Chapter 4

Day two of the state AP exams. The big one, physics and advanced math back to back.

Seven in the morning, sky gray, a thin rain coming down. I cut through the abandoned industrial lot two blocks from school with my clear exam bag in hand. It was the shortcut to the test center.

At a corner between two shipping containers, three men in leather jackets stepped out and blocked the path. Baseball bats in their hands.

"That her?" The bald one in front spat on the ground and looked me up and down. "Somebody paid good money for this. Sorry, sweetheart, you're not making it to that test today. Be a good girl and keep us company till noon."

I understood at once.

Delphine.

Threats hadn't worked, so she'd panicked and paid people to physically keep me from the exam.

I took a slow breath, shoved the exam bag into my jacket pocket, and swept the ground for anything I could swing. A pipe, a brick.

"Don't bother," the bald one sneered, closing in. "Take her alive."

The second his hand reached for my shoulder—

An engine ripped through the rain, loud enough to split the air.

A heavy black motorcycle shot out from the corner like an animal off its chain, front wheel up, and drove straight at the three of them. They scrambled out of the way. The bike whipped around in a tight skid and stopped dead in front of me.

The rider planted a long leg down and pulled off his black helmet.

Caspian. The transfer student who'd shown up a month ago, the one with the rumors, the bottomless background, the attitude. He slept in the back row every class and had never once spoken to me.

"Get on." Low voice, not a request.

The bald one roared and swung his bat. "Where'd you crawl out of, you little—"

Caspian didn't blink. He tossed the helmet into my arms, kicked the bald guy clean in the knee, and dropped him screaming. Then he took the bat off him and put it across the other two's backs, two quick strokes. The whole thing took under ten seconds. Three men down in the mud, groaning.

He threw the bat aside and looked back at me, a lazy grin pulling at his mouth. "You waiting for something? Want to miss your exam?"

I didn't waste breath. I pulled the helmet on and swung onto the back of the bike.

The engine screamed and we tore out of the lot, leaving all of it behind us.

I crossed into the room one minute before the doors closed, right on the bell.

I sat down and gripped my pen.

You wanted me to miss this, Delphine? I'll hand you back a perfect score.

A week later. Results day.

The crowd was packed in front of the school's digital board. Caspian and I stood at the edge of it. He held two iced coffees and passed me one, eyes half-lidded. "Nervous?"

"No." I took a sip.

A shocked noise tore through the crowd.

"Oh my god, a perfect score? That's not possible—"

"Sloane? Middle-of-the-pack Sloane? First in the state?"

Easton and Delphine were right at the front. Easton was staring at the name at the top of the board.

First place: Sloane. Perfect score.

His own name hung five rows down, almost funny. Delphine hadn't even made the top fifty.

"Impossible. This is impossible." Easton's face went white, his voice shaking. "She can't have gotten a perfect score. She couldn't even read those notes—"

He spun around and found me in the crowd. I met his eyes and lifted my coffee at him, just slightly.

Delphine was clutching that blue binder to her chest, the stolen one. When Easton wheeled toward her, she flinched, and the binder slipped.

The red charm tumbled out from under the cover and hit the floor. The seam split, and a folded slip of paper fell loose.

Easton bent and picked it up before he knew what he was doing. He opened it.

It was the blessing I'd written by hand two years ago, the day I got that charm for him.

Keep Easton safe. — Sloane.

His eyes locked onto my name, and he froze where he stood.

After all this time, everything he'd believed had been wrong.