Winston seemed to force a smile. Eve hadn’t known he wore braces. He never smiled with his teeth showing. “Nothing, nothing, man.”

“You still coming with Caleb to my place before the dance?”

“Oh, um. Can’t. But I’ll see you there.”

“Cool.” Brody turned away as if dismissing him.

“All right, see you guys at lunch.”

But Winston didn’t sit with those guys at lunch anymore, Eve realized. In fact, she hadn’t seen him with that group of boys for a week or so. Where had he gone?

My girl, Brody had called her. He had been joking, right? What did it mean to be “his” girl?

She decided to ignore it.

She and Brody really only spoke in school once or twice a day, and whenever she brought up the list Brody changed the subject quickly. But he texted her constantly.

crazy my bday is on fri the 13th this yr. luv when that happens

my dads gf caroline picked the movie tonight and its actually pretty good wow didnt think she had it in her

yr bff Nessa wont stp askng me to run lines can u tell her to lay off a bit lolol

i mean caroline isnt so great but i can see why my dad is w her. shes like miss america level gorgeous. could never say that to my mom tho. ur parents still 2gther yea?

have you ever wondered what color the ocean would be if blue didnt exist. lol just thinking about stupid stuff sry

It was actually sort of sweet how he felt comfortable enough to talk to her about his dad’s girlfriend, and to share his most random thoughts.

As she walked into the cafeteria that day, a few teachers were hanging up pumpkin and skeleton decorations on the walls. Nessa blew her a kiss from the lunch line, and Eve took her prepacked meal out of her backpack and headed toward Sophie’s table.

Earlier in the year, Eve’s greatest distraction had been the desperate need to finish any final chapter of whatever book she had on hand. Recently, her distractions from schoolwork included whatever happened in the hallways and during lunchtime. She hadn’t even finished the last book she’d started, she realized as she arrived at the Sophies’ table.

But Sophie wasn’t sitting there.

Rose Reed sat in Sophie’s old spot.

Eve texted Sophie and asked where she was. Eve couldn’t do lunch without her! Eve still felt like she wore a costume. Like she was a spy. However, even though she’d never admit it to anyone, she did like the way the new outfits fit on her. When she put them on in the morning she’d catch herself lingering in front of the mirror.

But then at school, when people’s eyes fell on the wrong places, she wanted her old life back so fiercely she could scream.

Eve began to turn away from the table so that she could find Nessa and ask her where Sophie had gone. Before she could move, she felt a hand on her arm.