Unless, of course, it already had.

“Come on, Jonathan,” Melissa called up to him. “There’s nothing to see, and you really could get hurt.”

Jonathan frowned at her, but a moment later he stepped from the roof’s edge and floated down.

Jessica glanced sidelong at Melissa. The mindcaster had sounded so concerned, and Jonathan was listening to her. This was definitely too much weirdness for one Monday morning.

But at least Jonathan was safely on the ground again. She crossed the parking lot to grab hold of his jacket.

“Sorry,” he said when he saw her expression. “But it seems like a waste, just standing around.”

“You could get killed.”

“But what if this really does last a long time?” He frowned. “Or forever.”

She took his hand, but the feeling of his midnight gravity flowing into Jessica didn’t help her mood. It would be just like the world to end on a Monday, especially this Monday, the day she was theoretically going to become ungrounded.

Only theoretically, of course. There had been a fierce debate this morning about what day was exactly one month from the night Jessica had been brought home by the police, tonight or tomorrow. Finally she’d given up arguing about it. Tuesday’s promised freedom wouldn’t take forever to come, after all.

Except now it might.

Standing here with the dark moon overhead, it made perfect sense that time had been halted, the darklings decreeing that Jessica Day would remain grounded forever. That’s what she got for being born the flame-bringer.

“Hey, look! It’s Sanchez,” Dess cried suddenly. She was pointing at a stiff just outside the gym entrance. The frozen Mr. Sanchez was huddled close to the wall, out of sight from anyone coming through the door, a motionless geyser of smoke spewing from his mouth.

Jonathan pulled his hand away from Jessica and bounded across the lot. “Oh my God—he’s sneaking a cigarette. I didn’t know he smoked!”

“Well, well, Mr. Sanchez,” Dess said. “Your secrets are revealed at last.” She stepped into the smoke and laughed, waving it away. Released from the dark moon’s spell by her touch, it drifted slowly upward in the still air.

“Get away from him, you two,” Rex shouted. “Don’t stand where he can see you. What if time starts up again?”

Jonathan got out of Sanchez’s face, but Dess just stood there giggling. Rex sighed.

The sight of the frozen teacher caused a trickle of nerves to crawl up Jessica’s spine. If time did start again, there was a good chance they could be caught out here, busted for skipping the pep rally. Then, like the seasons, the mighty grounding cycle would begin again….

“Maybe we should wait inside?” she said quietly.

“Were you talking to someone in there?” Rex asked. “Or in front of anyone who’ll notice if you suddenly disappear?”

“No,” Jessica answered. “We were in the back row, like you guys.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Well, you know,” Jessica said. “Just in case time starts again, we don’t want to get busted for cutting.”