Wait. Why were they talking about the Kingsley Prize? The second-round list couldn’t have gone up yet. It was a Saturday. Or was it Sunday already?

It didn’t matter. The juniors were long gone now.

Lily trudged toward the end of the hall. All she wanted to do was lie down in her own bed and sleep until whenever morning came. She hadn’t been to her room since she’d heard those sounds by the window, but she’d probably imagined that whole thing.

Besides, Maria might be back from the health center by now. Lily wouldn’t have to be alone.

But Maria wasn’t there when Lily pushed open the door. The room was cold, dark, and empty.

Well, maybe some extra sleep in the health center was just what Maria needed. You never knew. Lily was tired too. Maybe when she woke up everything would be back to normal.

Even though her left leg felt like it was burning, Lily hopped to the window before she lay down. Everything looked the same as always. The windowpane was shut tight, the lock still in place. She couldn’t see any marks on the frame, inside or out. There was nothing on the wall or floor beneath the window.

It was just like she’d thought. Those scratching nails, that horrible knocking—it had only been a nightmare. An unbelievably vivid scene her worthless imagination had conjured up.

Lily collapsed onto the bed, shoved a pile of pillows under her legs, took three Advil from the bottle on her nightstand, and slept.

She thought she slept, anyway.

She must have. Because when the phone rang and her eyes creaked open, she could feel herself blinking back forgotten dreams.

Her phone wasn’t on the nightstand, where she usually left it. It was on Maria’s bed, sliding along the comforter with each vibration. The pain in Lily’s legs had faded to a dull ache, but she couldn’t face the thought of standing. She pulled a pillow over her head and ignored the sound until it finally stopped.

She fell asleep again. And this time, she remembered her dream.

She was on the stage at the dance. Maria was clutching her, just as she’d done then. The students gathered below didn’t watch with silent frowns, though, the way they had at the real dance. In her dream, they pointed at Lily and smirked behind their hands.

“I knew,” Emily said from the front row. She didn’t bother to whisper. Her voice was loud and clear enough for the whole room to hear. “I knew about her all along.”

“Me too,” Caitlin said, with a giggle. “Didn’t everyone?”

The rest of the crowd answered with giggles of their own. The mocking stares and shrieks and laughter went on, and on, until they turned into a piercing, insistent noise loud enough to wake Lily with a start.