“Oh, Esther, we’re only playing!” Daisy called after her, but Esther ignored her, sashaying off across the room and tipping the remains of her wedges, which Daisy had been hoping to eat, into the waste bin. She didn’t even glance back before she left the room entirely.

Daisy looked across at Susan, who tipped back the dregs of her soda can and set it on her tray with a clatter. “In my not-yet-professional medical opinion, I suspect that Esther’s new Goth friend has infected her with a sense-of-humor failure. A common malady among the macabre community.”

“But . . . Esther’s never been like that!”

“No, but this Vectra will expect our Es to take herself seriously. Trust me.”

Daisy didn’t much like the thought of that.

After parting ways with Susan, Daisy started to make her way out of the building, wondering how her friends would have reacted to her afternoon plans. Not that either of them had shown any interest in asking about them . . .

Which might be for the best, given that she was attending another session with the Brethren. Her previous commitments had limited Daisy to attending the Tuesday evening sessions, but now that she had more time, she thought she might attend a drop-in session that afternoon. Provided she could think of something to share.

Deep in thought, Daisy missed her turn in the corridor and found herself exiting the building via the medical school. It wasn’t especially illuminating. As in any other university building, all one got to see of the lectures were the doors. There were bulletin boards, of course, as well as screens displaying information that might as well have been written in a different language, for all Daisy could make of them. It wasn’t until she passed the reception desk that she saw something familiar. Or, rather, someone.

“Grace!” Daisy brightened, raising her hand in a half wave as their paths were about to cross.

“Hey, Daisy,” Grace said. Her smile was real, but there was a nervous edge to the way she dodged eye contact.

“How’ve you been?” Daisy did her best to sound like someone who cared, but not so much that Grace would pull away. The kind of delicate line Daisy trod when feeding Baby Gordon.

“Oh. You know. Same.” Grace shrugged. “Start every morning with a shot of coffee and an energy drink to get me through the day, then stay up all night worrying what I’m doing with my life.”

Daisy took a second to check she’d heard correctly. “That’s a lot more truthful than I was expecting.”

Grace squinted at her as if she wasn’t sure Daisy was being honest. “Most people assume it’s a joke.”

“Oh. Well, is it?”