Kids reluctantly turn their attention from the protestors and wheel their luggage across the lawn. Ollie and I walk away from Madison as the crowd begins to thin, cars start moving again, and the anti-clone cries grow weaker. Maybe they’ve lost some of their mojo now that Principal Fleischer and a couple of other teachers have arrived. Fleischer is engaged in a heated conversation with Madison and the silver-haired girl, who’s gesturing wildly, probably defending what they’re doing. I tear my eyes away and head toward my friends, eager to talk to them, to tell them in confidence about my surprise call from Gravelle. My pulse quickens as I remember what Gravelle said. That Levi doesn’t want to come back. Or see me.

I don’t believe him. Levi wouldn’t—not after everything that happened last year. Could he have forgotten what we shared? Has he forced himself to forget?

Or is Gravelle telling the truth?

“I could kill every single one of those protestors,” I say through gritted teeth as I approach Maude, Jago, Ansel, and Theodora. “Metaphorically, anyway.”

“Ignore them,” Maude warns, her voice stern. “The angrier you get, the more ammunition you give them.”

We hug and exchange hellos. The others tell me Pippa and Pru are arriving later, before assembly. They’ve been with Pru’s dad, Jaeger, on the farm, wrapping up Pru’s mom’s affairs; she died in July. I flew out for the funeral, determined to offer Pru some of the lifesaving support she’d given me when Ollie—when I thought he’d died, last year.

“So, Madison’s gone full Wicked Witch of the West,” Ollie notes, waving to Maude and Theodora. Fist-bumping Ansel and Jago. Ollie doesn’t know my friends that well; after all, he missed all but the last six weeks of junior year, squirreled away on Gravelle’s island.

“It’s awful,” I say. “Why won’t she stay on the campaign trail? We were supposed to be rid of her after graduation!”

“We should unpack,” Jago says, dismissing the whole topic. It’s a good reminder of how strong he is. How strong they all are.

We walk together, briskly, toward our dorms. I’m dying to tell them everything Gravelle said to me, but I can’t, not with Ollie here. With a pang, I realize that in some ways, I feel closer to my new friends than I am to him.

Maybe it’s because you’re one of them.

No. I’m not convinced I’m a clone, not by a long shot. There are a million reasons why Gravelle would lie to me about that.

We’ve reached my dorm, Cypress. I give Ollie a quick hug, taking in his soapy, minty smell, reminding myself that this very act, our proximity, is nothing short of a miracle. “See you at assembly,” I murmur before heading into my room and letting the door slam shut behind me.