“I feel like your dad sort of grounded my dad, and now I’m not so sure …”

“Not so sure of what?”

“I don’t know. He seems distracted. Or maybe just sad. It’s probably nothing.”

“Probably,” Eden said, and then they sat there and watched the “Timber” pixelated panda dance but did not get up to join in. Eden looked around, noting how the room had changed over time—which was barely at all. It felt like a second home she somehow didn’t get to visit enough. A safe place. She said, “Can I tell you something that you can never tell another breathing soul?”

Mark said, “That would certainly be the most interesting thing to happen to me this week.”

She got her phone out and turned it off. “Where’s your phone?” she said.

He pointed to the side table.

She said, “Turn it off.”

And then she told him all about Julian, and it felt good to just let it all out. Of course, Mark said all the right things.

That’s messed up. Delete his number. I would never ask a girl for that.

It felt so good that she thought about telling him about the device.

Then she decided not to.

Then she changed her mind. There was no way the device would ever know, and Mark was entirely trustworthy.

“Okay, now you’re just messing with me,” he said when she was done.

She shook her head. “I’m not.”

“So how are you going to get rid of it or end it or whatever?”

“At this point we’re still not sure, so the most likely thing is that we’ll bring it to the principal on Monday morning.”

“That sounds smart,” he said. “And if you google for it, there’s … nothing?”

“Nothing. Its name is Aizel, but there’s just nothing out there about it.”

“You think it’s like … military?”

“I have no idea! I mean, it’d be too crazy. Like, why would the military care about the four of us? And why, like, Astoria? Right now, it’s trying to figure out some kind of connection, and it says it’ll tell us. Anyway, whatever you do, don’t go start googling to try to figure out what it is.”

“Why not?”

“Just don’t, okay? It’ll know.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Promise me.”

“Okay,” he said. “Maybe it’s just an interactive game? Like Pokémon GO? Just something that’s designed to force you out of your comfort zone?”

“I don’t have a comfort zone,” she said.

“I’d like to think you have one here? With us? Or me?”