“Did you go looking for that Leon kid you were talking about?”

“Leo,” I told him. “And yeah, I found him.” Then I closed my eyes—not just because of the headache but out of respect for Angela. A moment of silence for her. Still, my grief was a little bit tempered by the thought that I could bring her back. Her death was only as real as this world, and I was determined it wouldn’t be real for long.

And then Hunter said something that really got my attention.

“You know,” he said, “I’ve been having these crazy dreams.”

“What kind of dreams?”

He shrugged like it was nothing, but clearly it was something. “About a house that we never lived in. Things that we never did, with people we don’t know.”

I took a deep breath. “Maybe they’re not dreams.”

“What else could they be?”

I didn’t answer him. How could I? He was experiencing the proximity effect, with no frame of reference to make sense of the memories.

“Whatever they are, I’m sure they’ll pass.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said, but didn’t sound too convinced.

I put the eggshells in the blender, and although Hunter gave me an odd look, I didn’t feel like volunteering an explanation. I noticed that Mom and Dad were nowhere to be found, but the house was so big, it didn’t mean they weren’t home. You could go days without seeing each other in this house.

“Thanks, Hunter,” I said, realizing that I had never actually thanked him for taking over at the store for me. “I’ll pay you whatever I would have made for my shift.”

“No worries,” he said. Then he added, “I took care of some of your ‘special’ customers, too.”

That stopped me cold.

“You did what?”

“Don’t worry, I was careful. And I already knew where you kept stuff—you showed me once, remember?”

I could feel my ears getting hot with anger—not at Hunter, but at myself. My other self. The one who remembered showing him the stash, like it was something to be proud of.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” I told him. “Do you hear me? Never!”

“It’s not a big deal,” he insisted. “I’m not gonna butt in on your business or anything.” Then he added, “Unless you want me to.”

“I don’t!” I told him. If I wanted to be away from these worlds before, I couldn’t wait to make them not exist. Because even though I couldn’t see the future, I suspected that Hunter would eventually be dealing drugs. Just like his older brother.