This is manipulation at its finest. If my emotions weren’t wrung to the last inch, I might even be impressed.

“Why does it have to be me?” I protest weakly. “There are twelve hundred kids at our high school. Millions more in the US. Why do I have to be the one to stop the Maker?”

Seconds pass, one melting into the next seamlessly, if not quietly. In fact, this is the loudest silence I’ve ever heard.

“You aren’t the only one being visited by the future,” she says finally. “There are several missions taking place simultaneously. All of you have been chosen because you have special access to key moments of the target’s past.”

I think immediately of Lalana. Of her evasiveness, of the secret she won’t share with me. Is she, too, on one of these missions?

Suddenly, I miss my best friend like I’d miss my left arm. Every adventure, every scheme I’ve had since sixth grade has been with her. From devising a plan to get back at the resident mean girl to drafting a blueprint for our very own tree house. Even if she’s not on a mission, I’d still like to talk to her. Brainstorm and analyze with her. Laugh because of her.

But that’s no longer an option.

“Fine,” I say abruptly. “But I guess now you’ll have to tell me. Who do you want me to kill? Who will one day invent the virus?”

“I stand by my decision,” she says. “You’re going to have to uncover the identity for yourself. Not because I’m being coy. Goodness, no. The future is much too important to risk on games. But because I know you, Alice. And I know, unless you convince yourself beyond a reasonable doubt, you’ll never be able to follow through with this mission. You’ll never be able to kill this person.”

I take a deep breath. “Are you talking about—?”

“Don’t guess,” my older self interrupts. “Not yet. You still have a lot you need to learn.”

My stomach sinks. Please don’t let it be Bandit, I whisper to the universe.

“How will I figure it out?” I grip the branches on either side of me. “How can I be sure I have the right person?”

“You’ll know,” she says. “You’ll feel the unshakable truth directly in your soul. Soon enough.”

“When? We don’t have school for a week. What if I don’t even come across this person?”

“Oh, you’ll come across them, all right.” Her voice is already fading away. Already leaving me here, in the present, to my own devices. “And you’ll get the clarification you need at the Newhouse awards ceremony.”

The spaces inside my mind are quiet. Empty. And she’s gone once again.

I shiver, lowering myself from the branches, scraping my exposed ankle against the bark.

Because if she’s right?