Prom posters were plastered on all the glass doors at the front of the school. Just a simple lacy font, white on navy blue. Memories and Moments. It was a reminder of what we’d lost—and also that my senior year was rapidly coming to a close. I’d barely noticed. Prom was in three weeks, and graduation was only a month after that. It was hard to believe that a few months ago, I’d assumed I’d be here with Nadia, enjoying all of this. Now that Nadia was gone, I had nothing to look forward to except the hope that I could prevent a bunch of evil spirits from overrunning Rhode Island.

The cafeteria was packed with the before-school crowd. Tegan and Laney were sitting at a table under a row of prom posters, selling tickets to the big party. Jim peeled off to say hi to Tegan, whose face lit up when she spotted him. She tilted her head and frowned as her gaze lingered on his cheek, and when he reached her, she put her fingers up to touch the faint silver streaks on his skin. He pressed her hand to his face and said something that made her expression brighten again, and then both of them were laughing and leaning in close. As I watched the two of them head for their lockers hand in hand, I was glad I’d told him he could take her to prom.

I sank onto the hard cafeteria bench and put my backpack in front of me so that I could use it as a pillow. I’d just lowered my head onto it when someone sat down next to me.

“We won last night,” Ian said. “And no van sightings.”

I raised my head. Ian had his eyes on his large hands, which were gripping his knees in a way that looked painful. “Congratulations?”

His eyes met mine, and he gave me a quick smile; then pivoted so that he was facing me. “Do anything fun yesterday?”

“Hell no,” I said, and was rewarded with dimples.

I wondered if he’d wanted me to go to his game, if his halting silences on the phone yesterday had been him trying to figure out a way to ask me. I was overcome with this sense of want, for this kind of normal thing. Of having a guy ask me to watch his baseball game, of wondering if he liked me, of wondering what it might mean. But now I was a Guard, and on top of that, I’d managed to fall for a guy caught in the same trap. I scanned the cafeteria for Malachi, surprised he wasn’t at the prom ticket table with Laney. I finally spotted him at a table next to the cafeteria line, his back to the crowd, shoulders slumped. He looked … defeated.

“Still with me here?” Ian asked.