What Happens Next
Contents ( 25)
Dedication
For my sisters:
Ellen
Jenna
Asia
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
1
AUGUST, PRESENT DAY
Twelve years old
The night I saw Dr. Leo Lacamoire, I was looking at the stars.
“Abby! Did you take my sweatshirt?”
Lyra, the lyre. That’s a fancy word for harp. Sagittarius, the archer.
“Abby, I know you can hear me. Sweatshirt. Now!”
Scorpius, the scorpion. That one was always tricky.
“Abby!”
Just as I located Delphinus, the dolphin, my sister burst into the attic, her hair falling out of her ponytail and into her eyes.
“I am going to be late to work if I don’t leave five minutes ago, and I know you stole that sweatshirt.” Jade was sixteen, four years older than me. She had blond hair with a purple streak and some boy’s number scribbled on her palm. She popped popcorn at the movie theater three nights a week.
“I don’t have your stupid sweatshirt.” I did.
“You do!” Jade could read my mind. Or it was obvious. She was used to me being a liar. That’s important to remember: sometimes, I lie.
“It’s cold out,” I whined. “Dad and I are going to the park tonight.”
“I don’t care if you’re going to see Harry Styles! It’s my uniform.” The movie theater usually jacked the air-conditioning up so high, all the employees got thick fleeces to wear. I was always stealing Jade’s. And her scarves, and her eyeliner, and anything else I could swipe. It was my sisterly duty, really.
“It’s in my closet,” I grumbled, and she stomped out. Jade and I shared a bedroom. Which was half the reason I spent most of my time in the attic. The other half was the stars.
My oldest sister, Blair, used to have her own room. Now it was empty. I didn’t have to steal from her; she’d just let me borrow stuff. Jade would have kept a padlock on her closet if Mom let her.
Jade, again: “Dad says if you want to go, you need to get your butt downstairs. He’s tired.”
I peered into the telescope once more, to get one last glance at Delphinus. But my elbow had hit my telescope when I turned to talk to Jade. Instead of pointing me toward the night sky, it had swung down to Eagle’s Nest, one of the nicest cabins my parents owned. It was right across the street from our house. So I didn’t see the cluster of stars that someone had at one point thought resembled a sea creature. I saw one of the brightest stars in the entire universe—Dr. Leo Lacamoire himself, staring out across the lake that went on for miles.