“Lemme tell you about something that happened to me on the set of my show last week,” Archer says. He’s starting to slur his words. If it wasn’t obvious to everyone before, it is now. Archer’s wasted. And maybe even high. Who knows? “It’s been hard to get used to how famous I am,” Archer continues, “so when this group of teenagers practically mowed me down trying to take a selfie with me, the producers actually had to call security on ’em!”

There’s a reaction from the student body. Most cheer and holler, though a few others start talking among themselves. They’re restless and wish he’d wrap up his speech. Plus, I can tell that Ansel wishes he were anywhere but up on that stage.

“I knew Archie was kind of conceited,” a girl next to me says to her friend. “He posts like four selfies a day. But wow. Fame’s really gone to his head.”

“Anyone want to take a selfie with me right now?” Archer asks the crowd, and the girl next to me shoots her friend a look that says See what I mean? “You could get right in between me and Ansel. De Leon sandwich!” At that point, Ansel extricates himself from Archer’s grasp and slips down off the stage, walking back toward us. He looks mortified, but relieved to have escaped.

“That’s enough,” barks Headmaster Ransom, who has stepped up to take the mic out of Archer’s hands. “Mr. de Leon, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“Hey, no problem, sir. If anyone wants a photo op with me, I’ll be right outside. No biggie if you want to sell it to the media! And I’m not opposed to taking my shirt off. Or my pants—” The sound of Archer’s voice cuts out. Someone’s pulled the plug on the AV system. Headmaster Ransom once again tells Archer to get down off the stage, but Archer’s not listening. He’s still trying to entertain the crowd. I crane my neck to get a better look at what’s happening, and I see Tessa and Jake step up and practically drag Archer off the stage. From the looks of things, they’re promising Ransom they’ll handle this. Once Ransom seems convinced Archer is leaving the dance and isn’t coming back, he starts toward the exit.

“Yikes,” Ollie says, gently taking me by the arm and spinning me around to face him. “That was quite the show Archer put on. Wanna take a walk?”

In that moment, I panic.

“I can’t, I—” I spot Headmaster Ransom making his way to the back of the room, to the dining hall entrance. My eyes follow him to the door.

—no reason to keep studying the Similars. I have their blood plasma, which is all I need now—