That Thursday afternoon, Saylor was MIA at Cotillion practice. She hadn’t said where she would be, only that she needed me to be in charge. So I walked up and down the stairs of Magnolia House and did my very best not to imagine myself lying dead on them. Like I’d told David that afternoon, Blythe and Saylor had both said that boy Oracles could see what could happen, not necessarily what would. Of course I could die the night of Cotillion. We’d always known that. But I wasn’t going to, because that night was going to go off perfectly, no matter how many times I had to correct the girls’ placement. Where they were standing was important since Saylor and I were trying to create an easy exit should stuff go badly.

But the third time I snapped, “Move three steps to your left, Mary Beth!” she whirled on me.

“Oh my God, Harper, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to pick on me just because I sat next to your boyfriend at a movie.”

It was almost like the air had been sucked out of the room. Or maybe that was from everyone trying not to gasp all at once. Ryan and I hadn’t talked about Mary Beth and the movies, or David and the jacket. I think both of us were willing that entire evening away. He’d come over a couple of evenings, and we’d sat in the entertainment room my dad had set up in the basement, watching movies and occasionally kissing, but things still felt fragile and awkward between us. Nine more days, I kept reminding myself. Nine more days, and all of this is over.

But now here was Mary Beth, throwing it in my face. Bee moved closer. “You sat where with who?” We were practicing in our dresses today, and Bee looked like a seriously pissed-off bride as she stomped to my side. “You went to the movies with Ryan?” she asked Mary Beth.

Bee was one of the sweetest people I knew, but she was also super scary when she got angry. It didn’t help that she was over six feet tall in her heels.

Mary Beth went a little pale. “No!” she bleated. “I-I sat next to him after Harper ran out to hook up with David Stark.”

Now everyone did gasp, and David, who was in his usual spot, slouching behind a paperback book, sat up.

Bee turned confused eyes on me. “You and David . . .” She trailed off, and I looked around, wondering where the hell Saylor had gotten off to.

“No,” I told Bee. “I ran into him. Literally.” Pitching my voice lower, I added, “And you know why I’ve been spending time with David.”