“We don’t know that,” Trent says. He pulls out a cigarette but then shoves it back in his jacket, probably remembering what happened the last time he got caught smoking.
I take a breath and try to clear my head. “Okay, Chris and Zoe are going to be shot by some girl after we get back to the present. We need to find out more about their deaths, and also…” I pause and look at Trent, my throat dry.
“Find out if we’re really dead too,” he whispers, finishing the sentence for me.
I turn to Chris. “Do you know of any girl who would want to kill you?”
“Nah. Just you.”
I roll my eyes. “There has to be some connection between the four of us. Maybe some previous foster home or someone we all knew.”
For a few minutes, we go through all the group homes and foster families we’ve lived with, and list anyone who might hold a grudge against us. The only overlap is that Trent and I both lived at the Bright Haven group home, but he moved there a few months after I got kicked out, and that doesn’t link Chris or Zoe to us.
“We could go to the places we were shot,” Chris suggests. “Look for evidence.”
Adam shakes his head. “That was thirty years ago. There won’t be anything there now.”
Chris grunts but lets it go. Frustration churns inside me, and I want to slam my fist into the store window. How are we going to find out more about our deaths? I gaze out at the street, watching the egg-shaped cars scroll by. The rain has started to thin out, and I can see the faint outline of the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles towering above us. And then I have an idea.
“We should go to the library,” I say.
“Huh?” Chris asks.
“The library,” I repeat. “They should have records or old news articles or something, right?
“Good idea,” Trent says. “We’re only a few blocks from the Central Library.” I blink at him, surprised he knows that, but he shrugs. “It’s a good place to go when you have nowhere else. I used to hang out there a lot.”
“Me too.” It’s weird agreeing with Trent on something, but I know exactly what he means. There were many times I had to escape—from Papá, from foster homes, from life in general. Sometimes libraries and the books inside them were the only places I felt safe.
“Good news, Adam,” Chris says, slapping him on the shoulder. “You’re not the biggest nerd here after all.” Adam rolls his eyes but gives him a faint smile. The tension between all of us has vanished now that we have a common purpose: fighting for our future.
A map with directions to the library appears in my vision, sent by Chris. We pull up our hoods and venture back into the rain.
The Central Library is in the financial area of downtown Los Angeles, a beautiful oasis in the middle of a desert of sleek stone skyscrapers. The short, beige building is topped with a small pyramid in the center, covered in tiles depicting a sunburst. It’s surrounded by a garden of tall, lush trees and fountains with sea serpents spraying water. The tiered steps leading up to the entrance are carved with letters in different languages, and Greek statues stand guard over the doors.
I can’t believe how little has changed in the past thirty years. They finally fixed the tricky step at the front that everyone tripped on, but otherwise the library looks almost identical to the last time I was here. There’s still a tiny food court to the right as you walk in, although now it looks automated like Frosty Foam was.
We pass by it and into the front lobby, where chandeliers with illuminated globes hang from mosaic-covered ceilings. The walls are lined with colorful murals, the kind you’d see in a church. I remember coming here as a kid and thinking the place was like something out of a movie. I get that same feeling now, as if I’m somewhere magical.
The building is quiet, our footsteps loud against the tile floor. People in suits walk in and out, probably on their lunch break. I check my watch, 1:27 p.m. We’ve been in the future for seven hours already.
Trent sucks in a deep breath of air, which still smells of old books. “I love it here.”
“What now?” Chris asks.
I hesitate, unsure where to go. The library is massive, with arches and elevators leading off from this lobby, and I don’t know what exactly we need to look for. Through the nearest arch, I can see bookshelves, along with cubbyholes and desks with people sitting at them.