I also wanted to try my grandparents again. Something was wrong. I could feel it. But again, I didn’t dare talk to them in front of Kenya. The less she knew about me, the better.

We hurried down the stairs and out the front door toward the dining hall. Everyone we passed glanced at me sideways. Smirked a little.

“Oh, my gosh,” Crystal said, checking her phone.

“What?” I asked, keeping most of my attention focused on our blond-haired shadow. “Did you solve the mysteries of antimatter?”

“No. Nothing.” She turned off her phone and stuffed it into her jacket pocket.

Oh, like that wouldn’t spike my curiosity. “Crystal, you are the worst liar in school. What?” I asked as we slogged over the damp grounds.

She pulled her lower lip through her teeth, before saying, “No, really, it’s nothing. Someone posted a picture in the school news feed. People are dumb.”

I raised my brows at her and waited for her to cave. She really was the worst liar. And she had no stamina. She caved immediately.

“Okay,” she said in a hushed tone. She pulled her phone back out, shielding it from our stalker. “But just remember, people are dumb.”

I chuckled. “Got it. People are dumb.”

She brought up her Friendbook feed and scrolled down to a photo someone had posted earlier that day. I squinted and looked closer. It was a group of kids. Bedford Fields kids. In the exact hallway we’d left earlier. And, yep. There I was. Falling on my butt in front of man and beast alike.

A kid named Zach-Z had snapped a shot of me when I had the rush of visions in the hall. What a great guy. I’m sure he was only thinking of my well-being.

Wait. A picture. I blinked and looked at it again.

I had a picture!

I almost tripped as I scrambled to get my own phone out. Suddenly all the sideways smirks made sense. No doubt everyone in school had seen it. The image already had hundreds of likes. Wonderful. Just what my social life needed. But at least I had something I could work with.

The dining room was open, but dinner wasn’t being served yet. We sat at our usual table, which was about fifty miles south of the cool table. It was easy to spot, thus easy to avoid. I glanced behind us, and Kenya was gone. I did a 360. Yep, she was gone. There were a few kids lingering as well. We weren’t really supposed to be in here yet, but until we got kicked out, we were going to stay.

“Do you see a knife?” I asked Crystal.

She lowered her head as though disappointed.

“What?”

“I thought we were going to make one.”

Fighting a grin, I said, “We can, but later. Right now I just need some small semblance of protection.”

“You’re right. Sorry.” She scanned the room. “There’s a cheese knife on the sideboard.”

“It’s better than nothing, I guess. I was kind of hoping for a paring knife. Something small but really sharp.”

“That makes sense.” She waved as Wade walked up to us.

“What are you guys doing here?”

He’d changed out of his school uniform into civvies. That’s what the students called regular clothes. At first, I thought the idea of going to a school with uniforms would be cool, but it got old kind of fast. The pants and skirts were pleated. Very old school. I had only two sets, so I had to do laundry often.

“We’re on a mission,” Crystal said to Wade.

“Seriously?” He leaned in, intrigued. Wade was a lifer, as he liked to call himself. He’d been going to Bedford Fields since he was in preschool. He’d never known anything else. And even though his parents lived close by, he chose to start living at the school when he was in seventh.

His dark hair hung in its usual disarray. Crystal chatted with him as I studied the picture Zach-Z had posted.

“We need a knife,” she said. “For personal protection.”

I was hoping she wouldn’t mention the note and she didn’t.

“A knife? So you come to the dining room?”

“Yes.” Her hackles rose at his tone. “Where else do you suppose we get a knife?”

As they discussed the best places close by to pick up a knife that could be easily concealed yet deadly when needed, I put my fingers on my phone, ran my fingertips along the cool glass. Hopefully this would be a quick trip, I thought as I dived inside.

After the pixels merged into one solid picture, the first thing that hit me was the soft roar of conversation in the hallways. The gray color of both the walls and the uniforms, each with navy blue accents. I saw myself as I ran first into Kenya, then into a boy. I stumbled but managed to gain my footing just as another kid brushed past me and I lost all the ground I’d gained.

I could see the visions as they coursed through me, pummeled me like a wrecking ball until I crumbled and slid to the ground. I covered my mouth as bile slipped up the back of my throat. I tripped trying to get to the bathroom. I started to fall, and the replay ended.

“Don’t you agree?” Crystal said.

After drawing in a shaky breath, I said, “I’m sorry. What?”

“Don’t you think we should go tonight? We can’t leave campus after seven. We should just go and grab something to eat on the way.”

It was always weird seeing myself from a different vantage. Watching myself from a distance. And this was no exception. I could see the shock wave rush through me when each vision hit. I could see myself turning blue as death after death played out before my eyes. I could see the fear that they felt on my own face, could see their despair and suffering in my expression as it flashed through me like a nuclear blast. But I’d felt the tug on my coat earlier. Before this.