Heck. I never should have told him about that. I’d built it up to this huge deal in my brain the first part of the year, but then I’d finally gone on a day when Milo had had practice after school, and it had been totally fine. “The rainbow alliance? That one? There were like maybe fifteen people there—”

“But other people noticed.” Milo’s face had gone pale, lending a sickly cast to his skin. He looked like he had after we’d ridden that huge roller coaster last summer, right before he puked up his guts. But unlike then, I had zero sympathy.

“You mean your jock friends noticed. And now you can’t be seen with me?”

“It’s not about what my friends on the team might think,” he said, even though it undoubtedly was. “My parents might find out too. My dad… Never mind. It’s nothing. Maybe everyone will just get over it.”

He didn’t sound too sure, and the way his voice had wavered on the word nothing told me everything I needed to know. He was scared to be seen with me, and it wasn’t simply about me being too nerdy for the jock crowd.

Now my own stomach lurched. Others might get over it, but somehow I knew deep inside that I wouldn’t. Not ever.

He kept going. “And in the meantime, we can message and stuff.”

Somehow I found the strength to straighten my shoulders, harden my stare, and toughen up my voice. “I’m not going to be your secret. That’s not cool. Either we’re friends or we’re not.”

* * *

I could still see his face as I’d walked away that day. His lips had been pale, but his cheeks were stained red, and his dark eyes had been hollow, an emptiness there that still haunted me.

“Anything. Whatever you need,” Milo promised now even before I had a chance to lay out the bargain I was 100 percent sure he wouldn’t take.

“Not so fast,” I warned, holding up a hand. “You’re not going to like this. But I need a Prince Neptune.”

He blinked. “A prince who?”

“Prince Neptune. Only the most iconic character in Odyssey. The one on all the set boxes? The one starring in their novel series?”

“I’ll take your word for it.” He nodded rapidly. “So, you need his card? I can’t part with more of Bruno’s stuff—”