@reesespieces1698:I tried to warn Lucy away from Noah Landry

@reesespieces1698:I told her to stay away

@nononycky:you stuffed her sweatshirt down a toilet bowl

@reesespieces1698:We were making a point.

@spinn_doctor:Landry was cleared.

@mememeup:True. Due process by a jury of school board shills

Reese Steeler-Cox was right about Noah. Minutes later, Alyssa Hobbes spotted him being interviewed by the crew fromSpotlight Indiana. Noah kept his hat ducked low over his eyes and his shoulders hunched forward, as if he had a stomachache. His parents and Coach Vernon ringed him on either side; Alyssa snuck a picture, and we all had the impression of someone pinned into place.

@badprincess:wow. it’s like ... now he suddenly gives a shit about Lucy?