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Beatrice made an impatient clucking sound. “Must we have this conversation?”

“Yes. We must.” I glared at all three of them.

That’s when a classroom door opened and someone came out, bathroom pass in their hand.

Right. I was standing in the middle of a hallway, conversing with ghosts. It wasn’t a good look. Frustrated, I went to class.

And got a warning for being late.

3

After school, and after covering Ethan’s shift, I was a glutton for punishment. I went to the football game, sneaking in and sitting at the end of one of the rows. A whole family was next to me, so I looked as if I were with them. The mom gave me a harried disgruntled look, but she had three little kids jumping around between us. When I put my leg up to block one of the little boys from waddling away, the disgruntled look relaxed into more of a grateful glance.

The football team lost, twenty-seven to three, but the others from my school didn’t seem to care. They were shouting, all smiles.

I got a glimpse of Cassian staring off into space when I left. Lounging against a sports car, dressed in a suit, he looked bored, but so hot. Damn. The other guys were coming out of the locker room, also dressed in their own suits too, but their suits were looser. Baggier. Cassian’s seemed as if it had been custom-tailored to him. At that moment, he caught sight of me and interest sparked in his gaze. He began to straighten up, but Claudia Elward touched his arm and his attention went to her.

Which, sigh. She was beautiful. And popular. And his date, and of course he was going to be enamored by her.

Did I already mention beautiful?

She was best friends with Rebecca Stilteine.

All three of the girls from the Homecoming Court were lingering outside, and as I stood there, watching, another guy came from the locker room, also in a suit. They weren’t alone. There was a whole group hanging out with them. The popular crowd.

And why did Cassian want me to go to that party tonight?

As if sensing my question, Claudia leaned against him, her boob grazing his arm as she had her head tilted up, smiling at him. Cassian gave her a stiff smile, responding to her, but his gaze went to me.

“Seriously?”

I almost startled, but I was being weird and standing behind a line of trees next to the school gym so I kept my reaction in check. Or tried to. I wasn’t fully hiding, but I also wasn’t fully standing in the open.

I stepped a little bit further back so now I was fully hiding.

I glared at Sabine. “What do you want?”

She leaned against the building beside me and motioned toward Cassian. “Why are you doing this to yourself?”

I stiffened. “What exactly am I doing to myself?”

She moved away from the wall to face me. “He’s the hot guy. I get it. I’ve been around them. Cassian is the one that I’d date if I could date any of them. He does his own thing and he’s not intimidated by them, but you’re different. You’re more than them.”

“How am I more than them?”

“You’ve got depth. You’re going through a hardship right now with your home situation, and you see ghosts. You’re different. You can’t be with one of them and feel fulfilled.”

“I’m not trying to feel fulfilled. I’m in high school. I’m trying to survive.”

She made a disgruntled sound, rolling her eyes. “Oh, the despair. And I get that too. Nothing I can say will change your mind but take it from someone who’s been around for a while, a long while, I’m telling you that you’re worth more than trying to be with the popular guy.”

“Even if he’s a hockey player?”

“Well.” She shrugged. “Please tell me you’re not going to the dance.”

“I’m not going to the dance.”

She perked up. “Good! Because you don’t have any friends and a school dance is the same as a football game. You can’t go to meet friends. You go with friends⁠—”