“Like, your own room! There’s plenty up there.”

“Maybe better signal from the Mainland!”

I shooed them away, dropped my pack on the bottom bunk, and scaled the tier to settle on the edge of Jenn’s bunk. “Hey. What’s all the fuss?”

Jenn was pressed into a back corner, her pillow clamped to her chest and her belongings tucked up tight around her like a defending army. She looked rational enough, except that her hair was a worse rat’s nest than before and her eyes were so huge and luminous in the shade of the upper bunk, I thought she’d put on heavy makeup.

“Glim! You came to wait with me!”

Wasn’t going to say no right off. “For a while. Whacha waiting for?”

“Not what. Who. C’mon, you know.”

I swung my legs over the edge like it was any old day in the den. “You heard a big storm on the way? Superstorm Leon?”

“Oh, they’ll be here before that.”

“Coming up faster than predicted.”

“They’ll be keeping an eye on it.”

I made to notice her stuff pulled up around her. “So why aren’t you packed? They won’t want to hang around with a storm coming.”

“Oh. My. Of course I should!” Like she hadn’t considered it. She let the pillow fall in her lap, grabbed up a packet of soap, put it down, reached for her sewing kit, put it down.

“Where’s your bag? I’ll help.” I jittered a bit, like I was ready to climb down. “And then, in case they get held up by the weather, you can come with us and they’ll pick you up at the Stadium after it’s passed. Be easier all around. And a lot safer.”

“But how would I let them know where to find me?” She wrinkled up, on the verge of tears. “Those wretched children stole all my equipment!”

“Not stole. Put it in safekeeping. So you’ll have it uptown.” Was it time to start lying through my teeth? “Daniel could probably contact them for you.”

“Daniel?” Her yard-wide gaze drew in a bit. “You mean, before he leaves?”

I played my next card, worried my hand was already growing thin. “He’s not leaving.”

“Why not?”

“He’s coming with us. With me.”

“You said he couldn’t go?”

“We agreed we didn’t want to.”

“You both gave up a chance to get off the Island?” She sent me a long, disbelieving look, then turned away. “What a waste.”

“You know the Stadium’s only a few water blocks from the Mainland, right? Officially, it is the Mainland.”

She hadn’t factored this in. She said slowly, “I was never at Yankee Stadium.”