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“Oh my God,” he muttered with a roll of his eyes so big I’m surprised his eyeballs didn’t get stuck in the top of his head. “Stop being dramatic. I’ll be fine.”

“Oh my God,” I shot back with the exact same snark he’d used. “I don’t care. Get your shoes on, grab some snacks to take with you, and let’s go.”

“Are you serious? You’re really making me do this?”

“Yes.” Turning away, I started from the room, relieved when I heard him fling himself moodily off the bed and grumble, “Fine,” as I left. Because I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if he’d absolutely refused to go.

Back in my room, I changed out of my comfy, around-the-house loungers, and tugged on a pair of black jeans and a black, long-sleeved turtleneck. Picking up my brush, I turned toward the mirror, only to jump again when I got another look at my new bangs.

I’d just pulled on some shoes when I picked up my phone, determined not to forget it again. I texted Mom to let her know I’d be at work with Gates.

She sent back a thumbs-up, as if irritated I was bothering her with my schedule when I knew she would’ve had a cow and started text-bombing me if she’d seen us leaving the house without telling her where we were going first.

I’ll float you a loan if you want out .

Parker’s offer from the night before reverberated through my head, and I briefly envisioned what my life would look like if I finally left the nest. At first, it seemed euphoric.

Decorating the front room of some cozy college apartment however I wanted.

Pulling whatever food I wanted from the fridge.

Having a kitchen with no island… The vision drew me in before I pictured my phone constantly ringing, Mom being there as soon as I opened my door to leave, her nitpicking over what I needed to change as she inspected my bathroom.

Yeah, I wasn’t going anywhere until she was ready for me to leave.

Suddenly, that goat farm in Sweden sounded more enticing than ever.

I started to slide my phone into my back pocket, only for it to ring.

Shit. I hope she didn’t have a problem with me taking Gates to work after all. Then, I’d have to decide who I was going to disappoint: her or my boss. And I just wasn’t equipped to make those kinds of awful decisions. I preferred it when I made everyone happy.

But I blinked in shock when I saw Xander’s name instead.

“Hello?” I answered, biting my lip and hoping I hadn’t scared her off last night after telling her way too much about myself.

Expecting a heavy sigh and something along the lines of, I’m sorry, Waverly. I just can’t do this friendship thing with you anymore . I jolted when instead she gushed, “Oh…my God, Frankie. I have so much to tell you.”

And just like that, my stomach sank. “He knows,” I guessed, already wondering how long it would take me to get a passport.

“What? No.” I could actually picture Xander waving out a dismissive hand and rolling her eyes over my guess. “He’s still so clueless it’s almost comical. But, uh, first things first. Do you happen to have a tattoo? Of a feather? On the side of your wrist?”

“Um…” I squinted, wondering what that had to do with anything. “Yes. Why?”

“Shit,” she muttered as if she had bad news. “So yeah, you’re probably going to want to wear long sleeves for the rest of your life because Keene saw your tat last night.”

“What? No.” I gasped, finding it suddenly impossible to breathe. “How?”

“Not entirely sure,” Xander reported. “It had something to do with the real Makayla showing up and turning on a light or something. I don’t know. But did you, like, lift your hand toward him to block him from seeing your face?”

“I don’t know,” I moaned in total panic mode. “Maybe. Wait. Yes. Oh God. He probably did see the tattoo. What do I do?”

“No idea. Wear a watch over it? Or bracelets? Or, ooh, you could cover it with a bandage and say you burned it on the stove.”

“I’m moving to Sweden,” I announced decisively.

Xander laughed. “Or that. But I vote for long sleeves. I’d miss you too much if you left me. Besides, I refuse to lose another person to Europe. So, yeah, no. You’re not going anywhere.”

“You’re mean,” I pouted.

“Oh, yeah?” she taunted, sounding more smug than upset about my insult. “Bet you won’t be saying that when I spill the rest of the tea I have for you.”

“What?” I demanded. “Oh God, he’s blabbed all about it, hasn’t he?” I sank onto my bed and gripped my stomach, feeling queasy.

“Well, obviously,” Xander threw out in such a disparaging way I had to frown over her lack of concern for my poor nerves. “But get this,” she went on, getting straight to the meat of what she thought was important. “You totally rocked his world last night.”

All the air vacated my lungs. It was honestly a mystery to me how I was able to gasp out the word, “What?”

Because no, that couldn’t be right. With as many people as he’d been with, no way could I even rank in the top fifty. And I’d been so nervous and shaky with him, too. I mean, at first anyway. But then we’d hit this groove, and…yeah. He’d totally rocked my world. But I couldn’t even nudge his.

Could I?

“Are you sure?” I hedged, hardly daring to hope.

“Oh yeah.” Xander sounded positive. “He is enamored with his mystery girl. He’s talking about making lists and asking everyone he remembers was there to make a list of who they remembered. And do you want to know why he’s so determined to find you?”

I cringed. “To strangle me?”

I’d be dead within three minutes. I’d looked it up before. The average time limit a person could live without air was three minutes. That had felt like too long to suffer for me, so strangulation had been one of the first lines I’d crossed off my list of ways I preferred to go.

“Girl.” Xander tsked as if I were insane. “No. It’s because he wants more . You set up a powerful thirst in him, and now he’s craving the whole gallon.”

“The whole gallon?” I repeated slowly. “Is that some kind of saying I’ve never heard before?”

“I mean, it’s gotta be,” Xander said as if shrugging her own strangeness away. “Either way, you know what I’m saying. So? What’re you going to do about it?”

I straightened in alarm. “Do?” What was I supposed to do?

“Yeah? Are you going to tell him? Since you know he liked it so much?”

“Hell, no,” I cried. “Are you crazy? He only liked it because he had no idea it was me . If he found out who his mystery girl actually was, I assure you he’d change his tune.”

“Oh, whatever. You’re amazing. He’d be tickled pink to learn it was you. And yes, that one is a saying… I think.”

“It is,” I assured her with a sigh. “But you’re forgetting one thing.

I am honestly the only female I know who he’s never flirted with.

Not even once. My mother was his guidance counselor in high school, and she always complained about him flirting with her .

He has no interest in me at all. He’d be pissed, or disgusted, or something very unpleasant if he ever found out who he was really with last night. I promise you. He can never find out.”

Xander was quiet for a moment. Then she sighed.

“I think you’re wrong. He’d be all over you like a tongue on an ice cream cone if he knew the truth.

And, yes, that’s an original Xander saying.

But I won’t tell him anything, I swear. I won’t even tell him I know who you are because, oh my God, when he realized Parker knew…

Damn, child. He was pissed. I’d never seen Keene get pissed before, and honestly, it was kind of scary.

They got into this huge, blow-out argument, and Keene ended up storming out of the house.

But the things he said to Parker—wow. He went straight for the kill.

Parker turned all quiet, and the color drained from his face.

I mean, no one knew what to say afterward. ”

I blinked, honestly confused by that. “He said things like what?”

“The gist of it was that he thought Parker wasn’t a true friend for keeping your identity a secret, and he went through a whole list of grievances to support his claim.”

“But that’s—” I shook my head, even more bewildered. “That’s insane. Parker is the kind of friend everyone would want. He—he just—He’s valuable to have on your side when you need him.”

“Yeah, well…” Xander let out a long breath. “Keene’s not very happy with him right now. And honestly, I don’t know how they’re going to fix what broke between them.”

I sat back, stunned. Parker and Keene were part of the seven. Nothing shook the seven. They stuck together. Always.

Guilt gnawed at my stomach, knowing I was the reason they were currently at odds. Parker had just been protecting me. I should—I should probably tell Keene the truth so he could forgive Parker. Except the idea of revealing my identity to him made my body seize with panic.

Biting my lip, I rasped, “They will. They always fix their problems. They’re part of the seven.”

“Well, I hope so,” Xander murmured. “Because the other six are in the kitchen right now, looking for Keene, and it’s about as comfortable in there as a rattlesnake bite, so I’m hiding in my room until the air clears.”

I smiled at the rattlesnake saying and guessed, “Another Xander original?”

“Huh?” she asked, probably not even aware she’d come up with another quirky phrase.

“Nothing,” I said, smiling and shaking my head, glad Xander hadn’t given up on me even though I’d been cold and standoffish to her more than once.

Seeing movement in the doorway to my room, I glanced up to find Gates standing there with his shoes on and his arms lifted in question, silently asking me when we were going to leave.

“Oh shit.” I flew up from the bed, checking the time. “I forgot. I gotta go to work. Talk later?”

“Sounds good.” Xander made kissy sounds. “I’ll call tonight. Love ya.”

And she hung up before I could reply. But I blinked at the endearment.

Rack up another reason why Xander Union was perfect. She was even able to express her feelings openly when making a friend. Gah, I wanted to be her so badly it was pathetic.

Sighing heavily, I shoved my phone into my pocket, grabbed my purse, and headed for my brother with lifted, expectant eyebrows. “Well, are you ready or what?”

He rolled his eyes, not amused by my joke.

And together, we trudged down the stairs and through the house to the back door. I unlocked my car with my key fob so Gates could get in while I latched all the bolts on the back exit, and I rushed after him to the driver’s side.

On the way to campus, I concentrated on driving, so I didn’t have much time to think about everything Xander had told me.

But once I got to work, relieved my coworker at the front desk, and showed Gates to a study room he could hang out in, my brain began to whirl.

I spotted two other people in the building total, and they were zoned in on their laptops, so I finally let my thoughts spin as I checked in a stack of books that the last shift had let go.

Did Keene really want to find me that badly, though?

It seemed too good to be true. And even if it was, he’d totally change his mind if he knew it was me. I knew he would. Which was why I needed to figure out a way to avoid him for the rest of my natural life. Because I had no idea how I would react the next time we?—

“Please, for the love of God, Frankie,” his voice claimed, making me gasp and jump out of my skin as a body heaved itself up onto the counter and sat down about five feet away.

“Just yell at me for sitting on this counter, will you? Or tell me to quiet the fuck down and use my library voice. Just… anything you’d usually get on my case about.

Because I really need something in this world to make sense right now. You know?”