“Oh. No way,” he says with zero conviction. He gives a half-hearted chuckle. “That explains a lot.”
“You’re such a liar,” I say, because he clearly knew from the minute we got here where in space and time we were. “Ugh, ofcourse, this is your dream. Typical.”
“Now, Cartwright, did I judge any of those dreams where you were slobbering all over my cousin?” he says, rubbing the spot on his chest where I hit him. It occurs to me that if this is Penny’s party on the night I met Marcus, then it’s early on that night—which is why there is no sign of me or my friends. We aren’t here yet.
“You are such a good kisser?” Jazz King says, or rather,asksMarcus.
He laughs. “I’m a man of many talents.”
“I’m double-jointed?” Jazz says. “Wanna see?”
“Nope, nope, not in this lifetime,” I say, exiting as fast as I can.
We reverse through a hallway and try to find another room to go into, but everywhere is too full and too loud.
Boom-BOOM. Boom-BOOM. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
Before I can head for the front door, though, I spot someone wearing a familiar cropped knitted vest, leaving one of the rooms.
“It’s Mo!” I point out to Marcus. Even though she can’t see or hear me, I’m glad to see her. A friendly face among my wasted classmates. As usual, Mo seems completely sober. But she’s acting strange, adjusting her top and pulling the door tightly shut behind her like she doesn’t want whatever is in there to get out.
It hits me in that moment. Our suspicions have been correct. Mo’s Zebra app is, at least, part human. As in, there’s someone she’s been hiding.
“Ohhh.”
“Who’s she with?” Marcus asks, at the same time I freeze.
“Hold on,” I say. “She told me she wasn’t allowed to come to this party.”
Marcus looks at me, so I continue. “Ambs and I are going to show up later, but Mo never comes out tonight because her grandparents didn’t let her. So how is…she…”
I’m already looking at the door she shut before it even starts to swing open. I’m anticipating the person coming out of the room, the person who has been in there with Mo.
Jason.
Jasonhas been in there with Mo.
He comes out of the room and immediately slams into Josh Faraday.
“Yo, dude! Where you been?” Josh asks as Jason distractedlyslaps his back. “What have you been doing, or should I saywhohave you…”
Jason smacks the back of Josh’s head, but they’re both laughing. “Go to hell.”
I bend to the ground because the world does not feel steady.
“Zadie,” Marcus says, dropping down beside me, but I can’t look at him. Can’t talk. Can’t breathe.
I spring up from the ground, race through the hallway and through the kitchen and out the front door.
Relief from the noise and the putrid air and the generaltoo muchness of everything floods me as I slump onto the concrete and gasp desperately for oxygen. More oxygen.More.
I face away from the streetlights as I collapse in a heap on the steps and knead my temples with my thumbs. This is the first time a migraine has really followed me into the dream like this.
“What do you need me to do?” Marcus asks, voice a whisper. “Do you need water? Do you need…What do you need?”
“Mo and Jason” is all I can say. “That’s what all this leads to.”
A hundred pieces fall together in my mind. Mo never quite trusting Jason. Her fury when we thought he was cheating with Alana. Mo having a mystery guy. Maybe Mo is the girl Jason really bought this ring for.
