“Yeah,” I told him, walking over and slipping an arm around his waist before going up on tiptoe to press a quick kiss against his lips, willing him to let this go, to let us be okay.

He kissed me back, but when I pulled away, that wrinkle was still between his brows. “See you tomorrow,” I said, ignoring the wrinkle. “Don’t forget, we have an assembly bright and early, and I want to see you in the front row.”

Nodding, David smiled the littlest bit. “Got it. See you then.” He waved to Bee, then let himself out the back gate.

After he was gone, I turned back to Bee. “So you want to work on more baton twirling?”

A wide grin split Bee’s face, and overhead, the sun filtered through the leaves, leaving pretty dappled shadows on her skin. “Or we could practice something else.”

With that, she lunged at me.

Instinct took over, and I dodged, dropping to sweep my leg underneath her feet. But she was quick, and leapt away from my kick with a laugh.

And then it was on.

In a weird way, it was like we were back in cheerleading practice. Bee and I had always been a great team, and nothing had changed. Every punch she threw, I countered. Every kick, I matched. And when she caught me by my wrist, flipping me over her back, I actually laughed at the sheer fun of it. Not only did I have my best friend back, but I finally had someone who could train with me, who could let me release my abilities to their full extent.

When Bee and I were done, we were both sweating and breathing hard, but we were also smiling, so much that my cheeks ached.

We sat on the grass, and from beyond the fence, I could hear a car driving down our street. The wind rustled through the leaves overhead, and birds were singing. It could not have been a more perfect spring day, but I couldn’t help the little chill that went down my spine. It wasn’t the sense of dread and pain that came when David was in trouble—it wasn’t nearly intense enough for that—but I frowned anyway.

“Bee,” I ventured, “you know what David said... I’d never want you to do that for me. I wouldn’t ask you to.”

She glanced over at me, the breeze blowing wisps of blond hair into her face. “I know that, Harper. But I would. If you needed me to.”

I shifted on the grass, scratching a spot behind my knee. “Bee, I know this isn’t something you really want to talk about, but... when you were with Alexander, did he train you?”