“I don’t care if it’s annoying,” Harper—in the front now—leans over the driver’s seat to peer into the back. “I can buy you a new laptop if it’s broken. But can we still charge our phones?”

“I…” I trail off, testing the power button and feeling the case near that hinge give a little.

The screen stays black and the button continues to flash. My head throbs.

Brecken pulls one of the cords from the busted charger. “Try my cord and phone. Maybe it’s just the screen.”

“Is it turning on?” Josh asks again.

“No, it’s just…” I shake my head, pressing the power button again. The same whirring starts and then stops. The button continues to flash. I try Brecken’s cord on all three ports, but there’s no response.

“It’s like it’s stuck in suspend,” I say, feeling faintly sick.

“Maybe it’s just a loose connection,” Harper says. “I’m sure someone can help you fix it when you get into town.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Brecken scoffs.

“Is the charger working?” Josh asks.

I shake my head and swallow hard, tasting defeat.

“Let me try,” Harper says, gently prying Brecken’s phone from the charger. She plugs hers in instead and then frowns. She flips the cable around. Tries it again.

I watch her, replaying that moment outside. I almost caught it. I almost stopped this from happening, but Harper bumped my hands.

Because she was trying to catch it, too.

Or was she trying to stop me?

“I’m sorry, Mira,” Josh says with a sigh. “I wish I could do something.”

“Me too,” Harper says. I’m not sure if I believe her.

“How the hell did you manage to drop your laptop?” Brecken asks softly.

“Hey!” Josh’s voice is sharp. “Don’t you think you’ve already made this hard enough?”

Brecken throws up his hands. “Are you kidding me? You’re going to blame me for the broken laptop now?”

“Oh my God,” Kayla says. “Do you think we can get a break from you being a bitch-boy crybaby for five minutes?”

“No one is blaming you,” I say. “Just stop making it worse.”

Except it’s already worse. It got twenty times worse when I dropped my laptop. Correction: when Harper knocked it out of my hands. I glance at her, a flicker of uncertainty running through me. She wouldn’t have…would she?

“We need to regroup,” Josh says. “We have no map. No phones. No way to charge our phones. How much gas do we have?”

“Two-thirds of a tank,” Brecken says.

“Maybe we need to search the car,” Harper suggests. “We still haven’t searched for ports in the back. Or maybe there’s another map in one of the pockets or something.”

“I think we would have noticed plugs in the back,” Kayla says. “Remember the Great Search Party for Mira’s Phone?”