My hands freeze on the cards. “You know, you’re the first person to ask me that. Everyone always just wants to know stuff like whether Matt wears boxers or briefs.”

“I’d put money on boxers.”

“You’d be correct. And it’s hard, not having girls around.” I exhale slowly, my fingers starting to flip through the cards again. “I had a best friend at home. And a sister. And the girls I sat with at lunch or hung out with after school”—mostly girlfriends of Craig’s friends, which seems sad now that I think about it—“and I was really looking forward to having a roommate. I know most people love their privacy, but. I don’t know. I didn’t even realize how much I was looking forward to it until I opened my door and saw my roommate was Archibald freaking Buchanan.”

“Well, then I’m glad you have me,” she says with a grin, wrapping an arm around my neck.

“I am too,” I say, and I mean it. I don’t know why on earth Isabel McEvoy chose me for a friend, but I am extremely grateful every day that she did.

“And what about Matt’s roommate? You guys seem tight.”

“Do we?” I snort, knowing that Salem would probably mime an act of violence on himself at the very thought. “Don’t tell him that.”

Her mouth curves into a smile. “Why’s that?”

“There are prickly jerks, and then there’s Salem Grayson—an entire other level. I don’t think there’s a single person on earth he likes as much as he likes dead musicians.”

“So you guys have never…”

“Never…?” Then the meaning of her question hits, and I laugh for real. “God no. Me and Salem? In what world?”

“I had to ask!” She twirls her long strawberry hair into a bun on top of her head and stretches out her limbs. “I suspected we were doing this routine to impress someone, and I was afraid it might be him.”

“It’s not,” I assure her. “But wait, why ‘afraid’?” All at once, everything registers. “You know.” It’s not a question.

“Evie—”

I jump up from where I’ve been sitting on the floor. “You know about Salem and Jenna. You’ve always known. And you’re trying to get dirt for her.” I think back to the day at the mall, and how they teased me about him then, too. At the time, it’d felt like an induction into their glorious group, but now I see it for what it was: a fact-finding mission. “God, I should’ve known.”

“Evie, no, come on. You’re making it sound like this evil plot. We are friends—”