It’s happening again. I’m hearing things. Thoughts. Headmaster Ransom’s voice is whispering softly in my ear. Like Harlowe’s and Ollie’s.

—going to inject it in my office—

I’m seeing right into Ransom’s mind.

“I have to go,” I blurt. “It’s Ransom. He’s going to inject himself with the Similars’ plasma.”

“How do you know that?” Oliver asks, perplexed.

“I can’t explain it. I just do.”

“Can’t you worry about this tomorrow? We haven’t dissected all the ludicrous aspects of this dance yet.” Ollie’s eyebrows knit with tension. “I know it’s important to you, this Ransom thing. I don’t really get why, but—”

“It’s important to me because they’re my friends,” I say, frustrated that he can’t see why this matters so much. He was barely here last year. He isn’t friends with Maude and the others the way I am. He never saw them in those chairs, hooked up to IVs. What Ollie witnessed at Harlowe’s reverse hazing was only the tip of the iceberg. My friends have been through so much. “I’ll explain it all tomorrow. One more dance before I go?” It’s the last thing I want to do right now, but I don’t want to hurt Ollie’s feelings. So I stay for one more song. When it ends, I stretch up on tiptoe to give Ollie a peck on the cheek. To his credit, Ollie doesn’t say anything or show his disappointment. Still, I sense it there, and I hate myself for leaving now. For not letting him tell me about his feelings. For dodging him at every turn. “Fill me in on everything at breakfast tomorrow. Make a spreadsheet!” I call out as I start to leave. “We can ridicule the dance by category. Decorations. Costumes. Awkward impromptu speeches by teen heartthrobs!”

I go, escaping the same way Ransom left, through the wide double doors.

I run all the way across the darkened campus to his office, leaving behind the merriment of the dining hall, the twinkling lights, the costumes, the festivities. Leaving Ollie behind too, his unsaid words still lingering in the air between us.

I’m not even out of breath when I arrive at Ransom’s office. I’ve got that adrenaline-rush feeling again, like I did after I heard Harlowe’s and Ollie’s thoughts. I’m starting to think there’s some connection. But I don’t dwell on that now. I reach for the knob of the unlocked door and push it open. Ransom is behind his desk, sitting in his imposing leather chair, when I slip inside.

Plasma