Josh had to go to a family dinner, so he dropped me off early. Since there was still a few hours of daylight left, I found Danielle’s address in the phone book and took off on my bike to talk with her.

When I’d first moved to Sheridan Valley, wallowing in a dark mood of disgrace, I’d felt stranded. Sure, it was just thirty minutes to Sacramento or Stockton, but I was used to the bustling pace of San Jose. And at first I didn’t have any friends, so I spent a lot of time reading under a shady willow—until Nona gave me an old bike and ordered me to get out. It was scary at first, but after a few days of exploring, I felt an empowering sense of freedom. Free to fly into the wind, away from the past.

The upscale development Danielle lived in, Summit Estates, backed up against the far side of our woods. I turned left onto Maple Street, passed a walnut orchard, and rode until fields gave way to pristine new homes. Addresses weren’t displayed on the houses, but were uniformly painted in gold lettering below the sidewalks. Danielle’s sprawling tri-level home had a circular driveway winding through lush manicured shrubs. I smoothed my tousled blond hair and tucked in my T-shirt, then knocked on the door.

Only I was five minutes too late.

Danielle’s father told me she just left to watch her boyfriend’s football practice.

Boyfriend? Did she already have a new guy or had she gotten back with Evan? I wondered, hiding my surprise with a polite thank-you. A minute later, I was back on my bike, heading for Sheridan High.

* * *

Shouts mingled with the thud of crashing bodies as I neared the football field. Propping my bike against a fence, I walked around the bleachers, looking for Danielle. I finally spotted her sitting in a far corner of the top bleacher, her raven hair tucked under a cap that concealed most of her face. She was so intent on watching the field, she didn’t notice me until I came up beside her.

“Sabine!” She jumped in her seat. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry. What are you doing here, anyway?”

“None of your business.”

“Why are you spying on Evan?”

“It’s not illegal to watch practice.”

“But why put yourself through this?” I shook my head at her sadly. “You have to get over him, Danielle.”

“He’s still my boyfriend. We’re just having some problems.”

“And I have a problem with being lied to.” I took a seat next to her and shot her an accusing look. “Why did you really sneak into the supply room?”

“I already told you.” Her too-large cap slipped off of her head, and when she picked it up, the tiny tattooed dragonfly on her wrist seemed to darken.

“Josh told me about your photographic memory.”

“You talked to Josh?” She clutched my arm. “Did he say anything about Evan? Is he going to help us get back together?”

I ignored the questions and fired back, “Why were you in that supply room?”

“To copy a bio test.”

“Danielle! The truth!”

“But it is the truth, except—” she gnawed on her thumbnail, then added in a whisper, “except the test wasn’t for me.”

“Then who was it—Ohmygod! Evan! You did it for him?” I glanced out at the field to where Evan was running with the ball.

“His bio teacher hates jocks, and Evan will get kicked off the football team if he flunks another test.”

“So you tried to steal a test.”

“Only I couldn’t find it, then you came, the janitor caught us, and everything was messed up.”

“The janitor was messed up more after we left. Did you see anyone suspicious?”

“No,” she said a bit too quickly.

There was a roar from the other players and people in the stands as Evan did something impressive down on the field. The coach slapped Evan on the back, then gestured for the players to huddle up.

Danielle stared across the field, longingly, her hands coming together to clap softly. “Isn’t he wonderful? I miss him so much. I can hardly stand it. I let him down and now he won’t talk to me. If I can just get him alone and explain, everything will be fine again.”

“After the way he treated you? Why would you want him back?”

“We’re soul mates, and we’ll love each other forever. Just wait—next time you see me, we’ll be together.”

I frowned, unsure what to say. I could feel in my gut that Danielle and Evan were a bad combination, yet it wasn’t fair to judge them. Maybe Evan was different when he was alone with Danielle. Josh thought he was a good guy, so he couldn’t be a total jerk.

Whooping and stomping jerked my attention back to football practice. Hulking guys were high-fiving as the coach pumped them up with a pep talk.

I watched Danielle, wondering if she would go to Evan. But it was a different girl who ran across the field and threw herself on Evan—a petite girl with streaked, honey-blond hair. Evan dropped his helmet and opened his arms to sweep her up in a hug. She was so tiny that her feet left the ground when Evan twirled her around.

Danielle groaned, slumping back down to the bench.

“I’m so sorry,” I said softly.

She stared across the field, tears spilling down her cheeks.

I took her shaking hands in mine. “Don’t let him get to you.”

She didn’t say a word and had turned as pale as a corpse. She didn’t object when I led her down the bleachers. But then she just stopped and stared at the ground.

“How could he?” she murmured, as if stunned.

“He does it all the time. Some kids call him ‘Moving On, Marsh.’”

“But it was different with us. He said I wasn’t like the other girls. That he—he loved me.” Her expression changed from ice to fire. “I hate him!”

“Good—he deserves it.”

“I—I wish he were dead.”

“He isn’t worth the cost of a hit man.” I joked nervously, startled by this hostile change in her. It was like her emotions had been pushed to the edge, and she was in danger of falling. “Come on, you need to get out of here.”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore—except getting even.” Her hands tightened into fists. “If I can’t have him, no one can.”

I reached out to put my arms around her, but she shook me off.

“He has no right to treat me like this! Do you know what I did for him? More than studying—I did his homework,” she said angrily. “Then I broke into the school and almost got arrested! All for him!”

“You’re through with him now—he can’t hurt you anymore.”

“Oh, I hurt all right. But he’s going to hurt worse.”

“Let it go,” I said, unnerved by her viciousness. “Revenge never solves anything.”

“He’s going to be sorry he betrayed me because I know enough to ruin him.”

“What do you mean?”

“You want to know what really happened at the school that night? I only told you half of the story. You were right. I was lying—to protect him. I didn’t go there alone—he made me go there, and he waited outside.”

“Evan was there?”

“Yes.” She grimaced as if tasting something bitter. “It was all his idea. He begged me to find the test and memorize it. I was thrilled to do something so important for him, sure he’d love me more than ever. Only, you know what happened when I came back after I ditched you?”

I shook my head.

“He yelled at me. Called me a loser and blamed me for screwing up. When I said I loved him, he just laughed and told me to get lost.”

“What did you do?”

“I left. But Evan didn’t.” She paused, turning around to glare towards the football field. “Last I saw of him that night, he was headed back to the school to get the test.”