Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci Page A

next door came home?” I asked.
    “You mean Yrena, my love?”
    “Yes, Yrena.”
    “No, I haven’t noticed her. Besides, I’ve been playing D&D, and I don’t think that she goes out much. What’s going on?”
    “I took her to a party.”
    “You what? ”
    “I took her to a party.”
    “And you didn’t invite me along?”
    “You were busy with your dungeons. And your dragons.”
    “You are hanging out with Yrena! Screw the dragons!”
    I could believe that Yrena would be the only thing that would distract Todd from his fantasy world, because she was his ultimate fantasy.
    “Wait. Are you lying?” he asked.
    I was about to lose my patience. “I’m not lying.”
    “Wow. Did she ask about me?”
    “A little,” I said.
    “Really?” Todd said excitedly. “I wasn’t expecting that to be your answer! What did she say?”
    “Not much,” I said.
    “Okay, but you made me sound cool, right? I need details.”
    “Todd, I’m in a rush.”
    “You said you needed my help. The price for help is details.”
    I scrolled over the things that Yrena had said about Todd to try to come up with something that would satisfy him and not let him know that there had been a moment in a parallel universe when she could have been the only girl at his D&D party.
    “She said that you seemed like you had fun,” I said.
    “Nice,” he said. “Tell her I think the color blue looks good on her.”
    “I can’t.”
    “Why not? Just tell her that fuzzy blue sweater she wore last week when she was in her garden looked great. Ask her if she bought it at a store or if she knit it herself.”
    “I can’t,” I repeated. “She’s not here.”
    “So she’s not with you right now? Right this second? Call her over. I want to say hello.”
    “No, I can’t do that,” I said, closing my eyes because it felt easier to tell the truth that way. “Because I’ve lost her.”
    “Hang on.”
    Cue: mumbling and rustling.
    “Tyler says that there is a lot of activity next door. You know. With those suits.”
    “KGB or CIA?”
    “I don’t know, I can’t see their eyebrows.”
    In a moment of panic, that made me smile.
    “Rose. Those diplomatic kids are pretty isolated and insulated. She probably doesn’t even know how to get back home. You’ve got to find her.”
    “Fine. Just keep a lookout and I’ll call you back in a bit.”
    “Yeah, okay,” Todd said.
    “Don’t say anything to Mom and Dad,” I added.
    “They’d have to torture me first. And I have studied techniques…”
    “Okay, bye.” I hung up the phone. I didn’t want to hear about Todd’s techniques for withstanding torture.
    I started sweating.
    I had to find someone, like a needle in a haystack. I was looking into the park, and I realized that as much as it sucked, New York City was a pretty amazing haystack.
    Walking into the park at night was a bit magical. Like going into the forest that surrounds Sleeping Beauty’s castle. That was a part that I would like to dance, the Lilac Fairy. I suppose most people would want to be Princess Aurora, but I think ever since I saw the breathtaking performance of it at the American Ballet Theater with Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov, it was Martine van Hamel as the Lilac Fairy and Fernando Bujones as the Bluebird who thrilled me the most. I thought, in the end, that the Lilac Fairy had the biggest heart in the story and that was the kind of fairy that I wanted to be. I never minded afterward when Daisy and I played at being prima ballerina and she would insist on being the princesses and make me be all the other parts. Often itwas the other parts that got the more interesting movements of music.
    It was quiet once we entered the park, the sounds of the city fading a bit to the background. As we stepped deeper into the park, we began to hear the party before we saw it.
    Laughter.
    Bottles rolling on the ground.
    Squeals.
    A rap.
    “My name is Zizi or Zizzle D and I’m here with my friend Emily. We’ve got