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Prologue
LONDON (TEN YEARS OLD)
My heart hammers in my ears as I slip out of my bedroom window. My feet hit the ground, and before I know it, I’m running across the dewy grass.
Lily’s house isn’t far but it still feels like every step means I could get caught.
But I have to do it.
My chest aches because in a few hours, my family will be moving and I’ll never see her again.
My best friend in the whole wide world. I can’t even think about it.
I’ve seen her every day since the first day of kindergarten and that’s been almost exactly half of my life now.
When I reach her window, I tap quietly and struggle to keep my breathing under control.
What if she doesn’t wake up?
The thought makes my insides feel sick. We’re leaving at first light—my mom’s words—because we have a long drive ahead of us.
I can’tnotsee her before we go.
After a few seconds, the curtains pull back and her sleepy face comes into view. Her hair is in a messy ponytail, with strands sticking out everywhere.
She’s so cute it hurts.
The window slides open.
“London? What are you doing?” she asks, her voice low and eyes wild.
She’s in the unicorn pajamas I made my mom buy for her tenth birthday and it does weird things to my belly.
I reach a hand out, trying to keep it from shaking. “Come on. I want to show you something.”
“But what about sleep? You’re leaving in the morning—” Lily protests.
“Please, Lily?” I’m not afraid to beg at this point.
She sighs, then nods. “Okay. Let me grab my slippers.”
She vanishes into her bedroom and a minute later, her fuzzy foot comes into view as she sticks her leg out the window. I reach out, giving her something to hold onto as she crawls through.
“If my parents find out I snuck out, they’ll have a heart attack,” she mumbles, followed by a big yawn.
“They won’t find out. Besides, we’ll just be in the backyard,” I whisper, leading her to the treehouse next to her garage. “Wait here.”
I drop her hand and climb the ladder so I can dig out the blankets I hid up there earlier in the week. Thankfully, no one goes in the treehouse anymore, so the blankets are right where I left them.
“Look out,” I say, standing over the door and dropping them to the ground.
Lily is gathering them up by the time I get back down to her.
“What are we doing?” she asks, clutching the blankets close.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
She shakes her head.
