yanked it open.
Her usual knockout self, Amber stood in the doorway, cheeks flushed, a green flower pinned to her hair. Aaron recalled vaguely that it was St. Patrick’s day—and that he had thirteen days left until his birthday. He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, his heart still jittery. At the sight of her, his dad did a double take.
But before Amber could say, “Hi mister—” Aaron hurried her down the hall, pushed her into his room, and shut the door.
“That was rude,” she said.
“My parents are easily disturbed,” he said.
Amber tucked her hair behind her ear. “And you think I would disturb them?”
Aaron studied her green eyes, and it occurred to him that she might be the reason his heartbeat wasn’t slowing. “Never mind,” he said, and he grabbed his volleyball off the floor and collapsed onto his bed. “So what did you want to tell me?” He set the ball to the ceiling and caught it.
“It’s about Clive,” she said.
Of course. She was here to confess that Clive was her half. Suddenly, he didn’t want to hear it. “Look,” he muttered. “Whatever weird thing you have with Clive, you can keep it to yourself. I really don’t care.”
But he was a bad liar.
Amber’s eyebrows nudged upward. “You do care?”
“I said I didn’t.”
“You kept my phone number,” she observed.
“I was keeping it for Buff.”
“Uh-huh.” There was a teasing glint in her eyes, as if she now had a secret she could use against him. “Well, I wasn’t going to tell you about that anyway.”
“Then what?” said Aaron, frustrated she had gotten to him so easily. He set the next ball so it landed in her lap, and she jolted back in surprise. He smirked and sat up next to her. “Does he know you’re here?”
“I hope you don’t think I’m that stupid,” she said.
“No, but I think you’re trying to make him jealous.”
“Yeah, Aaron,” she said, rolling her eyes, “I drove all the way out here just to make him jealous.”
“Good plan,” he said. “Are you going to tell him you’re with me? Or do you want me to do it this time?”
“I didn’t tell him last time.”
“Then why is he paying me a visit this Friday and why is there a fat dent in my car?”
“Probably because you’re dumb and you keep taking his bait.” And without missing a beat, Amber surveyed him from head to toe, announced, “You’re not wearing green,” and pinched him on the waist.
He pinched her back. “Neither are you.”
She pointed to the flower in her hair. “What do you think this is?”
“Nope,” he said with a smirk, “It’s got to be clothing.” And he pinched her again.
She flung the ball at him, and he caught it. They gazed at each other struggling not to laugh, but for a moment too long. Aaron felt a tingle at his sternum, pressing down on his heart—before she blinked and looked away.
Then she spoke all at once. “I lied to you about Justin Gorski. The last person with him wasn’t Dominic . . . or Clive. It was Clive’s father.”
“Clive’s father?” said Aaron.
“He’s a doctor,” she said, “and they’re staying with Dominic’s family until they find something more permanent. All I know is Justin was supposed to have an appointment with him. When Justin and Dominic offered me a ride after school, they were on their way over to see him. That was the last time I saw him.”
“Aaron rolled the volleyball to the floor. “Why are you telling me this?” he said.
“Because I heard what happened to that girl at your school, and because . . . ” she trailed off.
“Because what?” said Aaron.
Amber brought her legs onto his bed, brushing his arm with her knee. She sat cross-legged and faced him. Straight on, he noticed her eyes were layered, like gold dust sparkling at the bottom of a stream. “You aren’t looking forward to your birthday either,” she said.
“You remembered?” he said.
She held his gaze. “You’re different.”
“Yeah. You could say that.”
“Did you know her?” she said. “That girl?”
Aaron nodded, and he realized how tense his own body was, how his muscles felt taut—because of how close Amber was. “I saw it happen.”
In a quiet voice, almost a whisper, she said, “What was it like?”
“It was like a hand tugging at something inside her,” he said, remembering the unnatural recoil of Emma’s body. “She was tense for a few seconds, and then she just went slack. Like it finally ripped out.”
“You know, it’s getting worse,”