She kept glaring at him. It didn’t seem to do any good—if anything, it just made him more cheerful.

“I always wanted to be a big man on campus,” Shane said. “Guess this is my chance.”

“I’m dead,” she moaned, and rested her forehead on her hands.

“Not yet. And that’s kind of the point.”

She was afraid Shane would make a big deal out of it, but he didn’t. He even combed his hair, which turned out to make him look totally hot in ways that she was afraid to notice. Especially if she had to spend the whole day with him. He’d picked a plain white shirt and his best pair of blue jeans, which were still out at the knees and frayed at the hems. And plain running shoes. “In case we have to do any retreating,” he said. “Plus, kicking somebody when you’re wearing flip-flops hurts.”

“But you’re not kicking anybody,” she said quickly. “Right?”

“Nobody who doesn’t deserve it,” he said. “What else do I need to fit in?”

“Backpack.” She found her spare—she’d brought two—and tossed it to him. He stuck in some paperbacks, a PSP, and his iPod and headphones, then raided the cabinets for Twinkies and bottled water. “We’re not exactly going to the wilderness, Shane. You don’t have to take everything. There are vending machines.”

“Yeah? I didn’t see any lunch in that schedule. You’ll thank me later.”

In fact, she did feel better with Shane loping along beside her; he was watching the shadows, the dark alleys, the empty buildings. Watching everything. Even though he’d packed the iPod, he wasn’t listening to it. She missed hers, all of a sudden, and wondered if Monica had it.

They made it to campus without incident, and they were halfway across it, heading for her first class, when Claire suddenly thought of something and came to a full stop. Shane kept going for a couple of paces, then looked back.

“Monica,” she said. “Monica’s going to be hanging around. She usually is. She’ll see you.”

“I know.” Shane hitched his backpack to a more comfortable spot. “Let’s go.”

“But—Monica!”

He just looked at her, and started walking. She stayed where she was. “Hey! You’re supposed to be with me, not leaving me!”

“Monica’s my business,” he said. “Drop it.” He waited for her, and she reluctantly caught up. “She doesn’t mess with us, I won’t mess with her. How’s that?”

Wishful thinking, to Claire’s mind. If Monica really had gotten it in for Shane, even a year or two ago, and gone far enough to kill his sister, she couldn’t imagine any situation where Shane just walked away. Shane wasn’t a walking-away kind of guy.