“What are you even doing awake?” I asked.

She shrugged, looking right at me. “Couldn’t sleep.”

A lie can affect everyone around you, and mine was like the beating heart in that freaky poem we had read in school. It pounded under the floorboards and kept the whole room awake. It was becoming best friends with Anna Rexia, haunting the house.

My plan was to go downtown with Dad, check out the festival, and then tell him I had to go quickly say hi to Sophie. I would disappear, then claim the crowds had been so packed I hadn’t been able to find my way back. He would be totally disappointed, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I had told Leo and Simone I’d be digging during the eclipse, when everyone was occupied. I had hidden a shovel the night before, tucked under the bench in front of the library.

It was far from a foolproof plan, but it was the best thing I had.

“I have to go run an errand,” said Mom. “But I’ll be back in time for the big event.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, surprised. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Traffic is gonna suck,” Jade pointed out.

She bopped Jade on the head with a dish towel. “A guest was driving back from Washport this morning and they’re having car trouble. I’ve got to go give them a jump. I’ll be back, don’t you worry.”

I spent the rest of the morning being lazy and watching pre-eclipse coverage with Dad while Jade sat on her phone. All I did was wait, wait, wait, staring at the clock.

Main Street was packed. You could barely move through the crowds. Disappearing was going to be easier than I thought. All the shop owners had tables out front, and news vans lined the side of the road. Coontail’s had huge buckets of mini sunscreens and bottles of water, sweating in the heat. Everywhere you looked, there were lawn chairs and excited tourists. Loud music played out of speakers and it was hot enough that people were running around in swimsuits. Almost everyone I knew was there, on one single street.

I imagined what we would have been doing if Blair was here. She would have been so excited, picking out the best viewing spot, sketching Captain Moonbeard sailing across the sky in front of the moon. I wondered if she’d be watching from the front lawn at Harvest Hills.

I’m doing this for Blair, I reminded myself as I looked at my dad. If he knew why I had to do it, he would understand.

But was I doing it for Blair? Or was I doing it for me? Or for Dr. Leo Lacamoire? The reasons swirled together, mixing with all the inevitable bumps in the road and people who could get hurt. All I knew was that I had to do this. Sometimes you just keep saying yes and you don’t even know why.