I tiptoe past Ash, who’s sleeping on my couch, and into the bathroom. I close the door slowly and hoist the window up, careful not to let the wood whine. I climb onto the sink counter and then out through the window onto a tree branch.

Every one of my senses is on high alert, looking for movement in the shadows and listening for the sound of snapping twigs. I make my way slowly and methodically out of the tree and then slink from one tree to another until I’m far enough from my house and from the risk of being detected that I’m willing to move faster.

I use backyards and patches of trees to stay out of sight as I zigzag my way through the streets that I know as well as my own room. And in my predictably sleepy town, there are only two properties that still have their lights on.

I pause in Emily’s backyard and check my surroundings to make sure no one followed me. When I’m satisfied that everything is still, I climb up her porch railing and hoist myself onto her roof. I know she doesn’t lock her bedroom window because this definitely isn’t the first time I’ve snuck over here. But I also know that if I make noise and wake her up unexpectedly, she’ll most likely scream.

I take off my gloves and hold them between my teeth, sliding her window up so slowly that I wonder if the draft will wake her even though I’m being quiet. The moment that the window’s high enough for me to fit, I slide in and push it back down, faster than is cautious.

Emily stirs in her light blue canopied bed and I take a few fast strides across her carpeted floor. She turns over and her eyelids flutter. At a loss for a better option, I press my hand over her mouth. Her eyes snap open at my touch and for a moment she appears terrified and disoriented.

“It’s me, Em,” I whisper. “I’m sorry for sneaking up on you like a criminal in the night, but just whatever you do, don’t scream.”

Recognition appears on her face and her sleepiness instantly melts. I lift my hand off her mouth. For a second she’s perfectly still.

“Nova?” she says, her voice dripping with disbelief, like I might be a hallucination or a dream.

I open my mouth to respond, but before I can get a word out she sits up in her plaid pajamas and wraps her arms around my neck so tightly that I can hardly breathe. She immediately starts sobbing into my hair, her shoulders shaking up and down. Her emotion crashes over me like a wave, pulling me under and tumbling me about, reminding me of everything I’ve lost and everything I could lose.