His enthusiasm is infectious and I find myself nodding. How could twins be so entirely different? He’s talkative. Layla’s not. She follows the rules to the letter. Ash seemingly breaks them every chance he gets.

“For my part of the deal, I’ll give you the highlights, make it easier for you to stop embarrassing yourself,” he says with a smirk.

“I’ll think about it,” I say, even though I know I probably won’t get a better offer. I just have no idea what I’ll trade with him or how everything I’ve heard tonight makes sense with what I know about my own family—who are clearly not who I thought they were.

“Hey, look, it could be worse. You might have been paired with a different roommate and not had the good fortune to talk to me,” he says with a grin.

Again, it’s pretty much impossible not to smile back at him. “Is that so?”

He leans toward me. “Who else in this school would tell you secrets?”

“And who else would encourage me to break all the rules?” I say, matching his playful tone.

“Speaking of which, it’s time to go,” Ash says, sliding off the branch and onto a smaller one below.

“You’re kinda good at that,” I say, climbing down to meet him. “I’m better, but you’re still good.”

Ash nods approvingly. “Do that. Exactly that and you’ll survive here.” Then he grabs the branch in front of him and swings down to a lower one.

I mimic his move, but using only one hand instead of two.

He laughs and so do I.

“Race you down?” he says, and before he gets to the end of his sentence, I’m already moving.

In no time we’re at the vines, me arriving a split second before he does. I give him a gloating look, since talking this close to the ground is out of the question.

He grabs the vine I’m hanging on and yanks it toward him. I put out my hand to stop us from colliding and wind up with my palm on his chest, which I can’t help but notice is muscular. I can feel his heart racing under his linen shirt.

He whispers in my ear, his breath warm on my cold skin, sending goose bumps down my neck. “The guards are about to make their rounds again. And just before they do, we’ll stand on either side of the doorway and tuck ourselves behind the curtain. Then as the guard parts the curtain to exit, we’ll slip behind him along the wall into the recessed doorway. As long as you don’t make any noise or pull the fabric, we’ll go undetected.”

All my thoughts of our nearness, his breath, and his chest under my fingertips disappear and I drop my hand. “That’s a terrible plan,” I whisper back. “Why can’t we just wait for the guard to clear the courtyard and then sneak behind the curtain?”

“If we do that, we won’t have enough time before the next guard takes up the post at the door.”