A wave hits our calves, and the cold water makes us both jump. I take a tiny step toward her. “I think it’s funny that their hair is green from all the algae that lives on them. It’s almost like they have hair dye. And did you know that they only like to eat the leaves of trees from where they were born? If you take them away from their favorite trees, they can die of starvation. They’re like the ultimate picky eaters.”

Her eyes are widening with surprise. I wait one beat. Then two. Then it’s like a volcano erupts. “They’re three times stronger than humans. Did you know that?” She splashes toward me, her voice louder now. “From the time they’re born, they can lift their entire bodyweight with one arm. And they’re really good swimmers. They’re way faster in the water. And their organs are attached to their rib cages so that when they hang upside down, nothing gets smashed. Can you even believe how cool they are?”

Her voice is actually very cute, very high, and excited, and she looks about six inches taller with her back straight, her shoulders unslumped. She looks younger somehow, and freer. It makes me feel the same way, and I can’t help the big smile that overtakes my face. She’s smiling too, her eyes alert on mine.

This is officially three times more than I’ve ever heard her say at once. “I can’t believe how cool they are. We should find more sloth facts to tell each other.”

“Okay,” she says, her head bobbing. “I have some books I could loan you. Also, I draw them. Sometimes.”

“I’d like to see that.” I’m biting the inside of my cheeks to keep from smiling.

“Okay,” she says. The tips of her ears are turning pink, which is apparently what happens when Nova is happy. Who knew? “You could put one in your room or something. I mostly keep mine in my notebook so the girls don’t mess with them.”

“Mason!” I turn to see Emma holding up my phone from the shore. “Willow is texting.”

“You’d better answer,” Nova says. She’s smiling so big, her braces are glinting in the sunlight. “I think she likes you.”

– 23 – Willow

My mom’s aloofness may be legendary, but here in Salem, I’m witnessing it on a whole new level. It’s the next day and I’m marching through Salem, phone pressed to my ear, doing my best to fill Bea in on everything that has happened in the past twenty-four hours. The problem is, she’s having a hard time believing any of it—particularly the parts that have to do with Mason—and I’m having a hard time thinking about anything except what happened once I got back to the hotel last night.

My mom is apparently a double black belt in lying.