"Oh, right, sorry." He ran to her and picked the crutches up off the ground. Slowly he helped her lift herself onto them and turn around.

Cassie's cascading reddish-blond waves had been hiding a neck brace, and her right leg was locked in a huge blue cast that went all the way up to the middle of her thigh. She looked up at me, and our eyes met. Half of her face was bruised, which gave her sort of an angry look.

I swallowed.

"Cass?" I said. "Oh my god."

"Oh, whatever," she said, a small smile lighting up her face. She was secretly into the fact that she looked like an invalid, I realized, as I broke into a smile, too. It was definitely dramatic looking. I bet she was getting tons of attention for it.

"You're totally milking this, aren't you?"

"What? No," Cassie said, her smile widening like she really wanted to say, Who, me? "But listen, you're going to have to come to me, because it's effing impossible to move with this stupid cast on." Before she even finished talking, I ran across the yard and threw my arms around her. "Ow," she cried. "Ow, neck brace, neck brace!" But she was laughing. We both were.

Cassie pulled away and gave me a once-over. Her eyes looked glassy, but I knew she'd die before she let herself cry in public.

"Dan?" she said sweetly. "Can you get me that thing?"

Dan looked at her blankly. "What thing?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know, that thing. The thing I use to scratch inside my cast?"

"Oh, that thing. 'Course, babes." I was surprised by the tenderness in his voice. He bent and kissed the top of her head. She smiled after him as he walked away, then turned to me.

"Babes? You guys say babes now?"

"Don't change the subject," she said, pointing her index finger at me accusingly. "Where the hell were you? I woke up and you were gone. And I thought something terrible must have happened to you, because there's no way you would have left me there alone." A tear brushed down her face, but she stubbornly ignored it. "So tell me that's it, right?" she said. "You were kidnapped? You were abducted by aliens? A tribe of hot nudist boys whisked you off to their native land, where they hailed you as queen?" She looked hopeful.

I swallowed. Face to face with Cassie, the story I'd told Aunt Jo about being scared felt flimsy and stupid. Cassie would never buy that. I was the strong one. I was the one who was supposed to be cool and levelheaded and unemotional. I was good in a crisis. I didn't panic and run away. Cassie, of all people, would know I was lying.

"I don't . . . have . . . a good reason," I said. She stared at me, and the silence hung between us. I couldn't keep lying to her like this. I opened my mouth to tell the truth, but something flashed in the woods behind her yard.

Guardians.

My head snapped up, and I glanced behind her toward the trees. Was it my imagination, or could I see a streak of white disappear behind an evergreen? It was a reminder that I could never tell Cassie the trutha"no matter how much I wanted to. "I was scared," I said quickly, trying to sound convincing. "I guess . . . I guess I didn't handle it well."

"That's it?" She hobbled backward on her crutches. "Oh, gee, Skye, you think?" Well, thank god one of us was scared. It couldn't have been me, you see, because I was the one in the coma!"

I glanced behind me, nervously.

"What do you keep looking for?" she asked. Suddenly recognition dawned on her face, and her jaw dropped. "I know that look. That's the same look you had plastered to your face in the cafeteria all winter, and the look you had when we were waiting for the bus to the ski trip." Her eyes widened. "You're looking for them, aren't you? Asher and Devin? They're the reason you ran away!"

"What?" I cried. "No way!"

"Don't play this game with me, Skye. The jig is so up. You left me. For a guy."

"I didn't, I swear!"

"You know, Skye, I'm boy crazy. I can accept that. But I would never put one of them ahead of you."

"Uh," Dan said, coming up behind her with a long instrument that looked like a deconstructed hanger. "Standing right here."

"Not you, Dan," Cassie said. "The other ones."

"What other ones?"

Cassie turned to him pointedly. "The ones who came before." She raised an eyebrow. "Catch my drift?"

"It's rare that I do," Dan said.

"Aunt Jo may have bought the whole *I was scared' line," she continued, wheeling back around. "But I know you better than that. You really want to stand there and tell me that's why you left?"

No, I thought desperately. I don't.

"You weren't even shaken up after that avalanche almost killed you," Dan added.

"Well played, babes," she said to him, holding out her hand so he could slap it five. "So are you going to tell us the truth?"

My throat went dry. Every fiber of my being fought against telling her. There were Guardians everywhere. And the last thing I needed was to put my friends in danger. Most of the time, they were all that was keeping me sane.

"You're right," I said. The words were out of my mouth before I could think about what I was going to say next. "The night of your giga"of the partya"Asher told me that he wanted to, um . . ." I paused. How could I explain this? "Be my boyfriend. He said with all the drama at home and him and Devin fighting and everything, he wanted to take me away. There's this cabin in the woods not far from here. We went there for a couple of days." I paused again. "Just spent some time away from everything. I spent most of it worried about you," I added, glancing at her. Cassie was frowning at me, listening intently.

"Skye, that is the"a"she propped a hand on her hipa""best story ever! How romantic! Now I get why you couldn't tell Aunt Jo. She'd flip, right? Wow. Are you grounded? In the name of love? Did you drive here? Where's Asher?"

I grinned. I should have realized the way to distract Cassie sooner.

"I really was scared, though," I said quietly. "That part was true."

"Eh, I know." Cassie sighed. "I was scared when I woke up and saw myself in the mirror." She pointed at her eye. "Purple is not a good color on redheads!"

"I was scared, too," said Dan. "My first and only girlfriend almost didn't wake up. Can you imagine any other girl wanting me after that?"

"Aw," Cassie cooed. "Of course they would. If I had died, you'd be all wounded and mysterious and nursing your broken heart. Girls love that crap. They'd want to put you back together."

"Really?" Dan asked hopefully. Cassie hobbled over and put her arm around him.

"You bet," she said. "But let's not test the theory, okay?" Dan leaned in really quickly for a surprise kiss, and Cassie lost her balance. She toppled over her crutches, fell to the ground. "Dan!" she yelled. "Ow?"

"Sorry, sorry," he said, rushing to help her up again.

"You know what, on second thought, those girls can have you."

"You love it," Dan said.

"Not as much as you do," she crowed. They were kissing again.

"Guys?" I said. "I'm back now, remember?"

"Mm? Oh, right, Skye. Sorry," Cassie said, breaking away sheepishly.

"Come on," I said. "I'm driving. I don't want to be late my first day back."

Cassie leaned on Dan's shoulder, and we made our way to the car.

"So," she said as I pulled out of the driveway, "you may have left just in time. I heard that Devin has a new girlfriend."

"What?" I wheeled around involuntarily.

"Oh my god, watch the road!" Cassie and Dan shouted at the same time.

"God, sorry," I said. I glanced casually in the rearview mirror as we turned on to the main road. "What do you mean?"

"Well." Cassie took a deep breath, her eyes glinting mischievously.

"Um, have you been gossip starved or something?"

"I'm only getting started. There was a chemical contamination at River Springs High, right? And they had to shut it down, for like a month or so. They merged with us until it's safe to reopen." She met my eye in the mirror. "Some cuties, Skye," she whispered. "That's all I'm gonna say."

"Again, sitting right here," muttered Dan.

"I'm in a relationship, not blind, okay?" She gasped. "And now Skye is, too! We can double-date!"

"Yay," said Dan with mock enthusiasm.

"Cass, what about Devin? Finish the story."

"Right. Anyway, he has a new girlfriend, or maybe they were even already dating. She came in with the RSH students. Her name is weird. Some hippie name. Sparrow or something."

The wind grew suddenly colder as it whipped through the open windows.

"Raven?"

"Yes! That's it. Anyway, she must have been really popular at RSH because she doesn't talk to anyone at Northwood. Just Devin and some kids from her school."

Guardians.

"Whoa, Skye, you okay? You look like you've just seen . . ." But Cassie's voice faded out, along with the houses and the swings and the tall evergreen trees ticking past. My grip on the steering wheel loosened. The wind around us picked up, lifting dead leaves into the air and surrounding us in a tunnel of wind and leaves. Suddenly I was in a dark room, with thousands of tiny lights illuminating my way. Someone's hands were on my waist, and out of the darkness, a face took shape. First I saw the ice-blond hair. Then the blue eyes. And then I realized I was staring up at Devin. I drew him closer.

"Have you thought any more about what I said?" I asked. His hands on my waist guided me to the right, and then again to the right, and I realized we were dancing in a slow circle. There were lights flashing around me. Was it lightning? As we danced, I grew aware that we were being watched.

"Yes," he said quietly. His voice was low in my ear. "I have." The music was faint, and I struggled to place the song but I couldn't.

He looked down at me, but he was already fading, and the darkness was fading, and the lights were growing dim. I opened my eyes to Cassie screaming and Dan leaning across me, grasping the steering wheel.

"Are you okay?" Cassie's voice rang out, and her reddish hair wisped into my vision. "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh my god." I exhaled, grabbing the wheel and righting it. We swerved momentarily before straightening out again on the road.

"Skye, pull over," Cassie said stonily. "Dan, you're driving."

"I'm fine," I muttered, pulling the car to the side of the road. "The change in altitude coming back here just hit me hard, that's all."

But as I switched seats with Dan, I couldn't stop my mind from racing. That wasn't one of the dreams I'd been having. Those dreams always ended with Devin stabbing me. Those dreams ended with blood staining my vision red and my life flashing before my eyes.

In this one, we seemed to be having a normal conversation. We were dancing. We werea"

It wasn't a dream at all. It was . . . a vision. Some manifestation of powers in my mind's eye. Like the vision of walking on the beach in my beautiful dress, of finding the dead bodya"it couldn't have been real. But what were they visions of? What did they mean?

As I sat up, a white feather smacked into the windshield before it tumbled off and was sucked away by the wind.

In the blink of an eye, two things were suddenly clear to me: The first was that I had to figure out what part of me was causing these strange visions. What if I was alone in the car the next time one of them overtook me? If Dan hadn't grabbed the steering wheel, I'd have wrapped my car around a tree. I had to figure out how to control them. If they were in any way related to my powers, maybe I could teach myself how.

And the second thing I realized? Devin and I were going to have a reunion.

Chapter 10.

Standing in the parking lot staring up at school felt both the same and like being in another world. I had been away only for a little more than a week, but it felt like a lifetime had gone by. The big stone arches had always felt vaguely gothic to me, and now, as I anticipated what might be waiting on the other side, they felt downright foreboding.

"Are you ready for this?" Cassie asked. "First day back?"

"No," I said. "But that's never stopped me before."

We pushed through the big front doors, and the typical din hit us hard as we walked in. I kept my head up and my eyes straight ahead, trying to feel confident with Cassie and Dan by my side. A few unfamiliar faces turned from their lockers to watch me as I made my way through the hall. Their blond hair flashed in the harsh lighting. My heart beat fast. There were so many of them. Ardith turned from her own locker to nod at me reassuringly as I passed.

I couldn't help notice that other kids I'd known for years eyed me, too, whispering in small groups. I wondered what kind of rumors had been circulating about me while I'd been gone. I could only imagine the pregnancy speculation, the talk of drugs. Running away with my delinquent boyfriend. I wondered if anyone had set them straight or if my reputation had been established as a total badass. I wasn't sure which I preferred.

Next to me, Cassie stiffened on her crutches. "Let them stare," she muttered. "Nosy bitches."

At the stairs, Dan hung a left. "See you guys at lunch," he called. We turned the corner, and I could see Asher leaning against my locker at the end of the hall, his arms crossed, staring down some freshmen girls who passed him in a giggling cluster. As we walked up, he uncrossed his arms.

"Did you hear I knocked you up?" he asked, his eyes wide. "You already had the baby and gave it up for adoption. Wow. We work fast."

"That's me," I said, tossing my hair over my shoulder and spinning the combination on my lock. "To-tal badass."

"Hey, Asher." Cassie grinned, opening the locker next to mine. "Looking good."

"Cassie," I whispered.

"You two have a nice mini break?"

Asher laughed. "News really travels fast around here, huh? Did you start that pregnancy rumor?"