I continued to follow him but soon it felt like my legs would give out; thankfully we finally stopped. I looked around. We were standing in the middle of a large lawn. “What are we doing here?”

“Remember I told you I fell asleep here once?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it was on that bench.” He pointed. “And something woke me up.”

“What?”

“Wait for it . . .” He looked down at his watch. “Wait for it . . .”

“Wait for what?”

“Quick! Give me your phone,” Jake said, holding out his hand, his phone in the other one.

“Why?” I asked.

“Trust me,” he said. I gave him my phone and he tossed them both to the side; they landed on the soft, manicured grass with zero thud.

“Okay, what are we waiting fo—” I put my hands in the air as the wetness rushed at me. The sprinklers were huge, the kind that rose up out of the lawn, and then covered everything like rain.

“Aaaaahhh! This is amazing,” I squealed.

“It might not be a Joburg thunderstorm, but”—Jake came closer to me—“it’s the best I can do.”

“I love it,” I said, looking up into the night sky. The stars twinkled above me, like they had in the planetarium. The water rushed down my face, washing over me. I put my hands in the air and twirled around in a circle. Smiling and laughing, because in that moment—that wet, starry, after-painting moment—I felt an emotion I didn’t feel that often, of being completely, utterly, happily free.

“I’m going to do it this time,” Jake said, and I looked over at him as he attempted another cartwheel flip thing. He slipped on the wet ground this time and fell onto his back.

I laughed. “You need to stop doing that. You clearly suck at it.” I rushed over to him and he held his hand out for me. I grabbed it, pulled as hard as I could, and he sprang back up.

“This is incredible, thank you,” I blurted; he was standing right in front of me now.

“You’re incredible,” he said.

Whoooosh! The sound of my heart launching out of my chest. Flying out of me and into the sky.

“I am?” My voice shook.

“What you did on the wall . . . imagine if they find that girl because of you. And what you did for Rose . . . you’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met, by far. Anything but JustLori.”

“I—I . . . don’t know what to say,” I whispered, the water still rushing over me.

“You can answer a question for me.” He moved closer. His eyes had changed once again. This time they were a turquoise color that was so bright it outshone everything here.

“What question?”

“So, Amber kind of told me something.”

“Wh-wh . . . what did she say?” A bang in my chest pushed all the good feelings out of me. Anything Amber had to say wouldn’t be good.