“I saw your sister. So I’m guessing everything was all right when you got home Friday night.”

  I placed a plate of spaghetti on my tray. “Uh, yeah. False alarm. Everything was fine.”

  “Good to hear,” he said, reaching past me to pluck a pear from the fruit bowl. For a second, our arms touched, and I smiled.

  “I’m really sorry for skipping out on our, um, date.” I brought my tray to the register. Before I could pay, Gavin handed the cashier a ten dollar bill. “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

  “My pleasure.”

  I grinned. “Thanks.”

  He collected his change, and we walked together toward my table. Naomi’s eyes widened when she saw Gavin next to me. I stopped in my tracks before we reached the table. “Let me make it up to you.”

  Gavin’s brow arched. “For lunch or for skipping out on the date?”

  I smiled. “Both. I heard The Blob is playing at the Fairmont next week. You’ll have to drive, but it’ll be my treat.” My heart pounded so hard I thought it would shake the school.

  “Alien goo terrorizing a small town for unknown reasons?” He rubbed under his bottom lip. I forced myself not to stare at the motion. “I’m totally in.”

  My smile widened. “Awesome.”

  “Why don’t you and Naomi come sit with us today?”

  “Yeah, that’d be cool.”

  Gavin grinned at me and led the way, taking a bite out of his pear. I motioned to Naomi to follow us. She grabbed her sack lunch and purse, scurrying out of her chair to catch up. Gavin pulled out a seat for me and took the spot beside me. Naomi plopped her things on the table and wriggled into the chair next to Danny. Danny’s eyes darted between the three of us.

  “Hey, Danny. How’s it going?” Naomi asked.

  “’S okay.” Danny pulled the earphones out of his ears, letting them fall into his lap. He looked at Gavin. “Where’s my pear, dude?”

  “You didn’t say you wanted one.” Gavin clamped his teeth into his fruit.

  “I said, ‘See if they have pears.’ That should have been your first clue.”

  “Didn’t mean you wanted me to get you one.”

  Danny scoffed. “You’re right. I just wanted the information for my cafeteria food blog.”

  “Sounds exciting.” Gavin smirked. “Make sure you write about how nice and juicy they are.”

  Danny shook his head. “Yeah, shut up.”

  Naomi and I looked at each other, holding back our laughter.

  “You can have my orange,” Naomi said, pulling one out of her small paper bag.

  Danny eyed the orange apprehensively before taking it. “Thanks.”

  He avoided looking at her, but she smiled happily anyway.

  A movement from behind Naomi caught my eye. Emily and her lemmings marched into the cafeteria. Emily didn’t have lunch the same hour I did, so it was odd to see her there. Obviously, Emily wasn’t above skipping class.

  She spotted me as she passed Gavin’s table and came to a short stop. The lemmings collided with her. With her bright pink lips pursed, Emily narrowed her eyes at me. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she looked away and continued walking toward the lunch line. Her lemmings followed behind her, leaving more buffer room than they had before. Kelly pointed at me and ran her finger across her throat.

  “What was that about?” Gavin asked, bumping my knee with his.

  I shifted in my chair and pushed a wayward lock of hair behind my ear. “Oh, you know. Fan club.”

  Gavin and Danny bantered with each other for the rest of the lunch hour, and my thoughts drifted to Mara. I wondered why she wasn’t with Emily. Maybe it was because she’d missed so much school and needed to catch up on assignments or something. Was she adjusting to being back at school? Did she love all the attention she was getting? Was she back to her normal self?

  The bell tore me from my thoughts. Gavin bumped my knee again, and I scolded myself for not paying more attention to him. After all, he’d invited me to sit with him, and all I could think about was my sister. Lame.

  “See you later. Don’t forget this.” He picked up the paper flower he’d made me from my tray and handed it to me. The smile he flashed before he got up from the table pushed all other concerns away.

  “Bye, Danny!” Naomi called. He nodded at her and joined Gavin.

  When we were in the hall, Naomi dragged me to the sanctuary of an empty girls’ bathroom.

  “How cool was that!” she said. “Think we can sit with them every day now?”

  I laughed, glancing at my reflection in the mirror. “I guess.”

  “Danny’s playing hard to get,” she said, slipping into a stall. “But my great-grandmother ran a rodeo, so I know a thing or two about breaking a bronco.”

  I smiled, rolling the stem of Gavin’s flower between my fingers. As I held it to my nose, the bathroom door opened. I did a double take when Mara stepped in. I started to ask how her day was going, but the words lodged in my throat. Her expression was stoic, her eyes glazed over. She walked as if she was in a trance, arms hanging loose at her sides. She came at me, closer and closer, until she was inches from my face. When I shifted to the side, she didn’t track my movements quite right. Was she even breathing?

  The lights flickered, the static buzz from the fluorescents growing louder before diminishing. The shadow on the wall behind Mara moved. I tried to step back from her, but ran into the sink.

  “What the hell’s up with the lights?” Naomi said as she stepped out of the stall. “Oh hey, Mara.”

  Mara stayed where she was, watching me. I slid sideways and made my escape around her.

  “Must suck to have to do homework again, huh?” Naomi said as she washed her hands.

  Did Naomi not notice how weird Mara was being?

  “But, you know, cool that you’re back. That was so awesome how you stuck it to Luke this morning. What a jerk, right?”

  Mara turned to Naomi and blinked. Her face slowly relaxed, and a small smile actually surfaced. It was like a trance had been broken. But I didn’t want to take any chances.

  “Nice seeing you, Mara. Gotta go,” I said as I steered Naomi out the door.

  “What’s the rush?” she asked once we hit the hall.

  “I just don’t want to be late for class.”

  My strange run-in with Mara plagued me through my next classes, but by the end of the day she seemed to be her old self again. Maybe it was just a temporary brain relapse? I didn’t know anything about comas and after-effects, so I guessed it was just something medical I didn’t understand. That didn’t explain the shadow, though.

  The first half of the week was a marathon of enduring Mara-talk, avoiding Chase’s disapproving stares, and tolerating glares of hatred from Emily and company. Little by little, things settled down. Mara didn’t seem like such a zombie anymore, though I did catch her staring at me now and then when we were alone at home. I found respite every day at lunch with Gavin by my side. By Thursday, I started to believe life could actually be normal again.

  “So glad tomorrow’s Friday.” Naomi leaned on the locker next to mine after last period and waited for me to get my books together. “Today was killer. Three words: Pop quizzes suck.”

  I was about to respond when something hit my shoulder with such force my books flew from my arm. Aching and in shock, I turned to see Emily’s smug face.

  “Oops,” she said, her lips curled up.

  “What is wrong with you?” Naomi stood between me and Emily, her shoulders drawn back.

  Emily sneered at Naomi. “Stay out of this. This isn’t about you.”

  I stepped forward and glared at Emily. “If you’ve got a problem, just say it to my face.”

  “Fine. Let me just warn you that this little thing with you and Gavin? It’s not going to work out. You think you’re a hot item just because he took you out for kiddie games and a burger and sits next to you at lunch? You know he’s only after one thing. And as soon as he gets it, he’ll be sick of you and drop you like last year’s social network.” She stepped forward and poked me hard in the chest. “He’s out of your league, freak, and don’t you forget it.”

  My blood boiled. The familiar buzzing started in my bones. I knew I should control myself, but rage overpowered my good sense. All at once, my eyes took in a number of things, details that I could use to my advantage: The school janitor rolling his cleaning cart through the hall. Wesley, the school wrestling champion, goofing around with his friends. Mrs. Frida, the Spanish teacher, carrying a container of mystery supplies. Ranjib Bhārat bending over to tie his shoe.

  My fingers tingled, the hot blood in them surging toward the center of my body. It only took two seconds for it to happen, but in my mind’s eye, everything traveled in slow motion. Emily stood in front of me, her hands crossed over her chest as she laughed at me. Wesley grabbed his buddy in a headlock, shifted backward, and lost his balance when his foot made contact with Ranjib’s bent-over form. The massive wrestler collided with the janitor’s cart, causing the entire cart to tip over. The mop bucket spilled its grimy contents all over the floor in front of me.

  Wesley, attempting to right his balance, released his head lock on his buddy, who careened into Emily. She toppled backward and landed butt first in the messy liquid. Mrs. Frida, not seeing the upended cleaning cart, tripped forward. The box of supplies in her hands went flying. Pint-sized containers of paint spilled from the box, the bright reds and yellows—colors of the Spanish flag, I noted—flipped through the air and came crashing down on top of Emily. The lids mustn’t have been sealed properly. Emily was now claimed in the name of Spain.

  Laughter erupted all around me, the loudest laughs coming from Naomi. I looked from Emily’s shocked face to my wet shoes. What had I done? Emily screamed and launched herself at me, but Naomi pulled me back. The soaked, paint-covered junior slipped in the liquid under her expensive, ruined shoes, and landed on her knees.

  Before Mrs. Frida could figure out what had happened, Naomi and I slipped toward the exit and into the parking lot. Naomi was still laughing, but I was trying to come down from the shock. Again, Lilura’s words echoed in my head. Vila use their powers to manipulate events. Is that what I’d done?

  Naomi placed a hand on my arm, snatching me from my thoughts. “I have to go. But that was awesome. I’ll probably be smiling all night.”

  I forced a laugh. “Me too.”

  “I’ll call you later.”

  I waved goodbye and crossed the parking lot, then skipped across the street to head home. My head hurt from analyzing the incident in the hall, so I forced myself to stop thinking about it. At least for a little while. Three minutes into my walk, I glanced over my shoulder. A black cat pranced behind me and came to a stop, staring at me with yellow eyes. When I continued walking, it did too. I frowned and told myself to ignore it.

  But it wasn’t the first time I’d seen it. In fact, that cat had followed me home from school every day since my visit with Lilura Black.

  Chapter Twelve

  I held my breath as Mara rang the doorbell. Dad had already driven away, but it wasn’t too late to turn around and run. Leg cramps and sweat seemed a small price to get me out of an entire night with Emily and the lemmings. I made a mental note to save up for a car.

  The door opened and the sound of muffled laughter drifted outside. I clenched my teeth.

  “Hi,” Mara said.

  Emily’s face fell when she saw me. Kelly and Nicole came up behind her, Nicole’s jaw dropping as she peeked around Emily’s shoulder. Kelly took one look at me and started to laugh. Nice welcome.

  “Um, Mara?” Emily’s eyes darted pointedly between me and Mara.

  I glanced at my sister, wondering why she wasn’t explaining why I was there. Even though I tried to get out of coming to the sleepover—which Dad wouldn’t even consider—I was actually surprised Mara hadn’t mentioned my joining them earlier. The old Mara would have commiserated about it with Emily the first chance she got. Emily’s face told me she was thinking the same thing.

  I sighed. “Our dad wants me to keep an eye on her. He said it was both of us, or neither.” Emily huffed in annoyance. I would have been insulted, except I felt the same way. I’d sooner spend the night in the Dumpster behind the local gas station than at Emily’s house.

  “Just let her stay.” Mara tilted her head, an eerie smile touching her lips.

  “Or don’t,” I said, trying to hide my worry about Mara’s expression.

  Emily narrowed her eyes and glanced between Mara and me. What was she thinking? Did she also find Mara’s smile peculiar? Or did she think Mara was up to something, something that would end up in some embarrassing situation where the rest of them made fun of me?

  Emily’s expression changed from curious to smug. “Fine. She can stay. But she has to sleep on the floor.”

  I’d expected that. I also expected to stay awake all night. There was no way I was losing consciousness around this group.

  “Hope you brought your bikini.” Emily looked over her shoulder as she led us down the hall. “The water’s perfect for a dip.”

  “Oh, I didn’t bring mine,” Mara said.

  “That’s okay, you can borrow one from me.” Emily hooked her arm through Mara’s and looked over her shoulder at me, like an afterthought. Her voice lost its pleasantness. “I suppose you need a suit as well. I might have a one-piece. It’s from when I was ten and hadn’t developed yet, so it would probably fit you perfectly.”

  Kelly and Nicole laughed, nearly tripping over each other in the hall.

  “I won’t be swimming,” I said, pulling a book out of my bag. There were too many scenarios playing in my head. Too many horrible ways to die in a pool around Emily and company.

  “Whatever.” Emily ran up the carpeted stairs, tugging Mara behind her. The lemmings followed, giggling about who knows what.

  The enormous living room was so big and stuffed with posh furniture that it took a moment to spot the pool out the floor-to-ceiling windows. I ducked out the back door and found a nice lounge chair tucked in the shade of a few broad-leafed trees. I settled into the cool vinyl and opened my book. The last time I had been here, Emily didn’t have a pool. I was in the seventh grade, and it was before Emily had started her anti-Zadie campaign. She’d had a birthday party and invited the whole neighborhood. I’d overheard Emily exclaiming to Mara about how happy she was that her father would be there. He traveled so much for work that he had missed every one of her birthday parties for years—not to mention school plays, dance recitals, and the occasional Christmas.

  Somehow during the party, Emily’s father caught wind that my birthday had been the previous week. He’d demanded the housekeeper whip up a second cake, and in the middle of one of Emily’s games, the cake was rolled out, and Mr. Broding insisted everyone sing me Happy Birthday. I’d never forget the look on Emily’s face, just before she ran off crying.

  It was pretty awful. She’d hated me ever since.

  The girls ran out in their colorful bikinis and dove into the pool. Drops of water landed on my book. While Mara and her friends sunbathed, I spent the rest of the afternoon getting lost in the pages of my faithful companion. I was a few chapters into the story when the doorbell rang.

  “That’s the pizza,” Emily announced.

  They toweled off and went inside. I closed my book and followed them into the dining room, which consisted of white-on-white furniture, white decorations, and a whiter-than-white carpet, softened by lavender walls. Emily’s housekeeper was setting out the pizza boxes. The white bar, which stood off to the side, was stocked with sodas, sparkling clean glasses, and a bucket of ice.

  They all sat around the table while Emily divided the pizza onto four plates. They started eating, without giving me a second look. I don’t know why I expected an invitation. I let out a sigh and helped myself to a piece.

  “Oh, sorry.” Emily’s voice was anything but sincere. “Did you want some?”

  I went over to the bar and poured myself some soda. When I got back to the table and sat down, Emily made an exaggerated gesture with her arm, knocking my plate down. The plate, of course, landed upside down on the white carpet. Everyone hissed in their breaths. The lemmings glanced uncertainly at Emily, like they were waiting for a cue as to how they should react. Mara just stared at the plate, her head tilted slightly.

  “That’s what happens when you leave your plate too close to the edge, dimwit,” Emily said.

  I glared at her before I slid out of my seat and lifted the plate. The pizza’s tomato sauce had seeped into the carpet, globs of cheese clinging to the fine fibers.

  “My mom’s going to kill you if she sees that stain. I think there’s some kind of carpet cleaner in the hall closet. If you’re lucky, you might be able to get it out. And don’t bother getting Rosalita. She’s busy ironing my outfit for tomorrow.”

  I almost left right then, to hell with Emily’s stupid carpet. But I caved. Mara had been acting ten kinds of weird all week, and I promised Dad I’d keep an eye on her. I found the hall closet, grabbed a bottle of carpet cleaner and a few rags, and stalked back to the dining room. Barely-stifled giggles greeted me.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” Nicole said between laughs. I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or to Emily. Didn’t really care. Mara was the only one not smiling as I sank to my knees and worked at the stain.

  “You’re pretty good at scrubbing,” Emily said. “Maybe you can keep that in mind when you’re trying to figure out what career field to go into.”

  The lemmings practically spit out pizza with their laughter.

  “Cut it out, Emily.” Mara’s voice was odd. Deeper. Like the echo of a growl. I looked up at her. The color of her eyes changed for a second, like a flash of electricity went through them.

  “What?” Emily flipped her hair back. “I said she’s good at something.”

  The lemmings lapsed into another fit of laughter.

  “Ouch!” Emily slapped at her arm. “Something bit me!”

  I turned to look at Emily, but froze when I noticed a trickle of blood under Mara’s nose. Mara glanced at me and touched her napkin to her nose, her look a warning.