Free Stealth Moves by Sanna Hines Page B

human as she could, Liv called out to Maddy and Tay. “Where’s Chase’s house?” They gave her directions but went on without her.
    Feeling angry, embarrassed, abandoned, Liv stayed silent for three blocks. Finally, she told Holly, “It’s your fault my friends won’t walk with me. And now, I suppose, you’re going to tell me I can’t go to Chase’s, even though everyone’s going and we’re filming your brother today.”
    Holly shook her head. “Your grandmother’s changed my instructions. If I know you’re in a safe place, you can be there by yourself. Just call me when you’re ready to leave.”
    “And if I don’t?” Liv challenged.
    “She’ll let the veto on your birthday party stand. Cooperate, and you’ll have the party.”
    “For real?” There was so much to do! Most of all, she needed a fantastic costume. Monday, Columbus Day, was the biggest shopping day of the year. She could get what she needed at the malls. Liv made lists in her head while her feet took her toward Chase’s house on Beacon.
    “We’re here,” Liv realized, stopping to look up at a massive, brick-and-stone building. “I think this is it, anyway. The entrance should be around the corner.” She led Holly down the side street.
    “Your friend’s family owns this huge building?” Holly asked. “It fills the whole block.”
    “Just the top two floors. It’s a condo.” Liv pulled on one of the glass doors overlaid by wrought iron. It was locked. She spotted a call box below a round side window and pressed the button. “Liv Smallwood,” she said into the box, “here to see Chase Hansen.”
    The door buzzed, letting Liv and Holly into a lobby where an elderly man sat behind a desk. “Hansens, you say? Just one minute.” He picked up the receiver of an old-style phone. “Chase, two young ladies here to see you.” The guard hung up, telling Liv and Holly, “He’ll be along.”
    Liv heard footsteps on the carpeted staircase before Chase appeared. He said, “You made it! We’re getting set up,” and then he looked at Holly.
    “I’m Cameron Glasscock’s sister.”
    “Oh. Are you coming up, too?”
    “No. Just say hi for me and tell him to call before he leaves Boston.” Holly turned to Liv. “If you guys get hungry, instead of going out, why not order in?”
    Chase said, “Good idea.”
    To Liv’s vast relief, Holly left.
    Liv told Chase, “I like your building.”
    “Too many stairs,” Chase grumbled as they climbed. “We used to live in California. Had a ranch up in the hills.”
    “That’s where I’m from!” So they talked about places they both knew, and about how Chase wanted to go to UCLA, which Liv thought was a great idea. “I’m going home as soon as I can,” she confided, feeling like she knew Chase a lot better by the time they reached the third floor.
    As soon as he opened the door, she wasn’t so sure. She thought she’d stepped into a museum or palace—marble and silk everywhere, sculptures, ceilings twice as high as anywhere she’d lived, and those ceilings had carved flowers and paintings on them. She stopped herself from saying “Wow!”—too uncool—but she did take a long look at the front room, a vast space overlooking the Common. She saw antique furniture, thick carpets, sweeping drapes with braided cords—and a group of women seated at a table by the front windows.
    “Mom and her book club friends,” Chase whispered. “If I introduce you, we’ll have to chitchat. C’mon. Everyone’s in the library.”
    This room was just as tall but had wood paneling and modern furniture. Liv dumped her backpack with the others along one wall, watching Rodrigo and a guy who had to be Cameron facing each. Cameron had on the motorcycle leathers his older brother wore when he drove the bike to Liv’s school.
    “Turn toward the flatscreen,” Rodrigo instructed Cameron. “We film only the back of you. You represent the viewer, so your face is not important.”
    Liv thought