I spin around to find I’m standing in the camp parking lot, the office staring back at me. But camp ended weeks ago, so this whole place should be empty, right?

I head toward the front office to find the lights are on inside. Pushing the door open, I expect to find Devin sitting there with a goofy grin on eir face, but instead I find Georgette, who looks bored as hell as she types something up on the computer.

Her head bounces up as I enter, and she says, “Ah, Noah. Figured you’d be around sometime soon.”

“Are you also part of Devin’s scheme?” I ask.

She smiles—maybe the first smile I’ve seen on her face—and holds a note out to me.

Noah,

Okay, almost done. Come find me where we first met. There, you’ll receive your reward.

Love,

Devin

I sigh, giving Georgette a quick wave before heading out to the rec center. Devin is literally the only person who could convince me to do this much running around without telling me why. . . .

I open the door and the lights come on, confetti and like a hundred little balloons falling from the ceiling. Oh, and Troye Sivan playing over the speakers, which is a very Devin touch.

I can’t help but laugh because it’s all pretty well thought out, except where the hell is Devin?

I take a few steps into the room, but it seems like I’m alone. I mean, there aren’t a whole lot of places to hide in here. And then I see shoes just under the long table that’s yet to be cleared from the room.

Rounding the table, I find Devin sitting on the floor, knees to chest.

“Devin?” I say.

E looks up, eyes red, and says, “Hi. Sorry.”

“Sorry?”

I sit next to em, eir breathing ragged. E’s got the Got Milk? shirt on, which makes me smile as I say, “You okay?”

“I’m sorry,” e says again. “I—I know you’re super into meet cutes, and I wanted to do something to make up for how we met, but I—”

“Devin, it’s okay,” I say, rubbing eir shoulder. “This is all really sweet. I appreciate it.”

“I’m sorry about the panic attack.”

“Please don’t be sorry about that.”

I give em a few minutes to get eir breathing under control, gently holding eir hand as e takes deep breaths. Finally, e says, “I don’t want to pressure you into something you don’t want to do, and I know you said you need space to decide on your own, but I also didn’t want to just let you walk away. I don’t think I’d ever stop regretting it.”