Alex always drove like a getaway driver fleeing the scene of a bank heist—with a car full of money, riding the hubristic high of making it out alive. He’d never been late, never missed a day, and never slowed down in front of her school, choosing instead to come to a tire-screeching halt. Inside the car, Luna immediately turned back to her phone. The forum had gone feral with excitement when Jewel had announced Golden Weekend X—the tenth time she would host the event. And as promised, she had followed three of the four users:

JadeTheBabe

BelleLow

StreetcarBouvier

One. More. Spot. Left.

Luna could not let herself think about that because if she did, she would get her hopes up, and once they were up, they’d be inevitably shot down when she wasn’t chosen. So, instead, she concentrated on her work.

The Goldspiracy was real—Luna had coined the term after figuring out everything Jewel did in the app had purpose. Her idol was also a low-key genius, planting clues and Easter eggs in all her videos, essentially challenging the community to figure them out without ever acknowledging any of it. Sometimes Jewel even roped in Olive, her bestie, and Ethan, her brother, by hiding clues in their videos too.

Most of her challenges could be solved with an internet search or two and strung together to create a message, but that wasn’t the hard part. What stumped most was discovering the meaning behind the message using the Easter eggs.

No one on the Goldspiracy Forums was better at interpreting Jewel than SilentStar.

Alex cleared his throat, drawing Luna back into real life. She looked up, noticing for the first time that he hadn’t sped off the way he normally did. The car idled, engine vibrating under her feet.

“Moon Princess,” he said.

“Alex.” She gave him her full attention, turning her phone facedown in her lap.

“Notice anything different about me?”

“No?”

“No? Nothing at all?” He lifted his chin, looking down his nose at her.

She assessed him quickly. Hair: same reddish-brown. Face: frustratingly smooth and blemish-free. Eyes: a little red for a likely reason Luna refused to even consider because she didn’t want to think Alex would do that to her. Private school uniform: pressed and starchy.

The silence stretched between them. Nothing to say, nothing to add. She knew what he wanted, but held back …

“Nothing. At. All.” Alex turned his head to the side—ah!

“You pierced your ear!”

A gold stud stood out beautifully against his dusky skin tone. “Ears,” he said, showing her the other one. “I’ve been thinking about stretching. Gotta start small. What do you think? Do they look good?” He checked his reflection in the rearview mirror for probably the umpteenth time.

Luna didn’t feel one way or the other about it but liked that they seemed to make him happy. “Yeah. Sure.”