“Damien is back,” Mark said, speaking up for the first time in a few minutes. After our awkward handshake, he’d taken to pacing the room, a dark look on his face.

“But I mean, he’s been back for, like, a few weeks though hasn’t he?” the other boy, Adam, said. “I mean, he’s been out?”

“But now he’s back in our lives,” Mark said, sounding bitter.

“No, he isn’t,” Sam said, brushing a hand down Mark’s arm in a soothing gesture. “He’s in Rose’s life.”

“I barely know the guy,” I said, not sure where I was supposed to stand with these people or with Damien.

“Okay, seriously,” Caleb interrupted, “just someone start from the beginning and explain why you all feel so worried.”

“Caleb’s an empath,” Sam said, turning to me to explain. I nodded like I was keeping up. I barely know what that means—he can feel feelings, I guess? That must SUCK.

“Gee, thanks, Sam.” Caleb rolled his eyes.

“It’s okay, she’s one of us,” Sam said.

“Right, because we can always trust other Atypicals,” Adam mumbled, and I had a LOT more questions about that comment but Dr. Bright spoke up before I could ask.

“Rose is a patient of mine,” Dr. Bright explained calmly. “She met Damien and thought I might be able to help him. As you can imagine, the reunion did not go well.”

“How do you even know Damien in the first place?” Caleb asked me.

I went for a simple “we met at the AM” hoping that would lead to the least number of awkward questions, but Adam immediately jumped in, asking me if I worked there. When I told him I was a patient, he and Caleb both looked confused.

“Why?” Caleb asked.

“Because I needed help…?” I said, wondering why that was such a weird idea.

“The AM isn’t all bad,” Dr. Bright said to the boys.

“Oh, good, we’re doing this again,” Mark said, starting to pace again.

“She’s right,” I said, nodding toward Dr. Bright. “I was having a hard time balancing my ability and they helped. I dreamdive and—”

“What does that mean?” Adam asked.

“I can go into people’s dreams,” I explained, wondering how the term “dreamdive” wasn’t clear enough. Both Caleb’s and Adam’s eyes grew wide at that.

“What?” Adam asked, smiling.

“That’s a thing?” Caleb asked.

“Yes, it’s a thing, and I was at the AM for it and I traveled into Damien’s dream and saw a lot of weird and creepy stuff—”

“Well, it was the inside of Damien’s head—” Sam scoffed.