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finger on it.
    “It was no big deal. I’m actually pretty embarrassed about it, so if you can keep it on the down low, that would be great.” If word of my accident isn’t out there yet, I have to do my part to keep it quiet. Cyrus has unraveled mysteries with far less information.
    The boy’s dog snarls again, baring its teeth at me. Animals are tougher to fool than people. I’ve always wondered how they know something isn’t quite right about me. He jerks on the leash. “Harker! Stop it!” Harker whimpers and stops growling, though he continues to regard me with a baleful glare. The boy’s eyes lock on mine, and I see him noticing my backpack. “That’s cool. I can keep a secret.”
    I exhale and take a step back. There’s an awkward pause. “So what are you doing out?”
    An anxious look flashes across his face, but quickly disappears. He’s hiding something. We have that in common. “I love being out at night,” he says, tipping his face to the sky. “It’s quiet. You can see the stars, if the fog will let you. You know. Obvious reasons. What about you? Going AWOL?” He nods toward my bag.
    “I just . . . needed some air. I guess I should go back inside.” There is no way I can escape now. I’ll have to wait another hour, until the boy is home and asleep.
    “Sleep is probably a good idea.” He bends to scratch Harker’s ear as the dog lets out another low growl. “Hey, if you need a ride to school tomorrow, I can give you one. I hear your ‘no big deal’ totaled Bryan’s car.”
    School. Of course Kailey would have to go to school. How would her friends handle her disappearance? “Um, sure. Thanks. G’night . . . Harker . . . and . . . g’night . . .” I finish weakly.
    “Take care, Kailey,” the boy says, briefly putting his hand on my shoulder in a friendly gesture. I can feel the heat from his palm through my sweatshirt. I turn and make my way back through Kailey’s window.
    Back in Kailey’s room, I lie on the green silk coverlet and stare at the ceiling. It’s covered in tiny glow-in-the-dark stars. If I squint my eyes, I can imagine they’re real, except they aren’t arranged in actual constellations. This is a sky of Kailey’s own creation, the pretend universe she slept in, the safety and stillness she sought in her small world.
    My eyes are heavy, and I close them—just for a second, I promise myself—hoping that wherever Kailey is now, she’s at peace. In my mind I still see the stars, rearranging themselves in brand-new patterns, their gentle light flickering down to Earth, shining on the neighbor boy’s crow-black hair.

twelve
     
    I’m awoken by the clatter of dishes and the scent of coffee and food. Ruby-tinged light floods through the lace curtains. I jolt upright, my heart racing, sure that Cyrus has found me. Then I see the green bedspread and realize where I am. I groan, berating myself for having missed my opportunity to sneak out. It’s far past dawn and the Morgan family is most definitely up.
    I hear the sound of approaching footsteps, and moments later Mrs. Morgan’s face appears in the open door. “Morning, sweetie. How do you feel today?”
    “Um, okay,” I stammer. Truthfully, I feel like hell. I tossed and turned all night, my mind churning with nightmares. In them I was chasing my mother through a dense forest, her dark hair streaming out behind her. I couldn’t see Cyrus, but I knew he was near. Little piles of powder kept erupting into colorful flames around me, dizzying violet and red, pale starlit yellow and lime green, and Cyrus’s voice rang out through the trees: Sera, I told you death was only an illusion. Just as I finally caught up to my mother, her hair turned a shocking blond and Cyrus’s voice boomed from her mouth. I’m coming for you, he said with a snarl.
    Mrs. Morgan sits on the bed and looks at me with concern. I realize I’d fallen asleep in jeans and a sweatshirt. “I think,” she says firmly, “that you need to