Mason surprises me when he closes the gap between us completely and envelops me in a hug. It’s warm and comforting and the last thing I expected him to do. I wrap my arms around his back and hold him to me, each of us seeking and giving our own comfort.

“I’m supposed to be the one comforting you,” I mumble into his shoulder. His sweater smells like a mix of fresh detergent and something purely Mason, which floods my body with warmth. I missed my friend.

“We are comforting each other.” He chuckles, and my arms drop to my sides as he releases me. He continues, “I had time to think it over and I get why you did it. I wish you felt like you could tell me, but I get that it should’ve been my dad. But Amelia? Know that you can tell me anything, okay? You’ll still always be my best friend.”

If I already didn’t feel like crying, the feeling would’ve hit me tenfold. I never realized how much extra weight I was carrying by keeping things from my friends. Now that everything’s out in the open with Mason, I feel like I can breathe easier, but there’s still something wiggling in the back of my mind, something weighing me down, something blocking me from being truthful with Mason. I can’t take the lying anymore. Telling the truth has opened a floodgate and I don’t care to stop anymore.

“I’m in witness protection.” The words spill out of my mouth of their own accord, and I do nothing to stop them. “There’s a man trying to kill me, and he’s found me twice before. The last time he found me and almost killed me I was relocated here to King City and became Amelia. Please don’t hate me.”

Mason stares at me, his mouth slightly agape as he processes my words. Before he can say anything, the door on my left, the one to the main-floor washroom, swings open. Noah’s there, staring at me just like Mason is. I’m just as shocked as I’m sure Mason feels.

Noah clears his throat. “So, I’ve been standing here for, like, ten minutes, not wanting to interrupt you guys making up, but . . . what?! You’re in witness protection? Are you, like, a spy? Or an assassin? Wow, this is so much.” He shakes his head as if trying to wrap his mind around it and washes his hands, talking loudly over the running water. “First all the stuff about Luke and the twins, then Brian and your mom, and now this? Next you’re going to tell me your name isn’t Amelia.”

Mason snaps out of whatever stupor he’s in as his eyebrows draw together. He glances at me, then back at Noah. “Um, Noah? That’s kind of the point of witness protection. Her name isn’t Amelia.”

Noah dries his hands and stares blankly at me for a few moments before his jaw drops again, as if he just connected the dots. “Holy shit! So, what is your name? The real one, not Amelia, because we know that’s not your real name. Obviously.”