“Hannah.”
She glanced at me, then took hold of the key and squeezed it until her fingertips went red.
“I yelled at Crystal this morning.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “We’ve gotten kind of friendly over the last few weeks. More than with the other girls, I guess. And it’s been nice, but . . . she’s got this huge crush on Ren and she found out this morning that he doesn’t feel the same way. She showed up wanting to talk about it, needing to talk about it, and I just—”
Hannah’s eyes narrowed on the stone between us, as if she were searching for something in its crags.
“What?”
“I told her I didn’t have time for her and her stupid crush.” Her eyes flashed up at me. “I actually said that. I didn’t even know why. It was like I was watching myself do it.”
“It’s just—it’s stress or something.”
Hannah shook her head. She let go of the key and hugged her knees to her chest.
“You remember the night we saw the fireflies? How after Greer left, it was just me and you up here and we . . .”
I nodded, feeling the pinch of that memory.
“After you left, I had this feeling like I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “Like the tent was collapsing around me. The second the sun came up, I was down in camp, talking to Astrid about moving in with them.”
Hannah made a fist and laid it over her chest.
“It’s like there’s this second heart in my chest, right next to mine, and whenever I get close to somebody, it starts to beat harder and harder. And I know there’s only one thing I can do to make it stop.”
“What?”
“Run,” she said. Her voice was hollow, frightened. “As fast and as far away as I can.”
Her eyes glistened but she wiped at them before any tears could fall. More than anything I wanted to put my hand on her shoulder, or draw her to me—but I knew I couldn’t.
“And it’s not new,” she said. “I’m sure of that. Every time I feel it, I can tell.” She turned to me again. “Why would Lassiter’s wipe everything else away—my name, my life, my family—and leave that behind?”
“Hannah . . .”
There was a rustle in the trees behind us.
“Guys? Hannah? Card?”
DeShaun and Ricky were standing in the clearing, just off the trail.
“Greer says it’s time to go,” Ricky said.
“Actually,” DeShaun corrected, “he said if you guys make him deal with ‘those pint-sized demon spawn’ on his own, you’re both dead to him forever.”
“Okay,” Hannah said. “We’ll be right there.”
“You all right, Hannah?”
She managed a brave smile. “Yeah, D. I’m good. You guys go ahead.”
Once they left, Hannah dabbed at her eyes and tried to fix her hair.
“So. Any carnival-going tips for me?”
Her face was red and her hair was a tangle of vines. She was so beautiful I didn’t think I could stand it.
“If someone asks you to ride the Ferris wheel with them, say yes.”
By the time I got back to camp, the kids had disappeared into their cabins to finish getting ready. Greer wasn’t in his, so I decided to check the dining hall. I went into the kitchen and found it empty. At first I thought the dining room was empty too, but then I saw Benny.
He was sitting alone at one of the tables, with a can of soda in front of him. As soon as he saw me, he got up to leave.
“Ben. Wait.”
“I have to get ready. It’s almost time to go.”
“Just a second. Please.”
He stopped where he was, his little body framed in the sunlight coming through the open front door.
“I shouldn’t have left like that.”
He was still for a moment, then slowly looked over his shoulder. “So why did you?”
I sat down at the table. He’d had enough excuses. “Ever since that night, since the sixteenth, I?. . . it’s like I get caught up in this current I can’t even see. And before I can stop it, I’m a hundred miles away from where I started. You know?”
There was a long stretch of silence, and then he nodded. Outside, the rest of the kids were emerging from their cabins and gathering at the head of the trail.
“Anyway. I just wanted to say I was sorry. Looks like you better get moving.”
He started to leave, then paused at the door. “You going to be here when we get back?”
“Are you kidding? Can’t miss hot dog night.”
Benny grinned, and then Greer hollered out in the camp, “Listen up, everybody! We are leaving in five . . . four . . . three . . .”