After my mother finishes with her stories, my father contributes to the conversation by informing me he’s finished War and Peace again, and that he beat Lionel in a chess match in a matter of minutes.

I quickly settle into a new routine consisting of classes, morning runs, calls home, and check-ins with my agents. The days begin to fly by rapidly, and before I know it, I’ve already been at Lincoln for over a month.

The sprawling campus is as gorgeous in person as it was on the university’s website. The woods that encircle the campus quickly become my favorite place to be. Each morning, I start my day jogging through the cool morning air to the welcome sound of complete silence.

Now that I’ve learned my way around campus, I’m no longer concerned about getting lost and having to call Philip, so I take every obscure path I can find.

I’ve also discovered how to set the location tracker on my phone to a specific spot, a trick Katie taught me one night while she was celebrating having successfully done so herself to escape her mother’s constant monitoring. I no longer have to worry about one of my agents waking up early and seeing I’m not in my room. As guilty as I feel editing my location, I figure it’s better to do that than go running without it.

The Monday marking the start of my fifth week at Lincoln, I wake up later than usual. One of the girls on the floor above us spent the better part of the night blasting rock music, and my eyes feel gritty from lack of sleep when I finally pry them open. I roll out of bed, groggily dressing in my usual running clothes before heading into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

There’s a chill in the air when I step outside; the first traces of fall evident in the slight breeze rippling through my hair. I veer left, opting to follow a deserted path that heads toward the opposite end of campus. The gravel makes a satisfying crunching sound beneath my sneakers as I run toward a massive elm tree that’s just off the path up ahead.

A flash of movement catches my attention, and I turn my head to see a lone figure to my right.

I experience a flash of irritation as I recognize the same football player I bumped into my first day. He’s jogging across the grass toward the same tree I’m about to pass.

Jace Dawson, I suddenly recall, thinking of Katie’s strange reaction to our infuriating encounter and of the many times I’ve heard the name repeated since. I quicken my pace, hoping to avoid another interaction. Based on our last conversation, he would likely accuse me of stalking him.

I think I’ve made it past without him noticing, when suddenly I hear footfalls behind me. I’m about to increase my speed even more when I hear a “Hey!” shouted behind me. I speed up anyway, but when I hear another yell, I finally slow my pace and then turn around reluctantly.