I stare at him, my mouth open slightly. “That didn’t look like your skin. It looked like Declan’s. And how did—”

He looks back at the door, as if he expects Luisa to come through it at any moment. “It was me,” he says under his breath. “And you know Declan. Always trying to make peace. He thought he could help diffuse the situation.”

I nod slowly, testing out the theory. It’s a lie. I know that with certainty. One thing Declan and I both lived for was discussing Kane’s romantic pursuits. His love life was like a train wreck. Declan would’ve told me about this.

Kane rubs his arms through his sweater and breathes out a white cloud. “Can you drop it now?”

I start to nod, because I know that’s what he wants. Suddenly, the door flies open and Luisa appears behind the screen, silhouetted in the warm orange light from inside. “Oh, there you are,” she says sweetly to Kane. I can’t see her features, but in the ensuing silence, the already frigid temperature drops another ten degrees.

Kane whirls, and his stony face transforms into an appeasing smile. “Just needed some fresh air.”

If her eyes were claws, they would’ve ripped me to pieces. Starting to close the door, she says, her voice still sweet but clipped with frustration, “This party can’t spill outside. I have neighbors who will complain.”

Sure, she wanted me here.

Kane gives me apologetic look, then starts to go inside, his eyes beckoning me to follow him. I start to when I catch a look on his face. Fear? Anger? Something in between.

It tells me all I need to know.

Whatever he won’t tell me, Declan died because of it.

193 Days Before

I didn’t think I could change Declan. I didn’t want to.

Well, most of the time.

Declan’s room was at the front of the house, overlooking the overhang for the porch. In the Fox Court domino-house floor plan, his room was the same as mine. But because the Weeks family had a rose trellis, I could climb up and meet him outside his window, where we’d crawl up to the roof. If you were really feeling adventurous, you could climb to the back of the house, where Kane’s room was, but I never did that, because I valued my own neck too much.