Laughter springs out of me before I have time to stifle it. It’s my real laugh—an embarrassingly loud, honking sound that would be put to better use as a fire alarm. I clamp my mouth shut, my skin heating at the slip in my composure, but Cyrus is grinning at me.

“Uh, what?” Oliver asks, looking lost.

“Ignore him,” I say, but I’m talking more to myself. Ignore Cyrus, don’t trust him, don’t let yourself laugh at his remarks. Only one person is going to get their heart broken at the end of this trip, and it’s not going to be you.

I look down at the Band-Aid on my heel and make a mental note to rip it off as soon as I can.

CHAPTER TEN

There has to be a better way to get in my exercise for the day than sprinting to catch the bullet train, my vision half-obscured by my bangs, while my luggage bumps violently along the pavement behind me and Wang Laoshi yells at everyone to move faster because our tickets are nonrefundable.

Many better ways. As we all pile into the train car mere seconds before the doors slide shut, sweating and panting so hard that the other passengers turn to stare, I manage to think of at least ten examples just off the top of my head, including but not limited to: Getting chased by the ghosts from the haunted teahouse. Washing a full sink of dirty dishes by hand. Wrestling a bear.

But I can’t help laughing with Daisy and Oliver when we finally collapse into our seats, our bags dumped gracelessly into the space beneath the footrests. I’m not sure if it’s the relief of catching the train in time, or if it’s the unexpected happiness bubbling beneath the exhaustion and stress of the morning. That unique camaraderie that I imagine forms only when you’re traveling in a tight-knit group like this, away from home and old haunts and clinging on to these half strangers who have suddenly become more familiar to you than anyone else.

And in casual, unremarkable moments such as this one, I’m gripped by the novel idea that the people around me actually like me, for some bizarre reason I’m still trying to figure out—if only so I don’t mess it up and make them stop.

“That was way too close,” Daisy says as a jingle ascends over the train speakers.