My heart’s hammering so loudly, I can barely focus on anything. All I know is that Ollie and I kissed—whether it was my idea or not—and Levi saw it, and the thought of facing either of them right now is terrifying. As long as we were all together on the grassy lawn, I was safe. Safe from having to confront the fact that Levi saw me and Ollie kissing. Safe from having to face Ollie, when I have no clue why I didn’t immediately push him away. Why it took seconds, maybe minutes, for me to realize what I was doing. In spite of all this, I’m so relieved Levi’s back safe and sound that it’s torture for me not moving right up to him and going into his arms.

As we make our way up the hill in the fading light, Pru comes up next to me and grabs my elbow. There’s no way she knows what has just transpired. But maybe she senses how fraught with emotion I am, because she’s gripping my arm like a vise.

“You okay?” she whispers.

“Absolutely not,” I answer without meeting her eyes.

“Deep, calming breaths. Imagine you are a flower, opening and closing in the sunlight.” I can’t help but crack up. Pru knows good and well the meditation exercises my father’s psychiatrist gave me two summers ago never worked for me.

“Thanks. I’ll work on my inner daisy.” But my smile fades when I see Levi trekking up the hill with Ollie at his side. I stop walking, and Pru stops with me. She must instantly know what’s bothering me, because she urges me forward.

“It was weird seeing me and Pippa together too,” she reminds me. “But you got used to it.”

I don’t tell her that, for reasons I can’t explain, I will never, ever get used to this.

I still haven’t spoken to Levi alone. And Ollie must have noticed I haven’t made eye contact with him, but maybe he’s too busy catching up with his DNA replica to care. Ollie, for his part, looks really relieved Levi’s okay.

Jane finds us at dinner. She informs us that the graffiti has been scoured off the Similars’ doors. “I’m writing a response to that unacceptable blog post,” she reassures us. “Which will be required reading for the entire sch—”

She doesn’t finish her sentence, because her eyes have landed on her son. Who is sitting right next to Levi. She hasn’t seen Levi since the dedication ceremony last year, when he betrayed her and walked away with that Ward, Inc. stock. I feel an ache on Levi’s behalf, hoping she can find it in herself to forgive him, once and for all, for what transpired.

“Levi,” she says quietly. “I didn’t realize you’d returned to school.”