Proof

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Carolyn hadn’t been lying; the picture she carried around was one anyone could find on the Internet. The picture she kept in her wallet, however, was one not even the most diehard Four Times SUmmer fan could find. Melanie was more diehard than Carolyn knew, and she’d looked.

Tucked behind a Westlaw access card, a Lexis access card, and a Federalist Society card, was a photograph of Bob Summers asleep. Melanie had studied the picture for along time - Carolyn let Melanie use her cards - and it looked like Bob was asleep in his own bed. It was definitely not the sort of picture a mere fan, no matter how diehard, would have.

Melanie knew she was one of Carolyn’s only friends at school, but she didn’t know that much about Carolyn, and Carolyn was great at talking without sharing. Melanie didn’t know how to ask about the picture without mentioning that she’d snooped through Carolyn’s wallet, and she didn’t know how to ask if Bob Summers was the reason Carolyn sometimes looked a little heartbroken. The solution, of course, was the Internet.

Several days and foreign video streaming sites later, Melanie found it, proof that Carolyn’s secret really had something to do with the brothers Summers.

The video was grainy and shot by an amateur on an old VHS handycam, but some dedicated fan had filmed her own television to record a news clip. It was less than five minutes long and the newscaster was speaking German, but it had proof. A shot of all four boys on the tour bus playing cards sealed the deal. A fifth child, a skinny moppet with green eyes and a shock of black curls, sat between Bob and Dan and plied her own hand of cards.

Melanie would know that smile anywhere. Even at seven, Carolyn’s smile was sharp, subtle, like light glinting off the blade of a knife.

The next shot featured nine-year-old Dan chattering about life on the road. “We have fun,” he said. “Sometimes people on crew bring their kids with them, so we have people to play with.”

If the picture in Carolyn’s wallet was anything to go by, she’d been on the road with the brothers Summers a lot, because the boy sleeping in that bed was at least sixteen.

Melanie backtracked through the video to watch the card game again.

The little girl slapped her cards down and cheered.

Scott groaned and shoved her in the shoulder. “No fair, Caro!”

(415 words)