“No, thank you for earlier,” he says, lowering his voice. “What was that all about anyway? Did I say something wrong back there?

He must be talking about the fight. I don’t want to answer him, but he should probably know. “Your question pissed them off. They’ve probably spent time in juvie.”

“Juvie? I had no idea.”

“You’re not a foster kid, are you?”

“No…” His voice trails off. “Are you?”

“Yeah. And my guess is the other three are too.” I look to Zoe for confirmation and she nods, her eyes locked on her plate.

“Oh. I didn’t realize…” Adam adjusts his glasses and studies me. “What did Trent mean by Bright Haven?”

I stab my food with my fork. “It’s a group home.”

He probably wants more from me, to hear what happened there, but he won’t get it. I don’t talk about the past. Especially not that day.

We eat in silence for a few minutes, and when he’s distracted I steal another glance at his face. There’s something about his strong jaw, dark eyebrows, and perfectly messy hair that make my eyes want to linger on him. He’s better looking than I originally thought, in that geeky cute way a lot of girls find attractive. I’m not one of them. Guys like Chris are more my type.

But I can see the appeal.

“Cool hair,” Adam says to Zoe.

“Thanks,” she says, keeping her eyes down. “I, um, I like your unicorn.”

These are the first words I’ve heard from her. I was beginning to wonder if she spoke at all.

“Thanks. It’s something I picked up when I was bored.” He’s so friendly, and a part of me wants to smack that smile off his face. A guy who has time to learn origami has no idea how cruel the real world can be.

“Is that your, um, talent?” she asks. I can’t tell if she’s serious or not.

“Origami? No.” He laughs—an easy laugh, like he does it a lot. “I’m not sure what my talent is. I guess I’m a fast learner.”

“Don’t be modest, Adam,” Lynne says from behind us, where she’s been watching us eat. She raises her voice so we can all hear. “Adam is a genius. He graduated from high school at fourteen and recently graduated from UCLA with double degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology.”

Trent snickers, and Chris glares at our table with a deadly look in his eyes. Adam stares at his plate, a frown on his lips. Is Lynne trying to get the guy beat up? And if Adam is so smart, why is he here? What is Aether offering him?