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I concentrated, blinking back to the real world, and tapped on the message screen, as Sarah watched on, making sure I wasn’t going to open up any of her likely ten thousand texts back and forth with Ryan, when:

Come on its just ur bra?—

pictures of Sarah’s niece playing at the beach?—

send me pictures?—

a video of a cat tripping?—

her grandma blowing out eighty candles?—

bye babe?—

a mirror image of a ripped male torso?—

I just want to see you naked?—

Lacey, Sarah, and I pouting upwards on a sunny day?—

forty pictures of not-too-blonde-but-just-blonde-enough hair?—

its been 2 mnths babe?—

heels with sequins?—

a wrist striped with lipstick tests?—

Sarah’s dog Sprite leaping?—

Sarah’s dog Sprite sleeping?—

Sarah’s dog Sprite with his head out a car window?—

“Jessica?” Ms. Liebel asked, startling me.

“Klinefelters,” Sarah whispered.

“Klinefelters,” I repeated, aloud.

“Good,” she said, and scanned the room for her next victim.

I blinked, looking around. Reality—or what I’d always assumed was reality before—looked sharp and harsh. My head was throbbing and now I wanted to puke. All those pictures—they were all Sarah’s. I’d seen them. Why? How? They were still swirling around inside my brain. And I’d read—downloaded?—every single one of those texts.

I need it. I’m dying.

Too bad, babe.

I was going to be sick. But then the bell rang.

Sarah put her hand out for her phone. I hadn’t managed to text Lacey yet—I tapped the on button and waited for my chance. But it didn’t turn on and the screen wouldn’t light up.

Worse yet it didn’t feel alive anymore. “Shit—Sarah—I think it died.” Literally.

She shouldered her bag and took it from me, trying to turn it on herself. “It had a full charge this morning.” She played with the on button some more.

“I didn’t mean to break it—I didn’t do anything,” I lied. I’d done something, I just didn’t know what. But phones were expensive—if I killed mine, my mom would kill me.

She tossed it into her bag. “I’ll charge it at lunch. And if it doesn’t work then, whatever. I told my dad I wanted the newer model anyways. I’ve got backups.”