Tearing a page out of my Book of Secrets, I immediately responded, tucking his note safely inside the book. It took me a couple days to figure out that “Ocean” and “Sand” were streets, but once I did, the game was on. We kept the notes simple—observations about the other person or little jokes—but the real fun was crafting the riddles and finding new hiding places. The notes were the only happy thing in my life. Looking forward to them was my salvation.

“I’m bored with them, too, but go ahead,” Lil said, snapping me back to reality.

Half in a daze, I studied our shadows, stretched long by the setting sun. A line of perfectly spaced Bubble Cars glided down Sunset Boulevard, transporting people we would probably be entertaining tonight wherever they were going. Maybe they were studying our feeds now. I don’t know them, but they know me. Too well. What’s next? Where do we go from here? This is it. We have it all…

Lil sat up. “And I’m inviting Samantha Valenti over. Then we’ll have some real fun.”

The hot wind prickled my skin, and, despite the warm evening, I shivered. My eyes flitted to Dee’s, and I registered her fear. But then it was gone.

“What do you want with Samantha?” I asked.

“Her numbers have been growing ever since the Peter scandal,” Lil said. “She owes us a thank-you.”

“Shouldn’t you thank her for getting him fired?” I asked. “You wanted to get back at him for dumping you. She did you a favor.” It wasn’t like me to be combative, but my patience was wearing thin. Lil wasn’t the only one who was bored.

“Absolutely not,” Lil said. “We’ve created a monster, and she needs a reminder of who was queen first. Keep your enemies close, Ella.”

Recognizing the underlying threat in her voice, I bit my lip to keep from blurting what I really thought—that she was evil to the core. “Do whatever you want,” I muttered.

The wind smacked against the building in a thunderous whoosh, whipping our hair across our faces.

“Let’s go inside,” Lil said, waving a hand to open the sliding glass doors that led to the living room. “Samantha will be here in ten, and we’ve got to prepare. We go live in twenty.”

“Thanks for having me over.” Samantha stepped inside the stark penthouse and set down her overnight bag.

“Thanks for coming.” A fake smile on her lips, Lil led Sam to the great room, where we were lounging on cushy white couches. The space was wallpapered with screens that displayed a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of Los Angeles. Normally it felt like we were perched on a pedestal in the center of the city, but that night the screens were showing the movie Believe, and we were taking turns having our avatars star opposite heartthrob Jake Branson.