“Here we are.” Rayelle inserts a key into the doorknob at room 222.

“I’m in 223,” Sophia says. “But you’ll be seeing a lot of me.”

“Come over anytime,” Rayelle says, opening our door.

Inside, the quarters are small but clean, with bamboo floors and white walls cast in the illusion of natural light. Each side of the room contains a tall bunk tucked with white linens and a desk with a bright yellow plastic chair beneath it. A low bookshelf and two white-lacquered dressers are the only other furnishings. At the back of the space, a narrow door leads to the restroom and shower.

Rayelle chooses the bed on the right and starts to unpack. Framed photos of her family and a ceramic elephant-shaped bamboo pot soon adorn her desk. A Cirque du Soleil poster with a unicorn painted in rainbow colors gets taped to her wall.

It doesn’t take me long to unpack my meager belongings. I fold my jumpsuits into a drawer, burying the Balenciaga dress deep beneath them. It’s my only worldly possession, the only thing linking me to my past, and I can’t bring myself to part with it.

Climbing onto my sparse bed, I compare Rayelle’s half of the room—colorful and full of life—to mine. Empty. A black-and-white sketch.

Wishing Adam had survived—that I could build my new life with an old friend—I blink back tears.

I’m so alone.

Inhaling, I hold my breath to keep myself together.

But my only choice is to begin again. I’ll add color bit by bit until the pencil marks disappear…

Chapter Five

September 20X5: Keystone

Rayelle and I wind our way up the stairs inside a giant sequoia on our way to master thief Weiss’s Escape and Evasion lesson.

“Rumor has it Weiss went kinda nuts when he tried to escape from a burning coffin and almost didn’t make it out alive,” Rayelle says, her words coming out in little puffs. “He’s a little off, but don’t worry, he shouldn’t make you try to escape from anything your first day.”

“That’s a relief,” I say, heaving for breath in the thin air. “I’ve never escaped from anything. I wouldn’t know where to start,” I lie. Never escaped from anything except my former life and maybe duct tape and rope ties, thanks to Allard’s tutoring.

We emerge onto a wide platform hidden high among the branches, invisible to the naked eye from the ground. It’s cool and foggy up here, the rustle of leaves in the wind the only sound, until my ears pop and I catch the whispers of my fellow thieves. There are four tables in front of us, three of them occupied with two kids each.

As we take our places at the last table, I lean over to Rayelle. “Where’s Sophia?”

“She’s in the front row, next to Stewart.” She points to a wiry, dark-skinned guy. “He’s the smartest of all of us—can hack into any system—nobody thinks faster than him.”

“That’s Sophia?” I don’t recognize the girl with pale-blue hair, a slim black ribbon tied around her throat, and gray boots inked with sketches. There’s no way that’s the same girl I met yesterday.