Six gives me a strange look, like who wouldn’t want to learn to shoot? An awkward moment passes between us, where I’m feeling almost mad at her for giving Sarah this lesson without my permission. Not that Sarah needs my permission to do anything. The whole situation has me feeling flustered, and I must look it, because Six eases the gun out of Sarah’s hand. She clicks the safety on and holsters it.

“I think that’s good for now,” Six says. “Let’s do some more tomorrow.”

“Oh,” replies Sarah, sounding disappointed. “All right.”

Six pats Sarah on the arm. “Good shooting.” Then, she fixes me with a tight smile that I’m not at all sure what to make of. “Later, guys,” she says, and breezes past me out the door.

Sarah and I stand in silence for a moment, the lights of the Lecture Hall buzzing overhead.

“So,” I begin, awkwardly.

“You’re being weird,” she says, eyeing me, her head tilted to the side.

I pick up the paper Mogadorian, examining Sarah’s handiwork while I figure out what to say. “I know. Sorry. I just never took you for the armed and dangerous type.”

Sarah frowns at me. “If I’m going to be with you, I don’t want to be a damsel in distress.”

“You’re not.”

“Come on,” she snorts. “Who knows how long I would’ve rotted in New Mexico if you hadn’t shown up? And then, I mean, John, you pretty much brought me back to life.”

I slide my arm around her, not wanting to think about Sarah at my feet, nearly dead. “I’d never let anything happen to you.”

She shrugs me off. “You can’t say that for sure. You can’t do everything, John.”

“Yeah,” I say, “I’m starting to realize that.”

Sarah looks up at me. “You know, I thought about calling my parents today. It’s been weeks. I wanted to tell them I’m all right.”

“That’s not really a good idea. The Mogadorians or the government could be monitoring your house for phone calls. They could be tracking us.”

The words sound so cold and I regret them almost right away, how quickly I’m slipping into paranoid-and-practical-leader mode. But Sarah doesn’t seem offended. In fact, it looks like it’s exactly what she expected me to say.

“I know,” she says, nodding. “That’s exactly what I thought, and it’s why I didn’t actually go through with it. I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here with you guys and fight. But I don’t have any Loric superpowers. I’m just dead weight. I want to practice shooting so I can be more than that.”

I grab Sarah’s hand. “You are more than that. I need you here with me. You’re pretty much the only thing keeping me from completely melting down.”