“Resisting him,” said Laurette. “Don’t you even understand why we’re telling her?”

“I just thought we were confessing,” said Xena.

“Resisting,” said Pat. “The Belmage isn’t completely controlling things.”

Xena looked like it was finally dawning on her. “So it was the Belmage who was trying to … whatever … to me! Not Danny at all.”

“Quiet,” said Laurette fiercely. “This is supposed to be a private conversation, for pete’s sake.”

“Nobody understands what we’re talking about,” said Xena.

“They know who Danny is and that we’re friends with him,” whispered Laurette.

“But they don’t know what ‘whatever’ is,” said Xena.

“Anybody who hasn’t had a frontal lobotomy knows exactly what ‘whatever’ is,” said Sin.

“Except I don’t know what a full frontal bottomy is,” said Xena, “only it sounds really dirty. And kind of hard to do.”

“Was there anything else?” asked Pat. “When he made his play and failed?”

“No, he just got mad and left,” said Laurette.

“Chewing himself out,” said Sin.

“Chewing Danny out,” said Xena, full of newfound understanding.

“If that’s all, then I think we’re done here,” said Pat. She got up from the table, shouldered her purse, and picked up her tray.

The others started to get up.

“No,” said Pat. “You stay here till I’m gone.”

“What, are you playing spy or something?” asked Laurette.

“I’m not playing,” said Pat. “I sat down here to have lunch with my friends. Only now I know I don’t have friends. So I’m leaving, and you’re staying.”

“Come on,” said Sin. “Nothing happened.”

“Not by your choice,” said Pat.

“True,” said Laurette softly. “But Pat—”

“Stay away from me,” said Pat. Then she dumped the garbage and returned the tray and left the cafeteria, trying not to show any emotion to anybody because it was none of their business.

She didn’t go on to her next class. Instead she walked out of school and kept on walking, not to the place up in the woods and not home, either, but down the road and on and on, mile after mile. Not her most comfortable shoes today, but she didn’t actually mind a little pinching or the blisters that were almost certainly forming. It would be good to feel some pain, now that Danny had lost the power to pass them through gates and heal them.

Though of course she could always pass through the gate on the amulet in her pocket. It was thoughtful of Danny to provide for emergencies. Except for his own emergency. With that, he was completely on his own.