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sweatshirt and baggy pants. Morgan wanted to yell at her. She wanted answers about why Kelli had lied about coming to the dance, why she’d not bothered to mention breaking up with Mark. But Kelli’s physical appearance made her take a different tact. Morgan had pasted a smile on her face. “You want to come over after school? We haven’t hung around at my place for a long time.”
    “Can’t. Big test tomorrow.”
    Morgan didn’t believe Kelli. She reached out and took her friend’s hand. “Please tell me what’s going on. I know something’s wrong. I know about you and Mark breaking up too.”
    Big tears filled Kelli’s eyes. She squared her shoulders. “Isn’t that enough?”
    “It’s not worth you falling apart. Not worth you giving up on life.”
    “What would you know?” Kelli snapped at her like a dog backed into a corner. “Your life is perfect. You live in wonderland.”
    Morgan dropped Kelli’s hand, ripped not so much by her words but by the hot tone of her voice. “Hey, I just want to help.”
    “You can’t help. No one can help. Just leave me alone!”
    And Kelli had taken off while Morgan watched, dumbfounded. So she gave herself and Kelli some more time and on Saturday had gone over to Kelli’s house only to be stonewalled by Jane. “I just want to talk to her. I know something’s wrong. We … we were friends.” She used the past tense, hoping her plea would be heard.
    “And if you go upstairs and get the flu your mother will kill me,” Jane said. “Call Kelli.”
    “She won’t take my calls.”
    Jane pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes. “Morgan, please don’t push us. Just for now, go home. I’ll talk to her on your behalf.”
    A partial admission that something was wrong, terribly wrong, with Kelli.
    Morgan said, “You’re scaring me. What’s wrong with her?”
    “Let’s get through Thanksgiving, all right? Then I’ll make sure she talks to you.”
    Morgan had left reluctantly, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Kelli. Nor could she stop thinking about Roth. Ever since the homecoming dance, she’d stayed clear of him. If she caught him looking at her, she’d break eye contact instantly. She didn’t want to be reminded of the things he’d made her feel in the moonlight. Roth had no place in her life. He was growing bolder, though, watching her as if he could see straight into her head. If Trent noticed, she knew he’d make Roth pay. Still, she found herself glancing around the atrium from time to time, searching for him and the tingle of excitement he stirred within her. This morning, he wasn’t around.
    “Babe, you want to do that with us?”
    Trent’s voice jerked Morgan into the present. “Do what?”
    He looked exasperated. “Flag football in the park, noon on Friday, day after Thanksgiving.”
    She looked around. Kids were looking back at her expectantly. “Um … sure. That’ll be fun.”
    “Welcome back to earth!” Trent laughed and gave her a bear hug. She snuggled against his warm body. The atrium was so blasted cold that not even his letter jacket and the sweater she wore beneath could keep the chill out. She was looking over his shoulder, at the stairwell under the cantilevered cement stairs, when she saw the blue-and-blackbackpack half hidden by the plastic plants. Who’d lost a backpack? And how did they lose it in such an out-of-the-way place?
    She stared. “Why’s that backpack in the plants?” she asked.
    Trent glanced over his shoulder.
    Suddenly, with no warning, a white light erupted from the dusty foliage, a light so bright, so intense that Morgan had no time to blink. A roaring sound followed, a sound like thunder, that rumbled and shook the concrete wall. She had the sensation of falling and heard noises.
    And the world went dark.



R oth was running to school from where he’d had to park, swearing under his breath with every step. He wasn’t going to beat the bell. And he’d been doing so well with