The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die

Although Cady does well on the skateboard, she doesn’t know how to stop. When Ty turns a curb and she tries to follow suit, she falls. The two then walk the rest of the way, with Cady looking back over her shoulder every now and then. She imagines that her ability to ride the skateboard is due to body memory, though she can’t remember riding at all. They decide to go to a local coffeeshop that Ty knows to get off the streets. At the coffeeshop, Cady (who is passing as Nate) is introduced to Audrey, a worker. It’s clear that Audrey knows Ty well, and perhaps is trying to show Cady that she does. Audrey also finds Cady strange, indicating that she doesn’t believe Cady is a male. Cady has another small breakthrough when she remembers that she likes her coffee with a lot of cream.

The two sit and go over their options. Cady wants to know who she is and what her past was like. She wants valid information, as opposed to all the strange and false information that is being presented on the news and on Facebook about her. Ty decides that they need to go to a library so that they can look up information about her and what’s going on. Cady convinces Ty to turn off his phone, even though he’s afraid James might try and call them, in case it’s being tracked like Brenner’s phone. Cady then asks about Audrey and learns that she is homeless. Moreover, Ty reveals that he used to be homeless as well, which is how he met Audrey. Cady is in disbelief, but Ty won’t talk about his situation any further. They then look again at Cady’s photo of her family, and Ty notices something in the background.

Ty sees the name of a building in the background of Cady’s photo. The name reads “Multnomah Academy Of—” (102) and is cut off. They both realize that this must be where Cady goes to school, and if so, then she is from Portland, from Multnomah County. She again wonders why she was in Bend, in a cabin. Ty wonders if it is because her family had a vacation rental. Cady then thinks the worse: if it was their vacation rental, were her family members killed and left out in the forest, in the same place that Brenner was dragging her before she escaped? Ty wants to retrieve his car so that they can go to Portland, but Cady reminds him that his car is probably being watched by now. She thinks the entire ordeal is somewhat of a game still to Ty, even though it’s all too real for her: “It’s already clear that something bad happened to me. Whatever it was, it was bad enough to push restart on my brain” (106). They then decide to head for the library to find out more information.

At the library, Ty searches for results concerning sudden memory loss, and they go over what symptoms Cady has. He eventually finds a condition called dissociative fugue amnesia. The form is considered to be triggered by an emotionally traumatic event. Cady wonders if she really wants to remember what happened, given that it had to be a powerfully traumatic event for her to blank on everything that happened. They next look for news updates and find an update on the search for her. The article says that her name is Cadence (Cady) Scott, and that she is a runaway. Moreover, it paints her as a troubled teen who got into a fight with her family before they—and she—disappeared. It mentions that she didn’t go to school on the day she disappeared, and that she had sold the family’s Datsun. She’s also still wanted in connection with the homicide involving Officer Dillow.

The two go over the info in the news article. Cady is beside herself as she realizes that she’s indeed being framed. Ty tells her that he doesn’t believe the article, especially as the camera that caught her pointing a gun at Dillow pans away before the shooting. Ty figures that whoever is after her has doctored the footage to make it seem like she’s the killer. Cady, relieved at least to know her real name, is even more sullen at the prospect of her family’s safety, especially after the article mentioned that there were signs of a struggle at her home. Ty warns her not to give in to the worse possible scenario as they don’t have anything to prove it. They then decide to look Cady up on Facebook for more information. To their horror, her Facebook timeline is filled with angsty, apologetic rants, highlighting Cady as a troubled individual.

Cady goes into near hysterics due to the content on her Facebook page. Ty has to grab her hands and calm her down, but then stops when they begin drawing unwanted attention. Cady is pretty much convinced that she did it, especially as the last post was sent after Dillow’s death and asks for forgiveness. Ty, however, is not so sold on the Facebook page. He wonders why Cady has so much visible information on her page, and then clicks over to another page to show her what he means. Most people have privacy settings, with only some things being visible to the public. Cady’s page is open for everyone to see, meaning that the public-at-large can conveniently see all the near-suicidal messages. Ty thinks this is too convenient. Moreover, he begins scrolling through the posts and sees that all of the comments have been left that very day, meaning that someone has probably doctored the Facebook page to frame Cady. 

Ty again considers going back home to retrieve his car, but Cady doesn’t want to be left alone, and they can’t be certain that a tracker hasn’t been placed in his car or that he won’t be kidnapped or killed upon returning home. Cady decides that she wants to go back to Portland. She hopes that returning to her home will help her find answers. The two know they can’t walk or skateboard to Portland without the police or the people after her catching them. They decide to take the Greyhound Bus to Portland instead.