I nod. “Make sure it stays that way,” I say. “I can’t—” My voice catches. “Just—no time-outs. For anybody.”

“Okay,” Jasper says, and I feel him about to reach out to touch me—a hug maybe, a hand on my arm. But he doesn’t. Part of me wishes he had. The smarter part is glad that he did not.

“Do you think I can get back out with you?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “This is only an ID. They’ll have to buzz me back out.”

“There are fire stairs,” I say. “I saw them in the common room. There’s an alarm over there, too. What if we pull it and then take off down the fire stairs? Don’t they always have to leave those doors unlocked?”

Jasper frowns. “The stairs and alarm are a good idea, but isn’t that right in view of the guards? But there’s got to be another alarm, over here maybe. If you head over to the stairs out in the main room, I can find it and you can take off out the fire exit. Even if I get hung up, I have the ID. You’re the one who needs to get out without anyone seeing.”

The other girls. I still haven’t told them anything: not about being Outliers or my dad, or people like Quentin. I didn’t warn them about the danger I am sure they are in. How can I leave them there so totally unprepared?

“I can’t,” I say.

“Weren’t you the one just asking—”

“I know. I know,” I say. “And I do need to get out, definitely. But the other girls—they don’t even know that being an Outlier is a thing.”

“Then we can get out and send your dad back to tell them all about it,” Jasper says, and he’s annoyed. I can tell. Maybe it’s even fair. After all, he went through a lot to get in and now I am refusing to leave. Or, you know, also maybe because he cares about me. “It doesn’t have to be you who stays, Wylie.”

And maybe I feel overly responsible for these girls because of what happened to Cassie. That doesn’t necessarily make the feeling any less real, or right.

“But it does have to be me,” I say quietly.

“You and I both know what happens when you hang around to see this shit play out, Wylie. It doesn’t end well. Ask Cassie.” Jasper’s voice catches on her name. He looks down. “Listen, I get that you care about the people here.” He hesitates, looks away as he shoves his hands into his pockets. “But I only care about you.”