I straightened up our small living room and opened the window. It was probably only in my head, but the room smelled like Alex, all sweat and earth and sunshine. I switched the music to something more cheerful, too, leaving it low in case some more opera showed up in the playlist. I didn’t have time to change clothes, but there wasn’t anything better for me to wear than the pale blue sundress I was in anyway. At least the color suited me. I was in front of the mirror pulling my hair into a loose ponytail when I heard Will’s car hit the gravel on our driveway. I opened the door and met him on the porch.

He was wearing a crisp white shirt and black slacks. He looked clean and new, especially out here where everything was old and grey. There was a speck of grit on his shirt, probably kicked up from our drive. I brushed it off before I thought about what I was doing.

“Sorry,” I said. “It’s really dusty out here. Gets into everything.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “You know, you’re always apologizing for something. You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

I opened my mouth to say sorry again and stopped. How lame was I? Apologizing for apologizing too much.

“So, can I come in? I promised your grandfather I’d be a perfect gentleman.”

“You can,” I said in what I was coming to think of as my prophetic voice, a little deeper than my normal tones. It seemed to be more obvious when I wasn’t trying to conceal myself. And I didn’t have to conceal myself with Will. “But we probably ought to sit out here. We don’t have any air-conditioning. Sorry.”

I winced as he shook his finger at me. There I went again. It’s not like it was my fault we were too poor to have air-conditioning. Well, it kind of was. Gran and Granddad had lost a lot of money when they’d sold their retirement place in Tarpon Springs. The housing market had been terrible, and they’d had to take a huge loss after they’d saved for so long to be able to buy it. It had always been their dream to retire somewhere warm after living in upstate Michigan for so long. Our little shanty house in Lake Mariah had been all they could afford. But that was neither here nor there. I shook my head and vowed to not say I was sorry for anything else again today.

Instead I said, “How about we sit on the swing?”

He had that crooked grin on his face. I wished I knew what it meant. Was he easily amused or always laughing at me? I squeezed past him to step outside, but he took my hand and led me over to our front porch swing instead of letting me lead the way. It was as well weathered and grey as the house and it moaned and creaked something wicked, but it was sturdy. It was one of the things that had appealed to Gran about this house.

We sat down, but he didn’t release my hand. I curled my legs under me and smoothed my dress down with my free hand. Will pushed us off, and the swing groaned into motion. I could feel my hand starting to sweat and I wanted to wipe it off, but I didn’t want to move it either. I settled for relaxing my fingers as much as possible, my hand lying in his like a limp, dead fish.

I was obviously overthinking this.

“So,” I said, looking out over our front yard with its overgrown tufts of grass and patches of sand, “you and Jade really weren’t dating anymore?”

I swallowed. Maybe it was none of my business, but he was holding my hand. Jade hadn’t even been dead for a week. I couldn’t really call her my friend, but she definitely hadn’t been my enemy either. I really didn’t know how all of this worked, but it seemed too soon somehow. On the other hand, maybe that was because of how she had died. Of course, if she hadn’t, we wouldn’t be sitting here or going to her service later. Or maybe the handholding didn’t mean anything at all, other than consoling someone who needed it. Maybe I was reading too much into it.

He didn’t flinch. “Well, we were going to be graduating soon, going off to college, and all that. We always knew it was just a high school thing. And Jade and I didn’t have much in common. I know people thought we did, but we really didn’t.” I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t turn my head. I probably shouldn’t have brought this up. “She’d been acting kind of weird anyway. I don’t know what was going on with her. Probably that guy Alex. You know she’d been seeing him.” He paused a moment and gave another push to keep the swing going. “You know, I was thinking about it last night. Maybe you could tell me why. Maybe we could even figure out what happened to her.”

“Me? I didn’t really …” I trailed off, realizing what he meant. “I guess so, if you want to try.”

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s okay. It seems it’s what I’m here for, right?” I laughed, but it fizzled before it really got started. A future as a stand-up comedian was definitely not in the cards for me.

“If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

I shook my head. If he really wanted to, I could try. It’s not like he didn’t already know I was a freak, like one of those fortune-telling machines. Just stick a question in me instead of a quarter. Really, I wasn’t surprised that he’d asked. If anything, I should be amazed that he hadn’t asked as soon as he figured out what I could do.

“Go ahead, shoot,” I said. “Give it your best shot. But don’t get weirded out by anything I say.” At least we were sitting, in case things got intense or I fainted.

Please, God, don’t let me faint in front of Will.

“Okay,” he said. “Let me think a minute for the best question to ask.”

I chewed on my lip, still looking out at the yard. Like Gran said: Worry about the things you can change and screw the rest.

“Did something happen recently to make Jade act differently?”

I sat up straighter. My cue. “Yes,” I intoned. The prophetic voice was kind of creeping me out. It seemed to be getting stronger and less like my own voice every day. Of course, I’d been having more conversations with people in the last week than I’d had in ages. I’d also been trying to conceal it less.

“Did it have something to do with the guy that died in the hit-and-run?”

I turned to look at him in surprise. I hadn’t seen that question coming. “Guilt has everything to do with it,” I heard myself reply.

He didn’t look at all shocked by the answer. He smiled grimly at me. “I suspected something. She said a few things that were … strange.” He thought a minute and tried a few pointed questions, but the answers were more riddle than fact. He seemed to be getting frustrated, but so was I. Something was close, so close underneath all my nonsense answers. I could feel it, like it was on the tip of my tongue. I felt heavy, weighed down, almost pinned to the seat.

The swing let out another croaking groan as Will swung it back with more force. We rocked silently for a moment.

“Okay, let’s try this a different way. Can you tell me: Was Jade involved in the hit-and-run somehow?”

“Yes,” I said. Finally, a simple, clear answer. I could hardly believe it, but there it was. I itched to say something, but what? I felt numb inside, and my mouth was dry.

“She was out with Alex last weekend,” Will said quietly, so low that I could barely hear him over the swing. “I told her she should stay away from him.” He turned to me. “You should, too.”

I shivered and looked away. Had he seen Alex running from my house? Did he know Alex had been here to see me? Did he know what Alex had said?

“I have art class with him,” I finally said, watching my skirt flutter as we swung. “But I don’t really know him or anything.” It wasn’t a lie exactly, but I felt guilty all the same. I hoped Will wouldn’t ask me anything directly about Alex. I snuck a peek at him. He was staring off into the trees, his eyes unfocused and faraway. “Didn’t you … I mean, I heard that you went out with Jade last weekend, too.” I went back to concentrating on my skirt, barely breathing. The pattern was circle upon circle, connected to each other in an unending chain. I traced a line with my finger, winding up back where I started.

“I need you to trust me,” he said, his thumb once again slowly working its way back and forth across my hand. “Jade and I really were through. But we did see each other this past weekend, just as friends—on Friday. The guy was run over on Sunday.”

I was sure he must have noticed how hot and sweaty my hand was. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What was I doing?

“Wait,” he said. “I know. How about this … Aria, did I go out with Jade on Friday?”

“In, not out, Friday last. A comedy that no one enjoyed … no laughs, no smiles to be had,” I said softly.

“Yes,” he said. “Exactly. We watched a movie at my house. It was terrible.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding. “Friday.”

He let my hand go, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief. I wiped it quickly on my skirt, just in case, but he didn’t pick it up again. Instead, he cupped my chin in his hand and turned my face to his. “Did I love Jade?”

“No,” I whispered. The answer probably should have made me feel better, but instead it made me feel lost and sad.

“Did I ever think there would be a future for me and Jade?”

“Never,” I said. I felt even emptier than before. Jade didn’t have a future, not now.

“See,” he said, and his voice caught. “You said it yourself, and you only speak the truth.”