As I walk alongside Layla, I instinctively look over my shoulder for Matteo, even though it’s unlikely he’d be in the girls’ dorm. I can’t help but be a little bothered that Ash didn’t tell me what he heard last night; he must have come to our room this morning to tell Layla and not included me. I know his sister is the obvious go-to, but I wonder if he’s lost a little faith in me for being so hesitant about hiding in Aarya’s room. And I can’t really blame him. In a situation where so much is at stake, I dropped the ball.

“If you keep looking over your shoulder, the entire school is going to know you’re afraid of Matteo, which only makes you look guilty,” Layla says under her breath as we walk through the downstairs foyer.

“If I don’t look over my shoulder and Matteo jumps on my head, I’ll be squished,” I mumble, trying to make light of my raging nerves.

We walk into the courtyard with the vines and stop. About seven students are already there.

“I’ll come get you before poisons class,” Layla says, and I can tell by the way her eyes dart to the side that even she is concerned about what Matteo’s return will mean.

I feel like I’ve been flipped into an alternate universe. Just a week ago I had nothing more on my mind than how to talk my way out of detention and the dress shopping Emily wanted to do for the winter formal. Now my thoughts are full of murder, deception, and classes that teach me how to poison people. I’ve never been so homesick.

“So are you going to the dance with Jack or what?” Emily asks as she turns her marshmallow over the fire pit on my back deck.

“Not sure,” I say, tucking in the blanket around my legs. I bite into my s’more.

“Not sure, nothing. I have no intention of babysitting you all night,” Emily says.

“Me? I’m the most social person you know,” I say, and push her hand a little closer to the flame so her marshmallow browns faster.

She gives me a look. “Oh, I’m not worried you’re going to get stuck against the wall all night. I’m worried that you’ll have too much time on your hands and decide to scale the building and parachute through the skylight with your dress over your head.”

I laugh. “And you think Jack is somehow going to dazzle me so hard that I won’t want to misbehave? The bigger problem is that if I do go with him, I’ll probably end up having to babysit him all night.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t get you. You think he’s cute.”