Unease trickles down my spine. That doesn’t feel like a normal high school teenage answer. “That all sounds a little extreme.”

“You don’t know Nacoma Knight.”

Lennon’s words must have an effect on me, because I find myself scanning the room. I spot Shy standing at the center of a group of boys, all laughing at something one of them said. A girl breaks through the circle to hug him around his middle. His arms tighten around her, a wide smile on his face.

I look away, but Lennon elbows me in the ribs and says in a loud whisper, “Shy’s on his way over!”

I will myself not to react but can feel my skin grow splotchy with heat, which makes me even more embarrassed, but I face him anyway.

“Hey,” he says, coming to stand beside me.

“Hey.”

“I’m guessing you found your classes all right without me?”

“Yeah, thanks to Lennon.”

I look from one to the other. Shy’s smile seems tight, but Lennon’s cheerfulness makes me think I’m imagining the awkwardness.

“I’ll be right back!” Lennon says and then bolts across the cafeteria to a group of girls. I can’t imagine what she’s telling them, but I wonder if any of it will end up on that app she spoke of earlier.

“I see you found another friend,” Shy observes.

“Yes. She’s taught me a lot.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Like about queen’s ransom.”

His eyes go wide. I don’t know how to say this subtly, but I also want no part of being kidnapped and hidden. So I blurt, “If you’re thinking of making me some sort of prize, you can forget it. I don’t want that.” I pause, and he looks at me as if I’ve grown a second head. The silence is uncomfortable, and now I wonder if Lennon was joking about the whole thing and I wasn’t ever going to be a princess. My neck burns in humiliation, so I quickly change the subject. “I think I met your girlfriend today.”

Shy raises a brow, and a smile opens up on his face. “And who would that be?”

“Natalie?”

He throws his head back, laughing. I’m betting Natalie would be offended by his reaction. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Maybe someone should tell her that.”

“She’s just overprotective…and jealous.”

I laugh. “Jealous? I thought you said she wasn’t your girlfriend. Is she an ex?”

“No, nothing like that. We’ve known each other forever. Just friends.”

“Well, she’s nosy.”

“Yeah, she is.” He shrugs. “New girl at school that no one knows anything about…takes attention away from her.”

“I don’t want attention or people asking questions about me. And I am no one to be jealous of.”

His gaze feels like an incision in my chest.

“Everyone has something someone else wants.”