I have to brave the campus a little longer. It’s my job to lie in wait—literally in the shrubs—for Ernie to leave the shop building after his shift in half an hour. I hope it’s long enough for Chaz to prepare his surprise, but not so long I get caught.

For the first time all week, things go effortlessly, though Ernie kind of whinnied when I leaped out of the bushes at him. Now we’re trying to creep up Faculty Row as stealthily as possible. Which is to say, not stealthily. There are no trees, and the most coverage would be a wagon-wheel planter with some really mangy geraniums. As we pass the Buckmans’, we see Helen furiously throwing luggage into a minivan.

Ernie’s lugging his baseball game. Was he worried he would be bored on the way back to the dorm? I suppose it would seem more ridiculous if my cell hadn’t been conjoined to my hand since eighth grade.

Ernie is gloomy. “I’m not supposed to be off campus! I didn’t sign out!” I remind him that the school has probably used up its suspend-the-student-body quota for the year and that this may be his one chance to say goodbye to Chaz.

He thinks we’re going to Silverthorn’s, so when I steer him toward the empty house, he’s confused. “Huh?”

This is my cue to bow out. “It’s a surprise. Go with it.”

Before he opens the door, I pry the video game out of his hand, which only makes him more nervous, but I figure Chaz deserves his full attention.

I swore to Chaz that I would send Ernie in alone, but there is no chance of me missing out on this. I mean, please. I know these faculty houses plenty well, and I dart around to the back door and slip inside, as little-cat-feety as I can. There’s a hall from the kitchen to the living room that I sneak down, hoping they won’t notice.

In the living room, Ernie’s face is alight with the discovery of his framed painting over the fireplace. Chaz is nowhere in sight. Then I hear a click (a real drawback to the romance of a boom box), and music starts. It’s “Take on Me” by A-Ha, and Ernie goes red, blushing with delight or embarrassment or both.

Chaz waits till the chorus to make his entrance, slowly walking down the stairs in a blazer and skinny tie, holding a parchment roll in one hand. He’s singing along. When he gets to the part about being gone in a day or two, Ernie starts to cry.