“You live four blocks down from school, Winnie, in Lenox Hill. And this is Central Park. You actually walked past your building to keep on following me!”

“I needed fresh air,” Winnie insisted, her fingers still busily fluttering to her hair, and then down to check her pockets. “And . . . well, I guess I wanted to make sure you were okay. After everything that happened earlier.”

Ahmad was not okay. He was entirely done with today. Sure, it hadn’t been as bad as it could be. He escaped with only a few hours of solitude and no parental intervention. But at what cost? He wasn’t sure.

And now, Winnie Williamson was following him home, occasionally leaping behind utility poles and stationary taxis like a spy for the CIA. And that wasn’t even the strangest part of the day. Winnie Williamson had, apparently, snuck a package out of the school office for him. Winnie Williamson, who had never even acted like she knew he was alive, had burst into a conference room and told two of their teachers that she was his partner in crime. And that whatever punishment he got, they better be ready to give her as well. He still couldn’t believe it.

“Why do you care?” Ahmad mumbled gruffly. “You didn’t get in trouble.”

Of course she hadn’t. Mr. Willis hadn’t even believed she was part of the situation. He only frowned and shook his head.

“Winnie, I know you’re always ready to stand up for a classmate in need, and I appreciate that. But Ahmad has committed a serious action with serious consequences. I want you to head back to class.”

Winnie said nothing. She just looked at Ahmad, and all he could do was stare back at her. He wasn’t sure what she was up to. Winnie Williamson and Ahmad Mirza lived in entirely different worlds. There were many days where he wished they didn’t, where he wanted them to at least share the same space for an hour so maybe they could talk.

Maybe they could become friends.

Even with that silent hope, he never pictured her rushing up to him in an otherwise deserted hallway, pressing a yellow envelope in his hands, and whispering, “This is yours.”

But she had.

“Even if I didn’t get in trouble,” Winnie said, snatching him back to the street corner they stood on, “I wanted to make sure you didn’t get into it either. I was in the office and just saw your name on it. It seemed like it was important, and I really didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal.”