I sip my coffee and take a small bite of pancake topped with glazed walnuts and whipped cream. My eyes are on my plate. I can’t even look at my dad or Jaxon. Mrs. Meriwether tries to start a few conversations, but they mostly consist of polite answers and some mumbling before they peter out. Another minute of silence goes by.

Mrs. Meriwether dabs the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “Okay. Enough. This sulking has to stop. It’s Monday, and you’re eating hand-whipped cream sprinkled with freshly ground vanilla and cinnamon. I simply will not have it.”

The three of us look at her, but no one says a word.

She scans our faces.

“I have to go. I have to pick up Niki—” Jaxon says.

“Well, it will have to wait a minute.” Mrs. Meriwether’s voice is stern. “We are practically family, the group of us. And there is clearly something going on, and I want to know what.”

Jaxon shrugs like he’s totally unconcerned.

We all stare at him.

Mrs. Meriwether tilts her head. “What’s the thing here, Jax? You haven’t been acting like yourself in days. None of your sweetness or laughter, just endless obsessing over Niki, a girl I’ve never heard you say particularly nice things about before now. And, Sam, you’ve got circles the size of Cadillacs under your eyes. I haven’t seen you this quiet in ages.”

My mouth opens but no sound comes out. My dad frowns.

I put down my fork and study my pancake.

“Sam and I are moving back to New York,” my dad says.

“Hold on a second.” Mrs. Meriwether’s eyes widen, and she waves her hands in the air. “Charlie, you’re moving and you didn’t tell me? Has the whole world gone mad in the past forty-eight hours?”

My dad flinches, but his expression remains stubborn. “It was only decided last night.”

I push my chair away from the table. “Time to go to school.”

“Sam,” my dad says, clearly upset.

“I’ll be late,” I say.

Jaxon gets up, too. “Same.”

We walk in silence to our bags and exit the house.

Jaxon stops just as he opens his truck door. “Sam?”

I turn around.

“Want a ride?”

I hesitate. “Bad mood” doesn’t begin to describe my state of being right now. But I need to talk to him, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had in days.

I nod and get in his passenger door.

“So you’re moving, huh?” Jaxon says. He turns the key in the ignition and backs out of his driveway.

“I really hope not,” I say.

“Might not be all bad.” His tone is distant.

I glare at him. “Yes. It will.”

“If you say so.”

How can he be so casual about all of this? Does he not care at all? “I know you’re mad at me. And I know you’re dating Niki, but you’re also acting like we’re not even friends.”

He watches the road with a calm expression. “We’re friends.”

“Look, I know you think I’ve been closed off. And you were right. I was so hell-bent on being normal that I kept pretending certain things didn’t exist. I should have told you what was going on with me. Then we had our honesty talk and it ended badly. Can we just call a truce? I really don’t want to fight with you.”

“We’re not fighting.”

“But we’re also not really talking.”

Jaxon shrugs. “So?”

“See, that’s what I mean, right there.” I point at him.

Jaxon frowns. “What?”

“You’re acting like we’re not friends.” I turn so that I’m facing him. “If you’re mad at me, just say so. Yell at me. Or…I don’t know what, but something other than telling our parents our personal business over breakfast and then pretending like nothing weird is happening.”

“But nothing is happening.”

I stare at him in disbelief. Did he get swapped out for his evil twin? Where is Jaxon the talker, the one who always wants to get to the bottom of a problem?

The truck slows.

I look out the window. We’re not in the school parking lot; we’re by a curb in a residential neighborhood.

My pulse quickens as I recognize the brick house. “You brought me to pick up Niki?”

He opens his truck door and jumps out.

I jump out, too. He walks right past me and heads for her door. I grab his arm.

“Sam, stop.”

“No, you stop. Have you become completely insensitive?”

A door closes, and we both turn to see Niki walking toward us.

She frowns so deeply I wonder if her face will ever recover. “Sam?”

Jaxon pulls away from me.

Niki walks straight to him and wraps her arms around his chest.

“You know what?” I say. “I think I’ll walk.”

Niki smirks. “Jealous much?”

I tense. “I so don’t have the patience for you right now. Don’t push me.”

Whatever Niki sees in my expression must be convincing, because she breaks eye contact and pulls on Jaxon. “Let’s go.”

Jaxon opens the door for her. For a split second he turns to look at me. Then he goes around his truck and gets in. They pull away without even saying goodbye. The Jaxon I know would never leave me here. Ever.

“Shit.” I kick the ground.

I pull out my phone and type in my group text to the Descendants.

Me: Any chance you could pick me up at Niki’s?

Alice: Niki’s??? We just got to school. Sit tight for a minute. I’m coming.