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I close my arms around his neck and yank him down with all my weight. He groans and his legs buckle. We nearly fall back, but before his body squashes mine, he pulls us forward so he’s on his knees, his head bent toward the ground as I wrap myself around him and try to pull his head away from the screen.

“Ow, my eye,” he says as my hands grip every part of his face.

“Stop reading.”

Like a koala, I’m fully wrapped around him, but I can’t get him to budge as I try to wrestle him, despite all the groans and cries of pain I manage to illicit from him at my attacks. I even go for tickling and pulling the hair at the nape of his neck

“Excuse me!”

I pause my wrestling and see the two male waiters looking down at us with wide and cautious eyes.

“What’s going on here?” the older, larger one demands.

Theo pushes his body up despite me still clinging onto him, so he’s standing and I’m clinging to him in a piggyback style. I remove myself from his back and stand beside him, pointing my thumb in his direction.

“This thief won’t give me back my phone,” I explain.

“Violet,” Theo says, dropping his hands to his sides as he faces me, his expression saturated with confusion. “Why are you messaging my mom on Beedle?”

“Your mom?” My mouth—along with those of the two waiters—drops open. “Ellie is your mother?”

Theo’s eyes open wide enough that they threaten to fall out of their sockets. “So you are messaging her.”

There’s a single moment of stillness where all our confusion and shock keep us in place. Even the autumn breeze dispels itself for a moment.

Then I snatch my phone from his fingers and say, “I can explain.”

“Then do that.”

I chew on my bottom lip, then point at the table I abandoned. “Fine, let’s sit. Might as well have dinner while we’re here.”

“Great,” he says, and taps the chest of one of the waiters. “We’re all good here. Why don’t you give us a minute before grabbing our menus?”

Without turning to see if I follow, he makes himself comfortable at the table. I remove my thick wool cardigan, a shapeless brown thing I found at a thrift store, and hang it over the chair. “I need to use the bathroom,” I say, and point to my sweater. “My keys are in there; don’t be funny and try to hide them for collateral or something.”

Theo rolls his eyes. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

I head into the restaurant, calling Lexie as I move past the restroom doors. She answers on the first ring. “What’s going on? Did it work? Does she suck? Have you been kidnapped?”

“I need you to pick me up.” I maneuver through bodies, avoiding a clash with a waitress and a plate filled with glasses. “Track my location; I’m going to be a few blocks from the restaurant.”

“Wait, what’s going on?”

“Theo is here,” I say, quickening my pace as I exit through the front doors. “And his mother is the woman I was supposed to meet.”

A pause, and then, “No freaking way.”

“Will you hurry up?” I say, rubbing the goose bumps on my arm. I left my sweater to make it seem as if I wasn’t going anywhere, but the keys are actually in my jeans pocket, and I’m already nearing a new street. “I’m getting cold.”

“I’m putting you on speaker,” Lexie says, and I hear a rustling of movement as she gets ready. “Catch me up to speed.”

“I’m not even up to speed,” I say, which is why I needed to take a recess. I’m unprepared and left reeling with too much new information; there’s no way I’m ready to face Theo’s line of questioning.

“Wait, my GPS says I’ll be there in an hour.”

I groan. “Never mind, I can get to my house walking by then.”

“Well, I’ll keep you company—”