you're all i want

by greybean

Summary:

Sylvia Parry is Pogue's little sister, and while she's always felt a little like an outsider of the Sons of Ipswich, things are about to change entirely. A new boy, Chase Collins, starts at Spenser Academy, leading Sylvia to realize her true feelings for Tyler Simms, who she's known since childhood. As Chase begins to pursue Sylvia, tension and competition builds in the group.

Chapter 1

  The sun is fading quickly over the sand dunes, the colossal moon rising and washing the beach with a milky light. It’s a full moon tonight, brightening the dunes and the surrounding forests. Still, it doesn’t really matter how illuminated the moon is—various bonfires around the beach give off more than enough light. Groups of students are gathered around them, some with cups of beer and the more timid ones with cups of soda or water.
  I’m one of the more timid ones. I swirl my cup lazily, half-bored by the shouts of drunk teenagers and constant beat drops of the music two kids are blasting from the top of a small hill. I turn to my brother’s girlfriend, Kate. She’s the kind of person my parents want me to be; her shoulders curve backward with a carefree kind of ease I haven’t seen in many other people, silky brown hair cascading down her neck elegantly. Beside her is her new roommate Sarah. She, also, has an easy confidence that’s blatantly obvious. She’s stick-thin, accentuated by her markedly cropped shirt, her back toned underneath two small tattoos. And her hair—she’s pulled it back into a messy ponytail, a few blonde strands hanging out effortlessly.
  “So give me the scoop,” Sarah says, leaning closer to both of us. “Who’s here?"
   Kate grins, pointing to a nearby group of boys. “The first thing you have to know is that Aaron Abbot is a prick. Treats girls like dirt.”
  “Okay.”
  I watch as Sarah’s gaze flicks over the dunes, finally landing on a boy walking from group to group, the collar of his coat pulled up towards his jaw. He smiles and laughs at someone, tilting his head back slightly. I blush at the perfection of his face.
  “Who’s that?” Sarah asks, entranced.
  “The new guy,” I say.
  “He’s looking over here.”
  Kate giggles. “Don’t know much about him, but I intend to find out.” I frown and hit her arm playfully. “What?”
  “Don’t let Pogue hear you say that,” I say.
  “He’s cute,” Sarah says, still staring over at the guy.
  Kate looks off into the mist and her eyes widen suddenly. “They’re here.”
  I look in the same direction, warmth spreading from my core when I see what she’s looking at.
  “Who are they?” Sarah asks.
  “The Sons of Ipswich,” Kate says.
  They walk shoulder to shoulder, silhouettes outlined by the thick mist and light from the moon and bonfires. I can pick them apart easily even from this distance—growing up with them has made that relatively easy. They finally enter the dunes, greeting a few people before walking towards us.
  “Hey, Sylvia, Kate,” Caleb says, nodding to us.
  “Caleb,” Kate says.
  “Hi,” I say.
  He’s noticeably the leader of the bunch. He towers over the three other boys, although my brother Pogue is only a few inches shorter, which has bothered him since they first began to grow taller. He’s a hulking figure, shoulders broad and arms bulky underneath his jacket. But despite his build he’s one of the nicest boys I know. His eyes are a soft, gentle chestnut color and when he smiles the edges crinkle kindly. His gaze drifts right towards Sarah, who looks him up and down with a kittenish smile on her lips.
  Kate jumps over and onto Pogue, leaping into his arms and kissing him. I groan and look at Sarah, poking fun at my brother. They’ve been dating since at least two years ago and are practically married already—they seem to know everything about each other and are comfortably familiar in one another’s presence, a kind of security I’ve always been jealous of. Pogue’s has the typical biker bad boy look. He hates cutting his hair so it’s long, reaching his shoulders, and he has a nervous tick of pushing it back whenever he’s unsettled. I used to tease him when he first started working out in our backyard and going on two runs a day, but his work has paid off and he’s now the envy of a lot of guys at Spenser.
  “Hi! You’re late,” Kate says.
  “I had a thing with the family,” Pogue says. He gives me a head tilt and I frown at him halfheartedly.
  “Oh.”
  “Who’s this?” he asks, looking over at Sarah.
  “My new roommate,” Kate answers. Sarah waves. “Sarah, this is Pogue Parry, Syl’s brother, and Tyler Simms, Reid—”
  “Garwin,” Reid cuts in, leaning over Caleb’s shoulder to shake Sarah’s hand. He grins at her impishly, his blond hair vibrant in the firelight.
  Tyler and Reid, in my mind, come as a package deal. They’re almost always together but are different in so many ways that their closeness is sort of astounding. Reid, similar to Pogue, is often seen as a typical bad boy. But while Pogue’s reputation tends to be more of a tough facade, Reid’s exterior is accurate; he gets into bar fights, talks back to teachers, and constantly toys with girls’ hearts. Sometimes he’s fine to be around. He can be pretty hilarious when he wants to be and knows how to pull a good prank, but other times he has this air of danger surrounding him, in part because out of the four boys he uses his powers the most recklessly, frequently in plain sight. His behavior would drive most people insane but he’s also immensely charismatic and charming, never failing to make a witty remark or blush-inducing compliment towards anyone he sets his eye on. I think people also like him just because he’s interesting to look at. His platinum blond hair falls lightly on his forehead, just above slightly arched eyebrows and shifty blue eyes. Pogue used to tease him for looking like a girl when he was younger, but he has definitely grown into his more feminine facial characteristics and honestly is just plain pretty. Tyler is similar to him in that regard. He has a baby face but it suits him, the slope of his nose curving upwards ever so slightly. His hair, a mixture of dark browns and hazel highlights, is a stark contrast against the soft blue of his eyes. He has thick, straight eyebrows and dark lashes that follow his gaze. He’s smaller than the other boys, unsurprising since he’s the youngest by a few months, making him around the same age as me. Where he and Reid differ is their personalities—Reid’s a daredevil, innately immature and hotheaded, while Tyler is patient and cautious. I always feel comfortable just sitting in silence with him because I know there’s no expectation for a lively conversation, and he doesn’t mind sharing the comfort of another person’s presence. He doesn’t talk often, but when he does it’s measured and thoughtful. The trouble is he’s hard to read sometimes. The other boys all wear their emotions on their faces, but Tyler’s more subtle about his true feelings. Which is partially why I can’t tell what he’s thinking about Sarah.
  Caleb and Reid’s intentions are clear.
  “Good evening,” Reid says in a bawdy tone.
  “Good evening,” Sarah replies, her response curt and amused.
  “You know,” Reid says, looking her up and down, “Sarah’s my grandmother’s name. You kind of remind me of her.”
  Caleb cuts in. “Caleb Danvers. And you don’t bring my grandmother to mind in any way.” He glances sideways at Reid, smiling that Greek god smile of his as Sarah laughs.
  “Good,” she says. “Sarah.”
   “Hey, Caleb,” we hear. Kira, one of Aaron’s friends, pushes her way into our little group. Her hair is pulled back, tucked into the hood of her jacket. She stands awkwardly close to Caleb, who’s clearly uncomfortable with the interaction.
  “Kira,” he says curtly.
  “How was your summer?”
  Caleb’s eyes are trained on Sarah, which Kira notices. She turns around, jutting her hip out and holding a hand out to shake her hand.
  “I’m Kira.”
  “Sarah.”
  “Oh, right,” she drawls. “From the Boston public. Tell me, how does one go about getting into Spenser from a public?” She tilts her head to the side.
  “Why don’t you give it a rest, Kira?” Caleb says.
  Out of nowhere, Aaron pushes between Caleb and Kira angrily. “Why don’t you give it a rest?”
  “I don’t want any trouble, Aaron,” Caleb says.
  “I’m sure you don’t.”
  One of Aaron’s other friends, some bulky guy I don’t know the name of, frowns at Caleb and Reid.
  “You posers make me want to puke,” he says.
  Reid takes the bait, pushing against Caleb in an effort to try to get to him. “Is that right?”
  Caleb immediately holds an arm out to hold Reid back. “Hey, let it go.”
  “I think you owe Kira an apology,” Aaron spits.
  Caleb furrows his brows together, shifts his weight onto one foot. “Actually, I think Kira owes Sarah the apology.”
  Aaron looks back at Kira for a split second before shoving Caleb back, which honestly doesn’t do much at all—it looks like Caleb was expecting that, as he doesn’t lose his balance. The boy from earlier, the new transfer, suddenly nudges in between Aaron and Caleb.
  “You were being kind of bitchy,” he says to Kira, still standing behind Aaron.
  My glance lands on Reid, who’s staring at Aaron and his friend with a deadly look. I almost gasp when his eyes glaze over with a quick band of gold. Aaron’s friend clutches his stomach and leans forward, puking onto Aaron’s jacket with a groan. The area around us erupts in a series of exclamations of disgust, lurching away from Aaron and his crew. Aaron, obviously mad, slips out of his jacket and shoves it at the friend, glaring at him all the while. Reid laughs while Caleb looks over at him, visibly angry. I meet Tyler’s gaze over the commotion and we share a look of bewilderment.
  “Guys, Dylan just called,” a boy shouts into the DJ’s mike. “He said he saw three cop cars headed this way on Old Dell Road.”
  It’s like a bomb has just been dropped—everyone begins to scatter, shouting and yelping as they race into the nearby trees. The bonfires are abandoned, beer bottles thrown haphazardly onto the ground. Caleb motions for us to follow him and quickly we scurry up the dunes, entering the eerily foggy forest.
  “Need a ride?” Caleb asks, looking back at Kate, Sarah, and me.
  Kate shakes her head, leaning into my brother’s arm which he has wrapped around her shoulder. “No, Sarah drove us out here.”
  Pogue looks at her. “Will I see you back at the dorms?”
  “It’s getting late. I’m just gonna crash.” She pauses. “Call me in the morning?”
  The new transfer pushes past me and Tyler, muttering a quick apology before catching up with Caleb, Pogue, Kate, and Sarah. Tyler and I look at each other again, both breaking into amused smiles at the boy’s eagerness. Reid glances over at us and scoffs, rolling his eyes.
  “I could use a lift,” the boy says.
  “No problem.” Sarah briefly smiles at him.
  “Hey, nice going back there,” Caleb says, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Caleb.”
  “Chase,” the boy says. He holds his hands out and the two boys shake. “Thought that guy and I were about to go at it. His friend’s puking sure came at an opportune time.”
  Reid’s face breaks out into a massive grin. “Didn’t it though?” He slaps Tyler on the back and they laugh, Caleb looking back to give them a glare.
  Finally, we reach the cars. Splitting off into two groups, I wave a goodbye at Tyler and Reid and follow Sarah to her beaten-up blue Volkswagen. The back door squeaks loudly when I open it and I wince, seeing Sarah give me a pitying glance. She shrugs.
  “It’s an old car.”
  I laugh. “No big deal.”
  Chase follows me as I side into the backseat, pulling my sweater tighter around my hands. He buckles his seatbelt and nods at me, smiling.
  “Hey, I don’t think we met. I’m Chase.”
  “Oh, I’m Sylvia. Pogue’s sister.”
  “Cool. Nice to meet you,” he says charmingly.
  “You too.”
  Kate looks back at me, her eyebrows raised up as she wiggles them suggestively. I huff a sigh and look out the window, watching worried kids race to find their cars.
  “Hey, guys, let’s go,” Kate says. “We gotta go before the cops come.”
  Sarah nods and turns the ignition, waiting a moment as it makes an awful whirring noise. She tries again, the same noise rattling the tiny car.
  “Should that be happening?” Chase says.
  I give him a sideways glance and he grins.
  Sarah, exasperated, opens her door and pokes her head out, shouting to the boys in Tyler’s glossy black Hummer.
  “My car won’t start!”
  Tyler rolls down his window. “Hop in with us.”
  “I can’t just leave it here…”
  Reid, from the passenger seat, looks over. “I could fix it for you.”
  Tyler looks back at him, smiling comically. I watch as Reid opens the door and jumps out, walking around the car to where Sarah’s car is parked. He opens the hood and props it open, conveniently blocking our view of him from inside the car. This is good—while the others in this car might not know what Reid’s doing out there, I certainly do, especially since he’s not even trying to make it realistic by banging some things around.
  This is something I’ve grown used to while growing up around the four boys. While Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler try to pretend that their power isn’t as tempting as it seems to be, like they can wholeheartedly control their overwhelming desire for it, it’s been very obvious that it was always a struggle. They each have a kind of pride about it, some intense need to show off the brute strength made available to them by the gift. When we were younger this mostly was just in the form of fighting each other playfully, where they would sometimes pick up a rotting log to toss at each other effortlessly. But in more recent years, especially since we all started at Spenser, the boys have been less careful about using around other people. Reid is largely the biggest abuser of his power—being seen using it doesn’t seem to stop him. I can tell it scares my brother and Caleb, since they know once they all turn eighteen it’s going to be even more seductive and even more deadly. Tyler, like always, is a little harder to read. He’s Reid’s closest friend so it’s not like he can be outspoken about not using the power, but he’s hesitant about using it himself, so I imagine there is some kind of fear surrounding it for him.
  Reid slams down the hood of the car, pulling me out of my thoughts.
  “Try it again,” he says, raising his eyebrows.
  Sarah turns the key in the ignition and the car rumbles to a start. “Thank you!” she exclaims, sticking her head out of the window excitedly.
  Reid smiles and dips his head, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walks back to Tyler’s car just as police sirens fill the forest.
  “Time to go,” Sarah says.

Chapter 2

  Spenser Academy looks eerie in the autumn mist as we pull up to the dorm building. The main dorm building is the focal point of the campus, framed by the driveway and the large lawn in front of it, sprawling for a few miles and spattered with various trees. The building is a mixture of architectural styles—what looks like colonial and gothic in one.
  Sarah parks on a slight hill next to the dorms. I step out of the car and hug myself, breath visible in the cold air. Chase comes up behind me and we walk up the steps to the building together, laughing at how much we’re both shivering. Sarah and Kate enter a few moments later, shushing us once we get inside.
  “It’s late,” Kate whispers. “Don’t be loud.”
  Chase rolls his eyes and grins at me.
  We make our way down a dark hallway with none of the lights on for some reason.
  “We must be the last ones in,” Chase says.
  Sarah and Kate giggle at each other, bumping shoulders slightly as we walk slowly to their shared dorm room. The dorm situation was a bit of a sore subject between me, Pogue, and Kate over this summer. Kate and I shared a dorm room last year, even though I was technically in the grade below them, and Pogue had wanted us to share a room again this year. Kate and I had decided to go our separate ways—while we could be great friends, living together just didn’t work for us. She was unnecessarily messy, always leaving her bed unmade and clothes strewn about the floor haphazardly. Her makeup littered any possible open areas on the sink and she never watered any of the plants she had on her side of the room. The experience didn’t make me like her any less, we just both realized that it wasn’t working out. I by contrast am a complete stickler for cleanliness, something that has persisted since I was a little kid. I keep my books in neat stacks along my bookshelf and a sliver of empty wall space; I deep clean my room at least once a month; I make sure to put all my dirty clothes in a hamper. Clearly, living with Kate did not work out the way Pogue had hoped it would, so when we told him we weren’t planning on rooming again he got pretty upset. This was relatively typical of him—he’s the kind of person who easily gets outraged about simple things.
  But Kate and I were ultimately both happy with the way our dorms ended up this year. Kate got to meet Sarah and I somehow managed to secure a single dorm room.
  “Well, this is us,” Kate says.
  We slow to a stop outside of their door, Sarah leaning on the wall and Kate shifting her weight onto a foot. Chase turns to stand in front of them, briefly smiling at me. His eyes widen suddenly and he reaches a hand to Kate’s shoulder.
  “Just a sec,” he says as Kate gasps.
  “Ew, oh my God!” she exclaims, flipping her hair away from her shoulder as Chase picks up a large spider and flicks it to the ground, stomping on it when it tries to run away. “Hate those things. And they’re all over the place here. Thank you.”
  “See? Chivalry’s not dead after all,” Sarah says.
  Her and Sarah share a look.
  “No, it just transferred in,” Kate says, looking at Chase now. I clear my throat and she gives me a small glare. “Oh, hey, we’re gonna go into town tomorrow for some things. Do you need to pick up any stuff?”
  “Sure,” Chase shrugs, looking over at me. “I’m in 311. Call me.”
  He nods, taking a few steps back and motioning me to follow him.
  “Okay,” Kate says as he begins to walk away.
  I turn on my heel, waving goodnight to Sarah and Kate, and follow Chase down the hall. I hear Sarah close the door behind them, both laughing breathily.
  “What room are you in?” Chase asks me.
  “315, actually,” I say. “Pretty close to yours.”
  “Wow, yeah. Who’s your roommate?”
  I smile. “I got lucky. I don’t have one.”
  “Man, that is lucky. I would kill to not have to share a room.”
  “Yeah, I was kind of surprised,” I say. “It’s not super common to have a single at Spenser. Although the one downside is that I don’t have my own bathroom.”
  “Ah,” Chase says, “there’s the catch.”
  We grin at each other and he slows to a stop. I look and see that we’re already at 311, the number on the door illuminated from one of the bedside lamps inside.
  “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says. “Are you going into town with them?”
  “Probably. I haven’t really decided, though. I might need to catch up on some reading from this summer.”
  “So studious,” he teases. I swat his arm playfully. “No, but really, you should come. I bet it’ll be fun.”
  “Yeah, maybe. I’ll let you know.”
  “Great,” he smiles. “Good night.”
  “Night.”

Chapter 3

  The main town of Ipswich has a vastly different atmosphere than Spenser. For all of the academy’s gloomy disposition, the town is mostly what you’d expect from a historical and coastal New England settlement. There are a number of small piers that extend into the bay, picturesque sailboats docked by their sides. The main buildings in town are either painted white or made of a reddish brick and are framed by the fiery oranges and greens of autumn foliage.
  Before starting at Spenser, Pogue and I never really went into town. There wasn’t much reason to—it’s basically all restaurants, a movie theatre, and a bar—especially since we spent most of our time at our house or at Caleb’s. We greatly preferred exploring the nearby woods to the touristy town. But since we started high school it’s become a more common place for hanging out, and also necessary for small shopping trips like the one today.
  Kate and Sarah lead us to the pharmacy first. They walk a few paces ahead of Chase and me, wearing practically the same outfit of blue jeans and black long sleeve tops and gossiping about some drama about one of the girls in our class. I desperately want to hear what they’re saying, but I feel rude ignoring Chase when he’s right next to me, talking about an old black-and-white film he watched a while ago.
  “You should watch it,” he says to me.
  “I want to, it sounds really good,” I tell him. “But if it’s not on DVD and they’re not showing reruns of it on TV…”
  “Ah,” he grins, “I’ll make it happen. Don’t worry.”
  I laugh and furrow my brows, wondering how much more mysterious and intriguing Chase can possibly get. First there’s the fact that he’s merely taking the time to talk to me; most boys my age never made an effort to get to know me, either because I’m too shy for them to pursue or because Pogue intimidates them. But then he’ll go and tell me things like this, about his niche and wonderfully peculiar hobbies and interests, and I’ll feel desperate to know every single thing about him. I know this is probably very pathetic and childish of me. But at this point I don’t care—he’s someone new at Spenser (which is rare in and of itself), and he’s seemingly taken a liking to me.
  Kate looks back at us. “We’re here.”
  She and Sarah push open the pharmacy doors with a ring of the bell on the top, and we step into the freezing cold store.
  “Jeez, you’d think they’d turn the heater on,” Kate groans.
  “You’re so spoiled,” I tease. “It’s not that bad.”
  She rolls her eyes at me. “Help me get some stuff for the room, you bully.”
  I smile and shrug, picking up a nearby orange plastic basket to carry things in. Chase and Sarah both split off on their own as Kate pulls out a handwritten list from her back pocket, narrowing her eyes to read it in the harsh fluorescent lights of the store.
  “We need some cold medicine, soap, shampoo, cotton swabs, and maybe a newspaper. Wanna split up?”
  “Sure. I’ll get the soap and shampoo.”
  I head to the back of the store, where there’s a big shelf along the wall, filled floor to ceiling with various kinds of body washes, hand soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and hair sprays, among other things. It doesn’t take long before I realize I probably shouldn’t have offered to get the items that Kate and Sarah would have preferences towards—I have no clue what kind of scents they prefer. I spend a few moments pondering before spotting a scentless hand soap, which I grab immediately. Finding a plain shampoo is a more challenging task, but I eventually see one of the very top shelf. I stifle a groan and stand on my toes, reaching an arm up. My fingers just barely brush the bottom of the bottle before I huff in annoyance and regain my composure.
  “Want some help?” I hear someone smile from behind me.
  I turn and see that it’s Chase, wearing an excessively colorful pair of children’s sunglasses. I almost burst out laughing—they’re way too small for his face and make him look buggish.
  “What?” he says playfully.
  “Nothing,” I giggle. “Just help me, please.”
  “That one?” He points.
  “Yeah.”
  He shakes his head and grabs it easily, handing the bottle to me when he’s done. “You just had to choose the hardest one to reach, didn’t you?”
  “Shush,” I say. “Let’s go find Kate and Sarah.”
  He leads the way, past an expansive array of greeting cards, and sees Kate standing with Sarah nearby the front of the store. Looking back at me, he raises a finger to his lips and crouches stealthily, coming up from behind Kate before jumping up and saying “Boo!”
  She startles and nervously catches her breath once she sees who it is, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “You scared me!”
  I see Caleb standing between Kate and Sarah, and he waves at me with a small smile on his face. Chase notices him standing there too and takes off the glasses, reaching out to shake his hand.
  “Hey, man.”
  “Hey.”
  I shift my weight onto my other foot, tugging the sleeves of my sweater down before handing Kate the two bottles. She smiles with appreciation.
  “I’m gonna see if Pogue wants to catch that new Brad Pitt flick this afternoon,” she says. “Who else wants to go?”
  Chase looks around and raises his eyebrows. “I will.”
  “Okay.”
  “I gotta run some errands for my mother,” Caleb says. He glances at Sarah.
  “I already saw it,” she says.
  Kate gives her a smirk—we both know that’s not true.
  “Do you feel like running errands?” Caleb asks her.
  “Sure. I just have to pay for this stuff.”
  As a group, we all move up to the cashier so Kate and Sarah can pay.
  “What’s your plan?” Kate asks me.
  “I’ll probably head back to Spenser,” I say. “Catch the bus or something.”
  “No, I can drive you,” Caleb says. “Or, actually, Tyler’s in town, at the bookstore, I think. He can give you a lift back.”
  My heart skips a beat. “Oh, that would be perfect.”
  “You sure you don’t want to come to the movie?” Chase says. “I bet it’s going to be good.”
  I shrug. “I don’t really want to see Pogue right now. No offense,” I say to Kate.
  “None taken.”
  “I’m going to head over to the bookstore now, then. I’ll see you guys later.”
  “See you!” Kate says.
  I wave and leave the store, walking out into the slightly warmer balmy air outside. The wind whips my hair to the side and I smooth it down, suddenly anxious about the twenty minute car ride back to Spenser, alone with Tyler. Then I chastise myself for feeling this way; he’s my friend, and spending time alone with him has never made me feel nervous before. I blame the sudden introduction of Chase into my life. He must be making me jumpy or self-absorbed or something.
  I pull my sweater tighter around my body and shake my head, trying to knock some sense back into myself as I near the bookstore, a place where I’ve always felt comfortable. I love the smell of it, the warm, papery embrace right as you step inside and the constant smell of fresh books, a deep, nostalgic scent I don’t think I’ll ever stop liking. This calms me down—I know every shelf in that bookstore. There’s no better place for me to feel relaxed and at ease.

Chapter 4

  The bookstore door opens without a sound and I slip inside, grateful for the humming heater. I don’t spot Tyler immediately, which gives me a chance to venture around the store for a little before I go searching for him.
  I don’t often come in here, mostly because if I did my bank account would be drained way too often. Sometimes I think my life depends too much on books—I don’t go anywhere without one, and I often decide to spend a night reading in my room instead of going out to socialize. Growing up I think this was a way for me to develop my own personality and independence outside of Caleb, Tyler, Pogue, and Reid, a way for me to escape the constant feeling that I didn’t belong, but it morphed into a coping mechanism I depended on excessively.
  Pogue came to me a few times with concerns about my antisocial tendencies, so since around freshman year I’ve tried to work on getting to know more people and making friends outside of the boys. This resulted in my friendship with Kate, which eventually evolved into Kate’s relationship with Pogue. I like to annoy him by forcing him to credit me for setting them up, but it really wouldn’t have happened without me, because as much as Pogue likes to chastise me about not socializing, he can be pretty reserved and shy himself. I think it just runs in our family.
  So I try to keep away from the bookstore in an effort to not slip back into that old habit. I still read an unduly large amount, but I have learned to not rely on the escape it offers so much. This is the first time since last school year that I’ve come in here, but it doesn’t surprise me that Tyler’s in here. When I started reading incessantly when we were younger, he quickly caught on and we traded books, our budding friendship blossoming over the shared love. We still talk about books now, but not nearly as much as we used to. It makes me sad sometimes although I know he still reads. He comes in here very often, mostly because his parents give him a massive monthly allowance he tends to spend on books or CDs or gas.
  I run a hand along the top of a nearby shelf, feeling the dust gather around the tips of my fingers. One of the main reasons I love this particular bookstore is that all the books are used, which to me translates to them having a history and personality. Used books can be adventures—I love finding little dedications on the first few pages of some novels or various annotations in the blank margins. Sometimes I’ll get a gift of a new bookmark in the form of an old grocery store receipt or movie ticket and I carefully examine the details of the paper, noting the date and time and items. Other people’s lives interest me so much, which probably has a lot to do with why I like reading so much.
  I turn the corner and suddenly see Tyler holding a small stack of books, neck bent as he reads the cover of another. I pause awkwardly—I don’t know what to do, where to go, whether or not I should say hi and disturb him, or leave him be. Before I can wonder why I feel so frozen with one of my oldest, closest friends, he looks up and spots me, his face breaking out into a wide smile.
  “Syl, hey,” he says.
  “Hi,” I say sheepishly. “Caleb told me you’d be here. He said you could give me a ride back to Spenser, maybe?”
  “Yeah, sure. I’m almost done here.” He raises the book he’s holding.
  “I don’t want to interrupt, sorry.”
  He shakes his head. “No problem. Just give me a second.”
  His gaze returns back down to the book and I take the lapse of his attention to decipher which books he’s chosen. They’re mostly obscure 80s horrors or leather-bound classics. The book in his hand is The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, which I read over the summer, and I can’t help myself.
  “You should get that one,” I say, nodding to it. “It’s really good.”
  “Oh, have you read it?” He looks up at me again, that piercing gaze that makes my skin redden for some reason.
  “Yeah, this summer. I’d read The Bell Jar and some of her poetry before it but I thought it was incredible.”
  “Hm,” he says. “Normally I don’t really read non-fiction. Or journals by authors.”
  “I don’t either, but this one’s worth it.”
  “It’s pretty thick.”
  “Yeah, it’s long. But I promise it’s good. I can summarize any parts you really don’t want to read, either,” I offer before realizing what I’m saying.
  He raises his eyebrows and smirks. “Really?”
  “I don’t know. I guess. It can get slow at parts but then she’ll come right back with some incredible revelation.”
  He laughs. “You’ve convinced me. Come on, let’s go to the register.”
  Adding the book to his already sizable stack, he walks up to me and together we make our way to the cashier towards the front of the store, occupied by a little old lady that’s always working here. She looks up at us with a sparkle in her eyes and takes the books from Tyler, adding the costs up.
  “Thirty five dollars and sixty cents,” she says sweetly.
  He pulls out his wallet and hands her four ten dollar bills. “Keep the change.”
  “Oh, thank you, dear,” she says, taking the bills and printing out a receipt. “Here you go.”
  “Thanks,” he says. “Have a good day.”
  I take the stack of books from the counter and balance them in my arms, moving towards the door and shaking my head at Tyler when he offers to take them himself.
  “You’re driving me, this is the least I could do,” I tell him.
  Still, he rushes to the door to open it for me and we both step outside into the cool autumn air. I see his car parked right in front, and again he scurries to the passenger side and opens my door. My heart races for the third time today and I remind myself he’s just doing this to be nice.
  I climb into the car as gracefully as I can with my hands full and Tyler closes the door behind me, rounding the front of the car to the driver’s side as I put my seatbelt on. He hops in and turns the car on, some kind of mellow, artsy rock sounding from the speakers. He turns it down immediately and gives me an embarrassed smile before he starts to reverse out of the spot.
  In an effort to stifle my awkwardness I look at the books he just bought—among them are a few Stephen King novels and Russian classics.
  “You have a very good taste in books,” I say.
  He briefly glances at me with a grin before looking back at the road. “Do I?”
  “Yeah. Stephen King? Dostoevsky? Sylvia Plath? Impeccable taste.”
  I delight in the sound of his gentle laughter.
  “Well, I learned from the best.”
  “I highly doubt that,” I say. “And I learned from Pogue. So you’re technically complimenting him.”
  “No offense to him, but I don’t think he reads Sylvia Plath very often. That’s all you.”
  I look out the window at the passing trees and fog, smiling. “You’re right. He doesn’t read Sylvia Plath.”
  “I assumed.”
  There’s a quiet pause. I haven’t been alone in the car with Tyler in a long time—maybe ever. Normally Reid’s with him, or Pogue, or Caleb, or normally I just ride with Kate or take the bus out to town. Despite Tyler and I getting along well, we’ve never really spent much alone time together, which is likely why I feel so uncomfortable right now.
  I pick at the leather of the car seat, trying to listen to the lyrics of the song that’s playing. Tyler seems to notice, because he turns up the volume even though he seemed embarrassed of it just minutes ago. We listen to it in silence for a while, and I notice that it’s really more of the shoegaze genre than art rock, which almost surprises me. I wouldn’t expect Tyler to be a shoegaze fan, but now that I know he is it sort of makes sense.
  “I love this kind of music,” he says suddenly. “I know Reid makes fun of it, but I like how slow it is.”
  “Me too. It’s so mellow.”
   “Yeah. You can just calm down and listen to it without it hurting. Reid’s music just gets stuck in your head and for the rest of the day you can’t get the sharpness of the cymbals or the guitar out of your mind.”
  I laugh. “That’s a very accurate description, actually. I really don’t understand why he likes it so much.”
  Tyler shrugs. “I think it distracts him. All the noise.”
  “From what?”
  He looks at me briefly. “I don’t know. Next year, I guess.”
  “Oh.” I look down. “Yeah. That makes sense.”
  I wish there was some normal way to ask him how he feels about next year, when all four boys Ascend. Pogue doesn’t talk about it much, so I’m not sure how the rest of the boys feel about getting all of that power. I can imagine it, of course, the genuine terror of it. But Tyler’s never been the kind of person to openly display his emotions on an issue, and I don’t know what kind of questions to ask to get him to open up about it.
  He shrugs again. “He acts like he doesn’t care what it’ll do to him. He plays around with it so much now I don’t think he even realizes what it’ll be like to have consequences. I don’t know.”
  “He’s always been like that, though. He really doesn’t care. He’s always been slightly reckless and headstrong. It’s not like he’s going to listen to any of us.”
  “I know. I just don’t want to lose him if he doesn’t sober up about it before next year.”
  I nod, as if I know how he feels, but I will never truly know. That used to make me angry before I realized I was actually the lucky one of the five of us. Even though I’ll never be able to experience power like that, I won’t have to deal with the costs. I won’t have to deal with the temptation of it, which I know all of the boys struggle with.
  Tyler’s phone lights up and buzzes. I look at the screen to see Reid’s contact name on the screen.
  “Do you want me to pick up?” I ask. “It’s Reid.”
  He groans. “Yeah.”
  I tap the screen and turn it on speaker mode, Reid’s voice blocking out the song.
  “Hey, Baby Boy,” he says in a singsong voice.
  “Hi, Reid,” Tyler says, visibly cringing at the use of the nickname. “Sylvia’s with me. We’re heading back to Spenser. What is it?”
  “Aw, hey, Sylvie!” Reid shouts. It’s then that I notice the background noise, blaring music and shouting.
  I give a sideways glance to Tyler. “Is he at Nicky’s?”
  “Maybe.” He speaks to the phone. “Are you at Nicky’s, Reid?”
  “How’d you know?” Reid laughs. “Yeah. I wanna play pool with Aaron and his buddies. You down?”
  Tyler looks at me apologetically. “Do you want me to drop you off at school?”
  “Um…” I want to say yes so badly, but there’s something about the way Tyler’s looking at me that changes my mind. “No, it’s okay. I can go with you. Pogue and Caleb will probably end up back there anyway.”
  He smiles. “Okay. Reid, we’re gonna head over there. We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Chapter 5

  Nicky’s is already crowded by the time we get there. Loud rock music plays from the stereo, the late afternoon light spilling through covered windows and illuminating the hazy grey smoke inside. People are eating, drinking, talking, laughing, playing pool, dancing—it’s a never ending stream of activity and noise.
  Tyler glances back at me over his shoulder, a sad, guilty smile on his lips. He knows I don’t like big crowds like this. I, in turn, feel guilty for making him feel guilty, so I smile back brightly and shake my head to tell him it’s fine. This seems to work, because he grabs my hand as the crowd begins to sway and nearly drags me to the opposite side of the room, lightly pushing people to the side as we reach the table where Kate, Sarah, Caleb, and Chase are sitting.
  We burst from the crowd and Tyler drops my hand almost instantly but the electric tingle in my fingers doesn’t fade.
  “Hey!” Kate exclaims. “I thought you were going back to school, Syl.”
  “I thought so too,” I say.
  I quickly look over at Chase, who’s fingering the cold water droplets on his drink as he grins.
  “Glad to see you,” he says. “Do you want a seat?”
  “Um…” I inexplicably pause, looking at Tyler.
  “I’m gonna find Reid,” he says. “I’ll see you guys later.”
  He turns and disappears back into the crowd to my disappointment, but I turn back to my friends and nod at Chase. He seems even happier now, getting up to drag a nearby chair over between him and Kate. I gratefully sink down into the seat, taking a breath for what seems like the first time in an hour.
  “How was the bookstore?” Chase asks me.
  “Oh, it was good. Tyler picked out some great books.”
  He bristles noticeably. “Did you get anything?”
  “No. If I get one book it turns into five, and my bank account cannot handle that right now.”
  Chase laughs, taking another sip of his water. Kate leans closer to us, kicking my leg and nodding to Caleb and Sarah. They’re sitting on the other side of the table, heads bent close together so they can talk without shouting over the music.
  “They’re so cute,” she whispers to me.
  I giggle and nod, stomach coiling with jealousy.
  “Hey, how was the movie?” I ask her and Chase.
  “Great,” Kate says. “Brad Pitt…” She fans her face jokingly.
  “Yeah, it was good,” Chase says. “I don’t highly recommend it, but it was very entertaining. We had a good time.”
  “Aw, that’s good.” I take the lull in the conversation to look around the bar, spotting a few people I recognize from school, but mostly seeing kids from the local public schools. On the other far side of the room are the pool tables and every so often I see Reid’s glaringly blond hair, tucked underneath a black beanie, peeking out from the crowd.
  As I’m scanning the room, Pogue makes his way through, dressed in his typical motorcycle gear, a black leather jacket and jeans. He sees me and rounds our table, coming around to stand by Kate.
  Mid-laugh, she turns to see him and her face erupts into a smile.
  “Oh, hey, baby! You missed a great movie.”
  He leans down and she kisses his cheek while he eyes Chase cautiously.
  “Yeah, I had to get my bike fixed.”
  “That’s cool. Chase hung out and kept me company.” As she says this she quickly places a hand on Chase’s arm, which Pogue immediately notices.
  “I’ll just bet he did,” he says, slipping out of his jacket to reveal a black muscle top.
  There’s an awkward silence. Pogue’s aggression is clear and as he gives me a glance I raise my eyebrows at him, warning to not go further. He gives me a stern look but reaches over the table to handshake Caleb.
  “What’s up, man?”
  “It’s all good.”
  Pogue looks back towards Kate. “You want something to eat?”
  She hesitates. “Um, yeah, I’ll just pick at whatever you’re having.”
  He nods and gets up to go order at the bar, disappearing back into the hazy throng. Caleb and Chase get up from their seats too, walking over to the foosball table where they take up opposite ends.
  Kate scoots closer to me. “So?”
  I give her a confused look. “So what?”
  “So how was Tyler?”
  Sarah giggles.
  I frown at both of them. “He’s fine. Why?”
  “Oh, come on, Syl,” Kate groans.
  “What?”
  “You can’t be serious,” Sarah says.
  “I’m being very serious.”
  They share a look and laugh.
  “It’s obvious he’s into you,” Kate says.
  I lean back, bewildered. “Uh…no, I really don’t think so.”
  “We both saw the way you guys walked in here. Holding hands? Come on.”
  I shake my head. “It wasn’t like that. I’m serious. I grew up with him, he thinks of me like his little sister.”
  Kate scoffs. “I’ll bet you he does not think of you like that.”
  I roll my eyes. “You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about. Tyler does not like me.”
  Sarah raises her eyebrows. “Whatever you say. But you can’t deny that Chase doesn’t.”
  I groan, my face getting redder when I accidentally make eye contact with him over at the foosball table.
  “He doesn’t either. Not like that. Come on, you guys, this is insane. Let’s talk about something else.”
  “If you say so…” Kate says.
  “I do say so.”
  They give each other another knowing glance which annoys me slightly, but I brush it off. Sarah looks over her shoulder at the boys playing together and Kate lazily picks at her straw.
  “Okay, what just happened?” Sarah says.
  “What?” Kate says.
  “We were sitting here together, having fun, and now we’re watching them have fun.”
  Kate waves a hand dismissively. “That’s what girls do. You know, boys and their toys.”
  “Uh-uh,” Sarah says, shaking her head. “Give me a quarter.”
  “Why?”
  “Come on, just give me a quarter. I’ll show you what girls do.”
  “Fine,” Kate says, reaching into her purse while smiling at me.
  “Thank you,” Sarah says as she spins out of her seat.
  Kate scoffs when she sees her making her way towards the stereo, where she deposits the coin and selects some buttons on the machine.
  I immediately recognize the song that sounds from its speakers, some 80s Joan Jett song that immediately gets the crowd screaming. Sarah raises her hands above her head and claps, slowly making her way over to Caleb before pulling him out onto the dance floor with her.
  They dance to the beat of the song, stomping their feet on the floor and clapping with the rhythm, Sarah holding the skirt of her dress in her hands so she can move around more smoothly. They move with an ease and confidence that completely and totally surrounds only them, so absorbed in each other’s being it’s hard not to look away.
  But I do look away, and find Chase standing uncomfortably next to Pogue, who’s staring at Kate as she shouts and claps.
  The entire room seems to shake at the chorus and by now almost the whole bar is singing along. It’s like something out of a movie and my gaze returns to Sarah in wonderment, just because she was able to create this scene so effortlessly.
  The upbeat singing is suddenly ended as a bottle breaks somewhere in the room and violent shouting starts, the crowd parting down the middle just in time for me to see Aaron pushing Reid backwards with two hands. Reid returns the favor with a harder push.
  “Hey, it’s Reid and Tyler,” Caleb says to Pogue. “Grab my jacket.”
  I stand, on high alert now—Aaron and his friends, when angry, are bad news. I follow Chase as he trails after Pogue and Caleb who are making their way through the dance floor in search of Reid.
  “You guys need some help?” Chase asks.
  Pogue looks back at us. “No, man, just stay with the girls.”
  Chase stops and I come up short behind him, looking over his shoulder to see Aaron pushing Reid back more forcefully until they reach the side door, the whole group spilling out into the side alley.
  Chase turns and sees me. “Hey.”
  “Hi.”
  “Let’s find Kate and Sarah.”
  I nod but my mind is preoccupied, eyes nervously glancing back towards the side door. Chase leads the way and we reach the table finally.
  “What’s going on?” Sarah asks.
  “Fight, I guess,” Chase says, shrugging. “Something with Reid and Tyler.”
  “Is everyone okay?”
  “I don’t know. I think so.”
  The three of them sit back down in their chairs, but I stay up and go to the window. Night has already fallen and clouds gather in the sky menacingly. It’s probably going to rain tonight. I’m proven right in the next moment when the sky rolls with thunder, booming loudly.
  I look back at Chase, Kate, and Sarah, all engrossed in some conversation about the upcoming school year. For a moment I’m annoyed at their indifference to what’s going on outside, but I remind myself that they don’t know the extent of how bad it could get.
  A crash of glass sounds from outside, in the alley. I start towards the side door, pushing people aside as kindly as I can. Surprisingly they part easily for me and I’m at the side door in no time, grabbing the cold metal handle and pulling it open with a quiet creak.
  The scene that greets me is not the one I expected. Instead of Reid smashing bottles on Aaron’s head, he’s the one laying in a pile of fresh beer bottles, Tyler rushing over to help him up. Closer to me, Caleb is rushing forward but my brother runs to him and stops him, holding him back by the fabric of his jacket.
  “Stop it!” Pogue shouts angrily. “This is crazy.”
  “It’s for his own good!” Caleb snarls back. “Keep using like you did tonight and last night…when you Ascend you’ll be as good as dead.”
  “Pogue,” I say nervously, closing the side door behind me and walking down the steps into the alley. I want to warn him that it’s possible for people inside to hear, and if they come out to see the damage the boys have caused they’ll have a hard time explaining how exactly it happened.
  My brother turns his head to look at me, the anger clear on his face.
  “Go away, Sylvia,” he snaps.
  Reid struggles forward, shaking Tyler’s arm off him.
  “So I fixed her car. Big deal!” he says.
  “Don’t play me, Reid!” Caleb says, grappling against Pogue.
  “Sylvia, get out of here, goddammit!” Pogue shouts back at me.
  “People inside—” I begin, but Caleb cuts me off.
  “I’m talking Later and you know it!”
  “Sylvia!” Pogue explodes. “You’re not fucking helping! Go away!”
  “The hell I do!” Reid yells. “I didn’t use Later.”
  I’m taken aback in part by Pogue cursing at me but also by what the boys are talking about. My face falls and I step back, retreating into the bar and making a beeline for the door. I don’t really have a ride home, and the bus isn’t usually open this late, but at this point I’m so upset I don’t care. I’ll walk back to Spenser if I really have to.
  I push the front doors open in a huff and storm angrily onto the sidewalk, tucking my arms around my body in a futile effort to keep warm as the wind picks up. For a second I just stand there, in front of Nicky’s, the salty air tangling my hair and making me shiver profusely. Then I turn left and start in the direction of Spenser, knowing that I won’t be able to walk all the way there. It’s at least an hour long walk because of all the windy roads. I look up at the sky again—it’s going to start raining really soon.
  Still, I let my anger carry me to the next block and get even more upset when Pogue doesn’t come after me. It’s one thing for him to shout at me in anger, but it’s another to let me fend for myself when a storm is coming.
  “Sylvia!” I hear from behind me. I don’t recognize it as Pogue’s voice so I don’t turn around—instead, I hug myself around my waist and push forward.
  “Sylvia, please stop.”
  It’s Tyler. I can hear that well enough. I take a breath and turn.
  “Hi.”
  “Are you okay?” he says, coming closer. His eyebrows are clenched together in worry and I feel a sharp pang of guilt for ignoring him.
  “Yeah. No.”
  “You’re crying.”
  “I am?” I hadn’t realized I had started, but I wipe under my eye and my hand comes back wet. “Oh. Sorry. That’s embarrassing.”
  “No, it’s not. Here.” He hands me a tissue from his pocket and I use it to rub my eyes dry.
  “Thanks.”
  He shoves his hands into his jacket pockets and looks at me almost like I’m a wounded animal.
  “I’m fine, Tyler, really.”
  “Okay. Can I give you a ride back to school?”
  I look past him, at Nicky’s, but I don’t see any sign of Pogue. “If it’s not a bother, yeah.”
  “It’s not a bother at all. Come on, I parked by Nicky’s.”
  He nods and turns, and I walk quietly beside him. I’m not shivering anymore; it’s almost like the warmth radiating from Tyler is keeping me warm.
  The sky booms again and Tyler looks down at me. I catch his gaze and give a small smile.
  “What?”
  “Nothing. I’m just…nothing.”
  We reach his car and he opens the passenger side door for me again, waiting until I climb into the seat to close the door behind me. I buckle my seatbelt once I’m inside and Tyler gets into the driver’s seat, turning the car on and pressing the button for my seat warmer.
  “Tyler, I’m fine,” I tell him again. “You don’t have to baby me.”
  “I’m not babying you,” he says. “I’m just worried about you.”
  He reverses out of the spot and we start driving through the town, towards Spenser.
  “You don’t have to be worried about me.”
  He glances at me briefly. “You should have seen the look on your face when Pogue shouted at you. That’s why I’m worried.”
  “I’m fine,” I say again.
  He doesn’t say anything in response to this. I look out the window and can barely see into the forest next to us. The sky suddenly lights up with a crackle of lightning and then the rain finally comes pouring down, spattering onto the top of the Hummer. It breaks the silence between Tyler and me and we listen to it all the way back to Spenser.

Chapter 6

  Tyler parks the car where Sarah had parked hers the night before, on a slight slope on the main road of campus. We pause before getting out, staring at the glistening rain falling down onto the road.
  “I don’t have any umbrellas in here,” Tyler says.
  “It’s okay.”
  He looks at me warily.
  “Thanks for driving.”
  I open the door and step out, scanning the road for Pogue’s bright yellow motorcycle but I don’t see it anywhere. Because the ground is so slippery I have to take small, delicate steps as I reach the main building and start up the stairs.
  “Sylvia, wait,” Tyler says, locking the car with a click. I stop, brushing wet strands of hair from my face as the rain pummels down. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
  “Yes. This isn’t anything new.” I turn back around, but Tyler grabs my arm.
  “You seem really upset.”
  “Yeah, of course I’m upset.”
  His face contorts into an expression of hurt. “Why?”
  “Because none of you guys feel the need to tell me what’s going on. Ever.”
  “Syl—”
  “I know I don’t have the same powers. I know I’m not as important so I don’t technically need to be included, but I still care about you guys and I want you to be safe. If there was something dangerous going on with me I would tell you. But clearly you don’t feel the same way about me.”
  He still hasn’t let go of my hand and I stare down at his fingers, wrapped around my wrist as water coats them.
  “I don’t know what’s going on either,” he says earnestly. “Caleb and Pogue haven’t told me anything.”
  I shake my head. “I’m sorry. Thanks for driving, again.”
  Without looking to see how Tyler reacts to this, I slide my hand from his grasp and continue up the stairs, fully uncomfortable in my sopping wet clothes. Everything sticks to my skin and I’m shivering now, and all I want to do is go to my dorm and hide underneath the covers until I fall asleep.
  I reach for the doorknob but before I can pull the door open Tyler’s hand is on my shoulder and he’s spinning me back towards him and before I can take a breath to berate him, his lips are on mine and I’m standing there, frozen. Instinctively my eyes flutter closed and I step closer to him as he moves his hands into my hair, cradling my head gently with my soaked curls tangling around his fingers. He tastes different than I expected, almost sweet. A tremor runs through me as I cautiously raise my own hand to his neck, fingers brushing over the strained tendons. He shivers too, but this movement seems to wake him up and he pulls back, eyes wide with shock.
  “Oh, fuck,” he whispers. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”
  It feels like minutes pass as I see the water droplets gathering on the ends of his hair, the flecks of gold shimmering underneath the dim yellow light of the lantern above the door. His eyebrows are raised and I know he can’t believe what he’s just done. I can’t believe it either, but a million thoughts seem to cross his mind all at once and a flash of guilt passes over his eyes as he turns and pulls the door open, disappearing inside the darkness of the main hall.
  I’m still standing there, the rain pouring down relentlessly. I raise a shaky hand to my hair as if to retrace where his fingers were entangled just moments ago. Finally I regain my composure and walk into the building, eyes adjusting to the lack of light. For a second I forget which way my dorm is before walking straight, into a smaller corridor, looking at each number on the doors I pass.
  I near the 300s, my shoes making wet squelching noises on the floor. When I reach my dorm I barely register the hazy silhouette of someone standing outside of a nearby room. I rub my eyes and see that it’s Chase, and he’s coming towards me. I debate whether or not to unlock my door right now and go inside, but it’s too late—he’s seen me and he’s too close now for it to not be rude.
  “Hey, Sylvia,” he says brightly. “Oh, man. You’re soaked.”
  I look down at my sweater. “Yeah. Kind of.”
  “Did you just get back?”
  “Yeah.”
  “We kind of lost you at Nicky’s,” he says with a half laugh. “Didn’t know where you’d gone.”
  “Yeah, sorry. I went to check on my brother.”
  “Oh. He took you home?”
  “No.”
  Chase frowns. “Oh. You take the bus?”
  “No, it’s not open this late.”
  “Who drove you?”
  I barely register that this really isn’t any of his business, but I’m so caught up in my head that I don’t notice how strange it is. “Uh. Ty—Tyler. He did.”
  “Oh.” He grimaces. “No offense, but he’s kind of wack.”
  “Oh. Is he?”
  “Yeah.” He frowns at me. “You okay?” he asks, bending down slightly to peer into my eyes.
  “Yeah, sorry. Just tired.”
  “Well, I’ll let you get to bed, then. Are you free tomorrow?”
  “Um. I don’t know. First day of classes.”
  “Yeah, true. Okay. Well, I’ll see you in class, I guess. Good night.”
  “Yeah.”
  He frowns again but turns back to go to his dorm. I shakily unlock my door, closing it behind me and standing still. Mechanically, I take off my scarf and then my shoes and socks and the rest of my clothes, picking up my pajamas from my bed and slipping them over my head. I search for a hair tie, finally finding one on my desk, and braid my hair as I sit on my bed, staring out the window.
  I don’t know what to think about what just happened, but as I pull the blankets over myself and burrow into the warmth, I’m aware that there’s one singular feeling spreading through my bones: happiness.

Chapter 7

  A soft knocking on my door wakes me up. I groan, pushing my hair back from my face, and turn over in bed to look at my alarm clock. It’s three in the morning.
  Whoever’s at the door knocks again, louder this time, and I groggily turn on my bedside lamp, pulling a warm sweater over my head. I get out of bed and pad over to the door, opening it with a creak.
  To my surprise, Pogue is standing there in sweatpants and a hoodie.
  “Oh,” I say. “Hi.”
  “Can I come in?”
  His hair is a tangled mess, the roots oily and shiny. It’s clear he hasn’t slept much tonight because of the dark bags underneath his eyes.
  “Sure,” I say, opening the door wider and returning back to my bed. I sit on top of the covers and grab a blanket to cover myself with. “What’s wrong?”
  He stands in the middle of the room awkwardly, hands shoved into his jacket pocket.
  “Um...I just wanted to say sorry,” he says quietly. “For yelling at you like that. And then not calling to see if you got back okay.”
  “And you decided to apologize in the middle of the night?” I say this with a small smile on my lips.
  He scoffs, seeing that I’m teasing him. “Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.”
  “Aw, you felt bad.”
  He rolls his eyes and comes over to sit by me on the bed, ruffling my hair. “Shut up, Syl.”
  I grin dumbly. “I just wanted to warn you guys that people could hear you from inside. In case someone got curious and decided to come outside.”
  “That’s thoughtful, Syl. Sorry I made such a mess of things.”
  “You didn’t make a mess. You guys all seemed pretty on edge.”
  “Yeah.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Um, I guess I should probably explain what was happening.”
  “If you want.”
  He nods, taking in a breath. “Well, I think you heard the last part, but basically either Reid or Tyler is using Later. Caleb doesn’t think it’s Tyler, though, he thinks Reid is lying. He saw a Darkling yesterday on the way into town.”
  “What? A Darkling?”
  “Yeah. I just saw one, too. The same one. It’s the kid who died at the Dells.”
  “You just saw one? Like, in your room?”
  “Yeah. An hour ago. That’s why I haven’t been able to sleep.”
  I shudder, not even able to imagine the terror of waking up to something like that in your bedroom. I look over at my brother, his jaw clenched tightly and eyebrows knitted together. In the past I would have assumed seeing something like that wouldn’t scare him at all, that he would just easily brush it off. But something about the way he’s talking about this makes it clear that he is scared.
  “Are you okay?” I ask him.
  “Yeah. Fine now. I just don’t know who would do something like that. I’m having a hard time believing Tyler or Reid would. But maybe they think it’s funny. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just all a joke.”
  I shake my head. “No. I don’t think they’d do that.”
  “Maybe not Tyler, but Reid would, especially after tonight.”
  “He knows how dangerous Later is.”
  “I’m not sure he cares.” He glances at me and smiles sadly. “You’re tired. Sorry I woke you. I’m gonna go back to my room, try to get some sleep.”
  “Okay.”
  He hugs me quickly and lifts himself off the bed, heading for the door.
  “It wasn’t Tyler,” I say as he rests a hand on the doorknob.
  “How do you know?”
  “Because he wouldn’t do something like that.”
  Pogue nods and opens the door, leaving as quickly as he arrived.

  The next morning is abnormally misty. I wake up to the uncanny sound of a tree branch repeatedly hitting the glass pane of my window and lay my hand on my forehead, still exhausted from the day before and everything that happened at night. I almost want to stay curled up in bed just to avoid any awkwardness of seeing Tyler again, but then I remember that my first class today is literature, and I do not want to miss it, so I drag myself up and out of bed.
  I end up taking too long in the showers and have to hurry to get ready, rushing my curling process when I’m doing my hair. For the first time in my life I’m glad that Spenser mandates uniforms as I get dressed quickly, pulling a black sweater vest over my white button-up and tie. In a flurry I tug my jacket over my arms and grab my book bag, hoping that I have all the materials I need.
  Breakfast is already over by now, so I head straight outside to the nearby classroom building, shivering within a few minutes. I spot Sarah and Kate ahead of me and run to catch up with them, now out of breath.
  “Hey,” I say.
  “Syl! I was wondering where you were,” Kate says. “We didn’t see you at breakfast.”
  “Yeah, I took too long in the showers,” I tell them. “Mess of a morning.”
  Sarah laughs and opens her satchel to hand me an apple. “I thought you might be hungry.”
  I take it from her with immense gratitude. “Thank you.”
  We enter the heated building and walk into the main lecture hall, a small but tall room with narrow windows at the top that let the morning light stream inside. This is one of my favorite rooms at Spenser—it’s untraditionally semicircular, with multiple rows of benches rising upwards, connected by a flight of stairs on either side. It reminds me of old college classrooms with its wood panels and iron railing and blue leather seats.
  I see Pogue and Caleb on the left side of the room, sitting together and talking about something. Reid and Tyler aren’t here yet, but I walk up the steps behind Sarah and Kate and we settle down side by side, putting our bags down by our feet. I pull out a notebook and pen and lay them on my lap.
  Below us is the teacher’s small desk at the front of the room, with a dusty chalkboard on the wall and an American flag standing right beside it. He has a stack of books on the table and I squint to try to decipher the titles, but it’s no use. I can see well enough to recognize the teacher, though. It’s Mr. White, our literature teacher from last year, dressed in a well-ironed brown tweed suit. His hair is slicked back with oil and it shines under the misty light.
  The last few people trickle in and it’s then that I see Tyler walk in, a notebook and textbook tucked underneath one arm. Reid’s walking a step ahead of him and together they ascend the stairs next to where Kate, Sarah, and I are sitting. He doesn’t look in our direction at all—it’s almost as if he’s trying not to look at me, but I do see him glance over at Pogue nervously.
  It all clicks. That one look explains why he disappeared last night; he’s terrified Pogue will find out, and I don’t blame him. I look over at Pogue too, wondering what his reaction would be if I told him what happened. I have no doubt he’d be infuriated. Probably yell at Tyler, and me as well. But maybe he’d warm up to the idea, since he knows and trusts Tyler more than any other boy at Spenser.
  Mr. White clears his throat, emerging from behind his desk.
  “Good morning,” he says. “Mr. Danvers. Provost Higgins requests the pleasure of your company after class.” He pauses and I see my brother look over at Caleb, confused. “Now, we’re going to study four American contemporary writers of fiction.” He gets up and starts writing their names on the chalkboard. “Cormac McCarthy, then Tim O’Brien, Kent Haruf, and last but not least, Stephen King.”
  I glance over at Tyler at the mention of Stephen King, my mind returning to yesterday at the bookstore. He seems to have had the same thought; he’s already looking at me. I blush profusely and look down, seeing him look away immediately out of the corner of my eye.
  Kate kicks my foot. I look over at her and mouth “ow.” She nods a head over to Tyler, giving me a confused glare. Shrugging, I tear a piece of paper from my notebook and scrawl carefully onto it, then pass it over to her and Sarah.
  “We kissed,” it reads.
  “Yeah!” Reid says loudly. “Dreamcatcher was the shit!”
  As the class erupts into laughter, Mr. White turns, his mouth contorted into a frown. “Thank you, Mr. Garwin, but no. My choice is The Shining.”
  Kate and Sarah unravel the note, eyes bulging when they read it. Then they both look up at me at the same time, smiling widely with looks of “I told you so.” I raise a finger to my lips to remind them to be quiet, but I’m also grinning.

  The sun is setting outside my window. I take a break from my homework, gazing at the oranges and pinks of the sky, distorted by heavy grey clouds. I feel myself begin to yawn, so I close my textbook with a huff and change into a sweater and shorts, pulling cozy socks on. I’m about to climb into bed when my phone rings. I lean over to my nightstand to see that it’s Kate.
  “Hey,” I say when I pick up.
  “Could you come over?” She sounds upset.
  “Yeah, are you okay?”
  “Yeah. Just angry. Your brother can be absolutely infuriating.”
  I laugh breathlessly. “I’m heading over now.”
  I hang up and leave my dorm room, silently walking down the hallway when I see Sarah coming from the opposite direction.
  “Hey,” I say.
  “Oh, hi, Sylvia. Are you hanging out with us or something?”
  “Kate called me,” I tell her. “Something with Pogue.”
  “Oh, boy,” she laughs.
  She looks unusually happy and I remember that tonight she was having dinner with Caleb.
  “Hey, how was your dinner?” I ask.
  She smiles. “It was good. Really good.”
  “I’m glad.”
  We reach the door and she nods at it. “Ready?”
  “Probably not, but let’s go.”
  She chuckles and we step inside, immediately seeing Kate pacing up and down the length of the room. She sees us and groans with exasperation, tugging at a strand of hair.
  “What happened?” I ask her, sitting down on a nearby desk chair.
  “He just barges in here,” she says, “with the excuse that he wanted to hang out with me since we haven’t had one-on-one time in a while. It was fine for a while, but then he gets off on this whole rant about Chase and how much he hates him, and then he says he doesn’t want me to see him anymore. Hello? Does he really think he can just tell me who I can and can’t hang out with? It’s crazy. So I told him we’re just friends but he obviously didn’t believe that, and then he stormed out when I told him he was being stupid.”
  Sarah and I exchange glances.
  “Should you guys talk through it again?” I ask.
  “No. It’s no use. He’s just going to keep trashing on Chase and getting mad, and then I’ll get mad, and then we’ll argue, so there’s absolutely no point.” She rubs her nose aggressively. “I hate him when he’s like this. He’s been jealous since the day we met. It drives me crazy.”
  “You don’t hate Pogue,” Sarah says. “You guys are perfect for each other.”
  “Maybe not,” Kate spits. “Maybe it’s time to check out something new.”
  “And maybe that’s what Pogue’s picking up on.”
  Kate’s phone, on her desk, vibrates and rings. She walks over to check who it is, then exclaims angrily.
  “This is the eighth time he’s called me in the last hour.”
  “So talk to him,” I say.
  “No, not until he stops being an idiot.” She rolls her eyes and sits on her bed. “I’ll bet Caleb’s not the jealous type.”

Chapter 8

  The next day, I’m in the library by myself, taking notes from the government textbook. I’ve already read The Bill of Rights and the copy I printed out lays flat before me, marked with various colors of highlighters and my countless annotations.
  My phone, in my backpack, vibrates suddenly. I sit there debating whether or not to check it because I know it’ll break my concentration, but even thinking about if I should check it breaks my concentration so I dig into my bag and take my phone out.
  It’s Caleb, which surprises me. He doesn’t often call me.
  “Hello?” I say, the greeting more of a question.
  “Hi, Syl, just a question—you worked in the Admissions Office last year, right?”
  I frown. “Yeah. Why?”
  “Pogue couldn’t remember. Another question—are you free right now?”
  I check the time on my watch: 9:45 PM. I’ve secluded myself in the library for longer than I thought. “Yeah, I’m just finishing up some government notes. What’s up?”
  “I’ll explain when we see you. Can you meet Pogue and me outside of the main classroom building in a few minutes?”
  “Are you guys okay?” I ask, beginning to pack up my bag.
  “Yeah, we just need your help with something.”
  “Okay. I’ll leave now.”
  “Thanks, Sylvia. See you soon.”
  He hangs up and I finish sliding my notebook and the textbook into my backpack, standing and hoisting the straps over my shoulders.
  By the time I emerge from the library it has started pouring rain, lightning illuminating the sky every few seconds. I walk down the steps carefully, holding a hand over my eyes as I search the misty landscape for Caleb and my brother. In the next burst of lightning I see them, crowded together near one of the drain pipes covered by awning.
  I grasp the straps on my bag and race across the grass lawn, grimacing when I hear the wet squelch of mud underneath my shoes. But I reach them fairly quickly, just in time to see Caleb hang up the phone.
  “What’d she say about Kate?” Pogue asks. “Why won’t she call me back?”
  “She’s still pissed at you.”
  “Hi,” I say.
  “Syl, hey,” Caleb says. “All good? You might want to leave that here.” He nods to my bag.
  I slide it off my shoulders quickly and we begin to walk along the building’s walls, Caleb jumping over a fence into a lower alleyway. Pogue follows and eventually I do too, slightly confused.
  “What are we doing?” I ask.
  “Breaking into the Admissions Office,” Caleb answers.
  “Why?”
  “I saw the Darkling again.”
  “Okay,” I say, “but why break into the Admissions Office?”
  “Because I wanna know more about Chase Collins.”
  “Look,” Pogue says, “I don’t even like the guy. Are you sure you’re not just imagining this?”
  Caleb stops and they come face to face.
  “I’m telling you,” Caleb says through gritted teeth, “his eyes were as black as night in the pool today.”
  Pogue sighs. “All right.”
  I don’t even try to ask them what happened today at practice; I know they’re both irritated enough to either ignore me or snap back rudely.
  We leave the alley in a narrow line, tucking our hands into our pockets and ducking our heads as we run out into the courtyard under the heavy rain. Caleb runs up the steps to the side entryway of the Admissions Office and stares at the doorknob.
  With a mechanical creak, the door unlocks and we file into the building silently. Inside is pitch black and it takes my eyes a moment to adjust, but I begin to see the small slivers of moonlight filtering in through the narrow windows.
  Caleb and Pogue are paused, looking back towards me.
  “Where’s the Administration Office?” Caleb hisses.
  I look around for a minute before motioning them to follow me and lead them up the nearest flight of stairs. When we reach the top I point to the lock and Caleb unlocks it with his powers. It opens with a whine and we walk into the room, fully lit by the moon.
  Caleb pulls out a flashlight and I walk through the rows of filing cabinets, eyes jumping from drawer to drawer, searching for the C names.
  Finally I spot them and call Caleb and Pogue over. Immediately they’re by my side, pulling open the drawer as quietly as they can and flipping through the files inside until they find Chase’s name. I feel a little bad for invading his personal files like this, in the dead of night, but there’s a sense of urgency that surrounds Caleb and Pogue so I don’t question it at all.
  Caleb grabs his file—a fat one, which is unusual—and divides its contents into three, handing one stack each to my brother and me.
  “They died in a car accident,” Caleb says, looking at a newspaper article with a photo of Chase and what I presume are his parents. “It says Chase’s father just lost control.”
  Pogue looks back at his paper, bends closer. “His real name was Pope. Chase Goodwin Pope. Born July 14th, 1988. The Collins adopted him after his mother died. When he was two years old.”
  “When did you say his birthday was?” Caleb asks.
  Pogue looks back down. “July 14th.”
  “That’s the same day his adoptive parents died. What year was he born?”
  “1988.”
  A realization dawns on Caleb’s face. “They died on his 18th birthday.”
  An echoey noise sounds from downstairs. I recognize it as footsteps and we freeze, all turning to look in the direction of the sound. Caleb points his flashlight over there and I knock it down, silently cursing at him. I shake my head at it and he clicks it off.
  I think we’re in the clear for a moment, but then the door we came through rattles with the sound of keys. We spin to look at it, and then Caleb and Pogue grab the rest of the papers. Pogue wraps an arm around me and I stifle a surprised gasp, but he puts a hand over my mouth as his eyes turn to black and we quickly rise to the ceiling just as the security guard opens the door and steps inside.
  Pogue holds me tightly to his chest and I can feel his heart beating wildly. The guard waves his flashlight around, almost retracing the exact steps we took, and I realize in terror that we left the drawer open. The guard notices this and shuts it closed, looking around furiously, but thankfully he doesn’t look up.
  A windy draft rushes past us and I watch as a few pages fly from Pogue’s grasp, heading straight down to the guard below. Caleb takes action immediately, slowing the papers down in midair and hovering them just above the guard’s head. I hold my breath and Pogue’s heart beats impossibly faster.
  The guard’s search is to no avail and he turns, walking out of the room with his flashlight hung low and keys jangling against his belt. We only come back down once we hear the door slam closed and his footfalls descend the steps and eventually fade away.
  Caleb takes off immediately, through the back door that leads into the chapel. It looks so mysterious at night, shadows falling in places they don’t normally, making the bronze statues look like they’re grinning devilishly at us. The boys walk quickly, their shoes tapping loudly on the stone floors.
  “Goodwin Pope, Goodwin Pope,” Caleb whispers to himself. “Goodwin, Goodwin. Goodwin Pope.” Suddenly he stops and turns to Pogue and me. “Agnes Goodwin Pope. That’s where I’ve heard it before.”
  “What are you talking about?” Pogue says.
  “The Book of Damnation. They used to call her Goody Pope. Do you remember her?”
  Pogue laughs softly and shakes his head. “I haven’t read the Book since we were kids.”
  Caleb looks at me, exasperated. I don’t need to tell him that I was never allowed to read the Book, that I was never permitted to go down the stairs at Gorman’s house and see what was underneath.
  “Just call Reid and Tyler,” Caleb hisses to Pogue.

Chapter 9

  When we reach the same place where we met up, Pogue splits off from us to find his motorcycle. I pick up my bag from the ground and look at Caleb, debating whether or not I should beg him to take me along with him.
  “I’ll see you later,” he says. “Stay safe.”
  “Wait, Caleb,” I say. “Can I please go with you?”
  He looks at me, face torn. “I don’t know. I don’t think Pogue would like that…”
  “I don’t care what Pogue thinks. I’m old enough to make decisions for myself.”
  “I know, but…I mean, you wouldn’t be able to come down to the basement with us.”
  “That’s fine. I just don’t want to stay here.” I don’t have the heart to tell him that I’m scared of Chase now that we’ve learned more about him, but I know he can see it on my face.
  “Okay,” he says, giving in. “My car’s parked over there.”
  He points to the main road and we start walking in that direction, shoes squelching in the wet muddy ground. I reach over my backpack to run a hand through my hair. I feel my fingers shaking and try to calm myself down—I don’t really have anything to be afraid of, but I wonder if I’m this scared of Pogue seeing me back at the house. To be honest, I have no idea what to expect from him, especially since he’s still so torn up about Kate.
  I shake my fears away once we reach Caleb’s car and I slide into the passenger side, realizing that this is maybe the second or third time I’ve actually been in his car, despite being friends with him for so long. It’s nice, a small clean silver car that I’ve seen speeding around town and campus many times. He catches my glance and gives me a timid smile.
  “I know it’s no Hummer,” he says, referring to Tyler’s car, “but it works.”
  My cheeks redden at the mention of Tyler. “No, it’s fine. It’s cool.”
  He clears his throat and starts the car. “Speaking of Tyler.”
  I fight the urge to groan.
  “Are you guys good?” he asks as we leave campus and speed down the road.
  “Um. Yeah. Yeah, we’re fine.”
  “Really? He couldn’t stop staring at you in class today.”
  My face gets even redder. “Well...yeah, we’re fine.”
  He raises his eyebrows. “Pogue’s gonna be pissed if he finds out.”
  “What?” I say, turning to look at him. “Finds out what?”
  “That you guys…like each other.”
  I shake my head vigorously. “No, it’s not like that.”
  “Come on, Syl,” he says, “you don’t need to hide it. It was pretty obvious yesterday in class. And I saw you two at Nicky’s. When you walked in.”
  “That wasn’t anything.”
  “Friends don’t hold hands like that.”
  I roll my eyes at him. “Can we just stop talking about this, please? Pogue’s not going to find out because there’s nothing to find out.”
  Caleb shrugs, and I breathe out a sigh of relief when I spot the old house down at the end of the road. I see Pogue’s bright yellow motorcycle and the Hummer parked by the fence, underneath two large oak trees. Caleb parks between the two and we get out quickly, walking on the windy dirt path that leads across the yard and to the front door. I make a mental note to tell Gorman, the caretaker, that he should probably trim the front yard when he gets a chance—it’s severely overgrown, wispy tendrils of grass rising up to my knees and tickling my legs as we pass.
  We reach the front door and Caleb pushes it open with a hand. The floorboards creak when we step inside; my eyes have to adjust to the dark candlelight and crackling fireplace. I see Pogue, Reid, and Tyler standing in the corner, gathered around the hearth, talking in low voices about something. They all look up when we enter, and Pogue’s face immediately changes when he spots me.
  He starts forward. “What are you doing here?”
  “I’m—”
  He cuts me off before I can even give a reason. “You need to go back to school.”
  “Why?”
  “Because, it’s not safe here.”
  I fight a scoff and my eyes dart to behind my brother, watching Tyler, illuminated by the firelight, as his eyebrows clench in worry.
  “Pogue, come on,” I say. “This is the safest place to be.”
  “No it’s not. I want you to go.”
  “Pogue.”
  “It’s not a question. Go.”
  “I can’t—”
  “Sylvia, I said leave,” he snaps.
  I glare at him. “Why is it so hard for you to just include me in things?”
  “This isn’t about including you, it’s about keeping you safe.”
  “I can protect myself just fine, Pogue.”
  “No you can’t. You’ve never seen the full extent of the power of someone fully Ascended. Even the four of us aren’t an equal match against Chase right now. We can barely defend ourselves and I’m not going to let you get caught in the crossfire of that. You’ll be safe at Spenser.”
  “Pogue—”
  Tyler glances at my brother briefly before coming forward and stepping in front of me, pressing his car keys into my palm.
  “He’s right,” he says quietly. “You’ll be safer at school. Take my car.”
  I open my mouth to come up with some kind of protest but he pushes the keys harder into my hand and squeezes it gently.
  “Please, Syl,” he begs.
  My anger subsides almost immediately when I see the look in his eyes. He’s genuinely scared for me, I can tell, and this for some reason convinces me that I might actually be better off at Spenser. I’m also surprised that he’s offering his car to me, which he loves more than anything else, and that he’s talking to me for the first time since the night at Nicky’s.
  He gives me a small smile, the edges of his eyes crinkling, and I want nothing more than to kiss him again, but I can’t in front of the rest of the boys so I just nod and hope that they’re right about school being safe.
  “Okay,” I say quietly.
  I turn and hear Pogue give an exasperated groan, loudly stomping across the floorboards and down the stone staircase into the basement below. One by one, the rest of the boys follow. I reach the front door and rest a hand on the doorknob, looking back to see Tyler at the top of the staircase, also gazing back at me.
  “Go straight home,” he says.
  I nod and he descends into the darkness. Everything in me is telling me to stay—my hands are shaking and I can feel my heart beating in my chest—but I ignore the feeling and step outside into the cold.
  A sharp whistle of wind strikes my side and I grimace, pulling my sweater tight around me and hugging myself around the stomach. With Tyler’s key clutched in my hand, I quickly run across the yard, unlocking the car and sliding into the front seat. Immediately I start the car and put on the seat warmer, amazed at how cold it’s gotten in such a short amount of time.
  I shake my head; it’s stupid to think about that right now. So I put the car in reverse and back out of the spot, being extra careful because it’s dark and I don’t want to crash Tyler’s beloved car.
  I begin the drive back to Spenser in silence, partially because I’m too cold to turn on the radio and I’m petrified at the wheel. I take comfort in knowing that Tyler was sitting in this exact spot not long ago, and that the car smells like him. It almost feels like he’s here, in the passenger seat next to me.
  But it’s clear that he’s not, especially when I round the corner to see a dark hulking figure standing in the middle of the road. My heartbeat quickens. Still, I don’t stop, thinking maybe that I’m seeing things—it’s dark out, anyway. I get closer and my eyes adjust. It’s definitely a person.
  I know it’s Chase. The unshakeable worry in my chest makes me certain of that, and it’s confirmed when I stop and pull off to the side of the road just a few feet in front of him.
  Unbuckling my seatbelt, I step out of the car warily.
  “Chase?” I say.
  He tilts his head to look at me. “Sylvia. Funny to see you here.”
  “Um.” I swallow. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Do you need a ride back to school?”
  I don’t want to be in the same car as him, but my mind is scrambling for reasons to get him away from the boys back at the house.
  “No,” he says, “I don’t need a ride. Why don’t you get back in the car and wait?”
  “For what?”
  “Get in the car,” he snaps.
  “Chase—”
  “Get in!”
  There’s a sharp snarl in his tone and my stomach drops. He’s angry, or dangerous, or a combination of the two. I know I don’t really have a choice, so I get back into Tyler’s car and lock the doors with a click.
  I’m in there for a few minutes, staring cautiously at Chase, when I hear the rusty purr of an engine from the direction I just came from. It doesn’t take long for me to recognize it as Pogue’s motorcycle.
  My eyes flick back to Chase, smirking and mouthing something under his breath. In a panic I unlock the door and try to open it, but it’s closed shut. I unlock it again but it’s still stuck.
  “Chase!” I shout, voice muffled. “Chase, let me out!”
  He smiles again and I realize that the sound of the engine has quieted. I scramble into the backseat and try the door again, looking out the window to see Pogue a few hundred feet away, stopped in the street as he stares down at Chase.
  He revs the engine and with a squeal accelerates even faster down the road. I stare at Chase in horror as his eyes flash gold before turning black entirely.
It happens in an instant: Chase removes his hands from his pockets and just before Pogue reaches him, he flicks his wrists upward, catapulting my brother and his bike off the ground. He flips in the air, over Chase’s head, and slams down onto his side, rolling to a stop.
  I shout and rattle the handle of the door, panicking as Chase walks over to my brother, who’s trying to pick himself up from the ground. He tears his helmet off and whips his head to look at Chase, eyes midnight black.
  “You hurt Kate and I’ll kill you,” he says in a raspy voice.
  “Hurt her?” Chase scoffs. “I only used her to get to you. It’s you that I’m gonna hurt. And you’re just my bait to get to Caleb.”
  Chase raises his hands again and I scream.

  My hand is tight around Pogue’s, the sickly white light of the hospital room illuminating our nearly identical greenish veins near our wrists. I take in a breath, holding back tears, and Caleb moves closer to me, laying a hand on my shoulder.
  “He’ll be okay,” he says quietly.
  “Yeah.”
  Pogue’s eyes begin to twitch and they flutter open as he jerks upward. Caleb quickly pushes him down gently with a worried glance.
  “Hey, hey,” he says, “take it easy.”
  Pogue clears his throat and whispers, but it’s too quiet to hear.
  “What?” Caleb says.
  “Stay away. He’s more powerful…than you can imagine,” Pogue groans.
  “Hey, don’t worry. Don’t worry about that.”
  “We can’t stop him.”
  Pogue’s eyes close again and he sinks back into the mattress. Caleb and I sit in silence for a moment before he tilts his head to the hallway outside the window.
  “I’m going to go check on the others,” he tells me. “Please get some rest.”
  I nod. “I’ll be out in a little.”
  Caleb turns and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. I let out another shaky breath and rest my forehead on the edge of the bed, finally letting tears stream down my cheeks.
  “I’m sorry,” I whisper to my brother.
  His hair, tangled with sweat and grease and blood, is matted on top of the pillow and I try to comb through it with my fingers, but they’re shaking too much for me to do anything. Instead I settle for squeezing his hand one more time before standing and leaving the room, seeing Reid and Tyler sitting in identical chairs over by the wall. They both look up when I close the door.
  “Where’s Caleb?” I ask.
  “He left with Sarah,” Reid says.
  I nod and walk over, sitting down in the empty seat next to Tyler. He gives me a concerned look, then turns his head to whisper something I can’t hear to Reid, who suddenly stands and saunters out of the room in a hurry.
  Tyler looks back at me again and puts a comforting arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. I lay my head in the crook of his neck and he rests his chin on my head, stroking my hair when I start to cry.
  “It’s okay,” he murmurs. “He’s going to be okay.”
  “I know,” I say, sniffling. “I just…I wish I’d done something.”
  “You couldn’t have.”
  “I know. But I hate that I just sat there and watched it all happen. I hate that Chase was able to do that with no consequences.”
  I feel his jaw tighten. “There are going to be consequences. Caleb isn’t going to let this slide. You know he won’t.”
  “Yeah, I know,” I say, raising a hand to rub my eye.
  Tyler pulls me up, turning to face me, and cups my face with his hands. He uses his thumb to wipe a tear away.
  “You did everything you could have,” he says. “Okay? Please don’t beat yourself up about this, Syl. It wasn’t your fault. Honestly you should have stayed at Gorman’s with us. It would have been safer for you.” I nod and his face falls. “I hate seeing you like this.”
  “Like a mess?” I say, giving a half-hearted laugh.
  “No, like you feel guilty. It’s not your fault,” he repeats.
  “I know,” I tell him. “Really.” I lay my hands over his and he drops them, intertwining our hands in my lap. I raise my eyes to look at him. “Thank you.”
  He shrugs. “I’m here for you, Syl. Always.”