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“I’m sorry about losing your cat,” she says to me after a few moments.
“Oh,” I say, looking up. “No. The cat’s fine. The cat’s back where she belongs.”
“What do you mean?”
I shake my head. “Too complicated.”
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Sam asks. “Because if you were in some kind of trouble, maybe you could tell us. Dude, no offense, but you seem like you’re losing it.”
Daneca clears her throat. “He told me what you told him when he found you in bed with that girl. About being a—”
I look around the cafeteria, but no one seems close enough to hear. “You told her I was a worker?”
Sam looks down quickly. “We’ve been hanging out a lot, what with the play and all. I’m sorry. Sorry. I know that wasn’t cool.”
Of course. Normal people gossip. Normal people tell each other things, especially when they’re trying to impress each other. I guess I should feel betrayed, but all I feel is relief.
I’m tired of pretending.
“Are you guys a thing?” I ask. “A boyfriendly-girlfriendly thing?”
“Yeah,” Daneca says, her expression some combination of pleasure and embarrassment.
Sam looks like he’s going to pass out.
“That’s great,” I say. “I didn’t mean to lie to your mother, Daneca. I didn’t know.” But I know I wouldn’t have told her. I would have lied; I just didn’t get a chance.
“Are you going out with that girl?” she asks. “The one you were sleeping with?”
That startles a laugh out of me. “No.”
“So, what, you were just—”
“We weren’t,” I say quickly. “Believe me, we weren’t. For one thing, she’s probably insane. And for another, she hates me.”
“Okay, so who is she?” Daneca asks.
“I thought you’d want to know what I am.”
“I want you to believe you can trust me. And Sam. You can trust us.” She pauses. “You have to trust somebody.”
I bow my head. She’s right that if I want any plan to succeed, I’ll need help. “Her name is Lila Zacharov.”
Daneca gapes at me. “The girl that disappeared back, like, when we were in middle school?”
“You heard of her?”
“Sure,” Daneca says, picking up one of my Tater Tots. Oil soaks her glove. “Everyone heard about it. A crime family princess. Her case was on the news a lot. My mom got weird about letting me go anywhere by myself after it happened.” She puts the tot into her mouth. “So, what really happened to her?”
I hesitate, but it’s all or nothing now. “She was turned into a cat,” I say. I can feel my face twisting into an awkward grimace. It feels so unnatural to tell the truth.
Daneca chokes, spitting the food into her hand.
“A transformation worker?” Daneca says. Then, after a moment, she whispers. “The cat?”
“That’s crazy,” says Sam.
“I know you think that I’m making this up,” I say, rubbing my face.
