Cissy yelps, quickly grabbing her clothes and holding them over her front. I do the same.

“Walker!” I roll my eyes. “There’s a new fad called knocking. Ever heard of it?”

Walker shifts his weight from foot to foot. “You were, um, concerned that I haven’t given you advance warning before a match. You have one this Saturday morning, 5 AM. Since it’s Thursday night, I thought you’d be pleased to know.”

“That’s nice, Walker. You can go now.”

If Walker had blood, he’d be blushing at this point. “I must, um, apologize for the intrusion. I will go inform your mother of the match.”

Cissy nods toward the stack of boxes. “Be sure to say the gowns arrived in time.”

“No!” I try to kick Cissy in the shins and miss. “She thinks we’re hanging out at Zeke’s again, she doesn’t know about the ball.” I turn to Walker, my eyes pleading. “Please don’t say a word to Mom. You know how she gets.”

Walker scans the gowns with an expert eye. “Lincoln invited you to the ball tonight.” It’s not a question.

“They’re friends,” says Cissy quickly. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time convincing her of that fact. No point awakening her envy demon when Lincoln leaves in a few days.

“I’ll keep your secret.” Walker pulls up his hood. “I only wish I had an invitation to this evening’s festivities.” He closes his eyes; another portal appears by Cissy’s closet. Walker starts to leave, then pauses. He angles toward me, his eyes glowing red under his hood. “You two will cause a lot of trouble, you know.”

“One can only hope.” I stick out my tongue at him. “I’m not worried about a certain dopey Earl ruining my life.”

“Only you, Myla.” Stepping through the portal, Walker disappears.

Cissy tosses her clothes back onto the floor, her focus moving laser-style in my direction. “What was that all about?”

“Do you promise to keep a lid on your envy demon?”

Cissy grits her teeth. “Yes.”

I hold my pointer finger and thumb before my nose in the hand signal for ‘little.’ “There may be a wee bit of sexual tension between me and Lincoln.” Best to ease her gently into reality. “And that Earl guy still hates me because I doused him in green demon goop.”

“Oh.” Cissy screws her mouth onto one side of her face. “But Lincoln’s going back to Antrum, isn’t he?”

“Yup. Saturday.” Normally this fact would be incredibly depressing. But since I’m seeing Lincoln in minutes? Couldn’t care less.

“Got it.” She bobs her head happily, her attention returning to the gowns. I let out a long sigh.