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Chapters (53)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Letter from the Author
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. • One •
  7. • Two •
  8. • Three •
  9. • Four •
  10. • Five •
  11. • Six •
  12. • Seven •
  13. • Eight •
  14. • Nine •
  15. • Ten •
  16. • Eleven •
  17. • Twelve •
  18. • Thirteen •
  19. • Fourteen •
  20. • Fifteen •
  21. • Sixteen •
  22. • Seventeen •
  23. • Eighteen •
  24. • Nineteen •
  25. • Twenty •
  26. • Twenty-One •
  27. • Twenty-Two •
  28. • Twenty-Three •
  29. • Twenty-Four •
  30. • Twenty-Five •
  31. • Twenty-Six •
  32. • Twenty-Seven •
  33. • Twenty-Eight •
  34. • Twenty-Nine •
  35. • Thirty •
  36. • Thirty-One •
  37. • Thirty-Two •
  38. • Thirty-Three •
  39. • Thirty-Four •
  40. • Thirty-Five •
  41. • Thirty-Six •
  42. • Thirty-Seven •
  43. • Thirty-Eight •
  44. • ∞ •
  45. • Thirty-Nine •
  46. • Forty •
  47. Epilogue
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. Excerpt from Be Dazzled
  50. One
  51. Two
  52. About the Author
  53. Back Cover

Ursula hugged herself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Wait.” Kane stopped before they reached the road. “You talked to the school counselors? Like, you went to their office hours?”

Even in the darkness, Ursula’s face glowed red. She had.

Kane felt something in him soften. He picked his words carefully. “Look. I’m sorry for…I don’t know. For whatever this is. For how I am. Thank you for stopping. I know we’re not really friends but I appreciate it.”

Ursula gave a meek smile. “Any time.”

They were at the path’s entrance. He expected her to run off, but instead she leaned in as she handed him his backpack and whispered, “Is it true? About your memories? Tell me quickly. They’re probably watching.”

Kane pulled away. There was a hardness in Ursula’s stare now that had not been there a second ago, that had never been there. Right now, there was no meekness about her whatsoever.

“Your memories. Tell me. Please,” Ursula pressed. “I need to know.”

“I remember everything,” Kane said, defensive.

Ursula was unflinching as she assessed this for the lie that it was.

“You don’t. It’s true. The others were right.” She glanced around until her eyes tracked upon something over his shoulder, as though she saw things in the shadows he could not. The hair on the back of his neck rose up, and his burns prickled.

Beware of dog flashed in Kane’s mind.

“I remember…” Kane again felt his lost memories trying to guide him. “I remember Maxine Osman.”

Ursula’s eyes went wide, and Kane knew his guess had struck something. She edged even closer so that cricket song swathed them in chatter, as though she were afraid of being overheard.

“Never say that name again.”

“But—”

“I can’t help you. You have to find your way back to us on your own, Kane. Check the treasure chest.”

And then the old Ursula returned. Meek and unsure. Rounded by anxiety. “It was nice running into you,” she murmured, unable to even look him in the eye. “See you back in school.”

She jogged toward the path, messy bun bouncing. Kane watched her go, watched the dark where she vanished, and only moved when he felt the dark watching him back.

• Four •

Far-Fetched

“Kane. Wake up.”

Toes jabbed Kane’s ribs. He rolled over and pressed his cheek into the rug.

“C’mon. I have to practice.”

“Go ahead.” Kane yawned. “I like when you play the violin. It’s nice.”

“Viola,” Sophia said, jerking open the curtains in her room. He hissed and shriveled up in the late afternoon light, but Sophia didn’t laugh. She hadn’t been too friendly since he hung up on her a few days ago.