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“No. Not really. If she wasn’t so far away, I’d probably think about it. I’d have to transfer schools again, and I wouldn’t be able to see you guys nearly as much.”
It was about forty minutes from here, which wasn’t terrible but not something we could manage every night with school and homework.
“I hope you don’t.” He sighed and pushed the plate away from him, stared at it, then stood and took my bowl to the sink. He rinsed it out and put it in the dishwasher with the plate before leaning against the counter. “I want to have all the answers, Ave. I hope you know how hard I’m trying to get them for you. Not just with what we learned today, but Juliet and your family. I’ve reached out to nearly every chapter, asking if anyone has an ability like yours. The woman from Chile was the only one to respond so far, but I’m holding out hope.”
“I appreciate that. All you’ve done has meant so much to me. Especially when it means keeping things from your parents.”
He lowered his gaze. “I wish there wasn’t so much secrecy, but it feels like the Society is nothing but secrets. Sometimes I think about what it would be like if we’d met in a different world. If we were just neighbors who became friends. What would have happened then?”
I could see the unspoken words on his face. If it was just us. A normal couple with normal teenage problems. Admitting I sometimes thought the same thing wouldn’t help. There was no point. That wasn’t our reality, and I wouldn’t wish away the other guys for anything. Not even what I pictured as a normal life.
Had my life before Arlington Park been normal?
From the outside, maybe. Back then there were just as many secrets. I was sheltered in a different way. Protected from the truth of who I was.
Maybe normal didn’t exist.
“I wouldn’t give you up for anything in the world, Gavin. None of you. Our lives aren’t simple or easy, but it’s worth the mess to be with you guys.”
He smiled. “It’s worth breaking laws, lying to my parents, and considering running away to be with you?”
“Running away?” I asked.
“Depending on where they think of sending us, I’m putting pieces in place for us to run if we need to.”
He said it casually, as if he were telling me his daily routine before school.
“Really? You think it’s going to be bad?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea yet.”
None of us did. We probably wouldn’t get a whisper of an idea for a while, if at all.
“If you’re not going to move in with Emery, what are you thinking?” he asked after a while.
I bit on my lip. I wasn’t sure. “I’m going to avoid being home when she’s there as much as possible. I doubt she’ll come during the week, so on the weekends, I’ll make sure I’m busy elsewhere.”
“How long can you keep that up without raising suspicion?”
“A few weeks,” I shrugged. “We have the bike race coming up, so I’ll see her then, but only after. It will be easy enough to excuse myself, claiming I’m tired or have leg cramps.”
“We’ll be there too, so we can run interference. We can even try to do some recon while we wait.”
I perked up. “Sky can talk to her and figure out what she lies about.”
“Good idea.” He nodded. “Luca can keep an eye on her, too, and see if she makes any calls that we should be interested in.”
Having some semblance of a plan felt good, even if it was unlikely to result in anything helpful. I didn’t feel quite so lost.
“What about until then?”
“We’ll have to wait and see if she messes up or leaves any trails.”
“Can we track her?” It wasn’t the first time I considered it, but now seemed like the right time to get serious.
“You could download a background app that will mirror her phone, so we can track her locations, calls, emails, and texts.” He seemed to like the idea the more he spoke.
“I just need to have access to her phone?”
“Yeah,” he grimaced.
That’s what I thought. Was that even possible? It wasn’t like she was onto us. At least not yet. But how could I get it without her noticing?
Suddenly, it came together.
“I’ll go home in the morning to get ready before they leave. I’ll say I didn’t have a charger so my phone is dead and ask to borrow hers for something.”
“That’s perfect,” he started nodding. “Let’s go see which app is the best.”
I followed him up to his room, feeling better than I had in days. This was going to work. As long as we didn’t get caught, we would have answers soon.
