The Gossip File by Anna Staniszewski Page B

about Ellie, but there’s nothing useful except for what I saw last time about her not being what she seems.
    I’m just about to slam the book shut in frustration when something catches my eye under a section titled “Amir.”
    â€œEllie dumped Amir today. She waited until his shift at FP Sushi ended, and then she gave him the ring back in front of everyone. He begged her to change her mind, but she said that his kids were a deal breaker.”
    The entry is dated last August, almost exactly a year ago.
    Oh my goldfish. Does this mean Ellie was engaged to someone else at the resort? “FP Sushi” has to mean Four Palms Sushi. I scan the rest of the Amir notes, but there’s nothing else except one mention of his twin sons.
    My head is pounding as I shove the Gossip File under the counter. Then I head to the back of the café and peek my head into the storeroom.
    â€œWhat are we ever going to do with ten pounds of granola?” Carrie says with a laugh, pointing to a giant container in the corner. “I’m pretty sure that stuff’s been here as long as I’ve been alive. Maybe we should have thrown it into the sinkhole.”
    â€œHey, Carrie,” I say. “Do you know a guy named Amir?”
    She thinks for a second. “You mean Amir who works at the sushi place? I think he’s the manager or something.”
    â€œYes!” I say. “He’s still there?”
    â€œI think so. I think I’ve only met him a couple of times.” Her brow furrows. “I think he was dating Ellie for a while. But who cares about that, right?”
    â€œNo. I want to hear more about it.”
    â€œI’m not really the person to ask. If you want the dirt on the whole thing, why not just ask Amir?”
    It’s my turn to laugh. “Yeah, right. I can’t ask a total stranger about his ex-girlfriend.”
    Carrie shrugs. “I guess that would be awkward.”
    And yet…what choice do I have? Maybe if I can find out what happened between Ellie and Amir, it’ll help me figure out what to do. At this point, I don’t know if I can save my vacation, but at least I can still save my dad.
    â€¢â€¢â€¢
    As I’m leaving the cafe, my phone rings. It’s Evan.
    â€œHey, Booger Crap,” he says when I answer. I can actually hear him grinning. “How are things going?”
    â€œUm, okay,” I say, which feels like a lie. There’s so much to tell him that I don’t even know where to start. “I’m not sure about my dad and Ellie, but otherwise things are good.”
    â€œWhat happened?” he says.
    â€œShe, um…I think she’s going to ask him to marry her…at Disney.”
    Evan sucks in a breath. “Really? Wow.”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œBut that’s not so bad, right?” he says. “I mean, your mom found someone new too. And your parents are almost divorced.”
    â€œYou don’t understand. Ellie’s… She wants everything to be some bizarro version of perfect. She pretends that family is the most important thing to her, but I just found out she dumped a guy last year because of his kids. You should see how she is, always telling my dad what to do, taking over his whole life. If my dad marries her, I might never see the real him again!”
    â€œSo what are you going to do?” Evan knows me well enough by now to guess that I won’t sit by and do nothing.
    â€œWhat I always do,” I say, chuckling. “Fumble around doing stupid things until I make a total mess.”
    Evan doesn’t laugh. Instead, he says, “I know you want to help, but be careful.”
    He’s right. I’ve learned my lesson about sneaky schemes, but I need to do something to help my dad. Otherwise, I might lose him forever.
    â€œI will,” I tell Evan.
    But as I hang up, I realize that I can’t afford to be careful, not when I only have ten days left to