It’s not a very long ride, but it’s a silent one. I don’t say another word until it’s clear they’re not taking me out to the woods or anything like that. No, in fact, we’re rolling through a cute little college campus with pubs and shops sprinkled around the outside. People are all over the place, wandering in and out of restaurants and cafés, hanging out at tables on the sidewalk.

This is where I’m supposed to be starting school. Not for another few days, but this is the place. “Why are you bringing me here?” I finally have to ask.

“Why do you think? A deal is a deal.” Nix pulls to a stop in front of a long, three-story building on the edge of campus.

Colt turns in his seat and holds out a key. “Your room number 312. This is the key to your door.”

I feel like I’ve walked into a movie halfway through, and I’m the only one who isn’t caught up on the plot. “I don’t get it.”

“You’re here. You’re at school. And you’re all set—everything is paid up, and there’s money in your account, so you can go to the cafeteria, the bookstore, or whatever. It’s all there.”

“Like I said, we had a deal,” Nix reminds me. “And we confirmed everything is set up for you. Go ahead. Take the key and get out of here.”

Can this be true? I want it to be, but it all seems so sudden. Like being thrown from one insane situation into another with hardly any time to gather my thoughts in between.

“You’re sure about this?” I whisper, staring at the key in my palm. “This isn’t a trick?”

“You’d better hurry,” Nix grunts, staring straight ahead. “We’ve got to get back home. We’ll be missed.”

“It’s for real,” Colt tells me in a quieter voice. “Go on. Go, like, be a college student.”

Even though I should be happy, all I can do is hate them. They’ve even taken this from me. I should be joyful, full of hope, and looking forward to the next phase in my life. Instead, I’m afraid to get out of the truck because I just know I’ll end up finding out this was all a trick.

Still, I have nowhere else to go, do I? I guess I’ll find out whether they’ve been fucking with me all this time if I try to use this key and it doesn’t work. Maybe I didn’t really believe they would follow through with their part of our agreement. I mean, it’s not like they’ve ever given me a reason to believe they’re sincere.