“What?” Noelle and I said in unison. She stepped back with a frown. “And you didn’t tell us anything?”

“I thought it was pretty clear by now.” He paused, considering, then he said, “If you really want to find out more about The Chitter Chatter . . . you should ask Amelia.”

Before either of us could reply, Seth looked up at the window once more, but Jasper’s silhouette had disappeared. With a nod, more to himself than to us, he picked up his bags and turned around.

Noelle and I watched, dumbfounded, as he disappeared down the road we had walked together the first time, when the trees still had leaves and we hadn’t known a thing about life at Seven Hills. A moment later, he was gone; the only evidence he had ever been there were his footprints in the snow. By noon, they would disappear as well.

° ° °

After Seth’s departure, the day seemed to stretch endlessly.

Throughout class, my eyes kept wandering back to his empty seat, the room silent when a question was asked that I knew Seth would have been able to answer without a beat. At lunch, it was quieter at our table than usual, none of us speaking much as we pushed our food back and forth on our plates. In the afternoon, Noelle and I sat alone in the common room facing two empty armchairs.

“I have to go to basketball practice,” Noelle said at four o’clock.

“Are you going to be okay on your own?”

I offered her a strained smile. “I’ll be fine. Have fun at practice.”

She got up, but paused once more to press a short kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes, soaking in the simple comfort for a few seconds. Over the last few days we had gotten good at replacing the hard conversations we both knew we ought to be having—the ones about her mom and her real name and the news reporters that had swarmed the premises—with physical affection. Later tonight, I wanted to try to get her to talk to me again, but for now it was easier to simply lean into the touch and nod when she tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and said,

“I’ll see you later.”

Once she had disappeared through the door, I opened my book again, hoping it would be enough to distract me. It wasn’t, but before I could think too much about Seth, Jasper suddenly sank onto the couch next to me.

“Hey, you,” I said, closing my book.

“Hey,” he rasped. With dark circles under his eyes and his lips bitten raw, he looked no better than Seth had this morning.

“Have you heard from him yet?”

“He’s still on a train. The first one was delayed.”

Jasper nodded silently and ran a hand over his face. After clearing his throat, he said, “I’m sorry if this is strange, but . . .

I want to talk to Amelia about what happened, but I don’t want to go alone. I know that you’re closer with her, so . . . Would you come with me?”