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It just didn’t bode well.

Sarah was lying in wait like a trapdoor spider the moment I entered biology, and she yanked me to our lab table.

“Did you know?”

I looked around in the vain hope she was talking to someone else.

“Come on, Jessie—she didn’t tell me—so did she tell you?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Lacey and Danny.” She made a face when she said his name. “How long has that been going on? How could she keep that from me? How could you keep that from me?”

I raised my hands up, innocent-style. “Whoa. When were they ever a thing?”

She slumped back a little. “Okay, good. I couldn’t stand it if I were the only one who didn’t know.”

“No, seriously, what the fuck are you talking about, Sarah?”

“Um, this past weekend? At Liam’s?”

“No. No no no—wait—what are people saying happened?”

“That they hooked up.” Her expression was trapped between her prurient interest, her disgust at Danny, and her general feeling-left-out dismay. “Apparently our little angel decided to drop her halo for the night and let Danny Mayweather get some. Can you believe it? Putting out—to him?” She did a whole body shudder. “Like, I want that to have been her first time, so I lost my virginity before she did, even if I know that’s stupid—but if it was her first time, why, out of all the guys on campus, would anyone pick him?”

My throat closed and the bright lights behind my eyes came on again, a headache twinkling close behind. I fought to concentrate on Sarah. “How does anyone know?”

“Danny’s telling the whole school. Because of course he would. Which would be another reason not to fuck him.”

“She didn’t?—”

“That’s not what he’s saying.”

I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence.She didn’t want to fuck him.He hadn’t given her a choice.

The light from Ms. Liebel’s projector started to sting me and the fireflies of all my classmates’ texts, phones checking email, locations, all the ping-ping-pinging—everything felt sharp and awful and it was more than I could stand. I felt like I was about to throw up, and it must have showed on my face.

“Jessica—” Sarah said from beside me, her voice sinking with concern. “Don’t be jealous. You’ll get your turn soon.” She patted my back, and that was the last straw. I grabbed my bag and ran out of the room as Ms. Liebel shouted my name.

By some miracle I made it outside without being noticed. If I’d been caught in the hall without a pass, someone might assume I’d been cheating and I’d get hauled into the principal’s for sure—our pass system was draconian, and administration’s fear of cheating constant.

I hid alongside a brick wall, in an alcove, hidden behind a bush, out of reach of electronic lassos. I had to tell Lacey—but I knew instinctively if I touched my phone now, it would explode.

What if—I didn’t touch it? What if I just left it in my pocket and used it, like I’d been playing Juicejam?

I took several deep breaths first and thenfoundit, inside my bag, with my powers. Just sitting there, curled up like a sparkly electronic kitten. I touched it with my mind and felt thepress into its charges, like I was petting one of the Persians on Lacey’s ceiling, and turned it on, seeing it sparkle ever so slightly brighter.

Message screen. Lacey’s name. Keyboard.

It was amazing how soft it felt to move things, when it hurt my brain so much.

Lacey—people are saying you and Danny hooked up.

Was it him?

I felt the potential of the message there, waiting, until I pushed it off and saw it go, a flash of green. And then, upon reflection, I added:

When they say that—what do you want me to say?