It was settled. Ben could no longer help with any assassinations now that he was out, so Gem would delay Aaron, the leader of the bird-watching club, from the safety of their car while Lia and Devon waited for Peter at the park.
Lia woke up an hour early, trying on three outfits before settling on dark jeans and a thick green sweater. She tugged at her hair, finally settling on a braid. Her mom watched from the hallway.
“Do you have waterproof mascara?” Lia asked.
“It’s all a bit morbid,” Lia’s mom said with a yawn. “Are you sure—”
“—that I want to do the thing I woke up at four to do? Yes,” Lia said. “Mascara?”
“You don’t need it. It’s school, not meeting the queen,” her mom said. “I cannot understand your obsession with this game. If your European History exam next week is lower than eighty-five, you’re not continuing.”
Of course she didn’t understand.
Lia pulled a hat down over her brown hair, straightened the strands coming undone from the braid, and checked her phone. “School’s basically over. Every grade that matters already happened.”
Her mom sighed. “Only quitters think like that.”
“It’ll be fine.” Lia darted past her mom. “He’s here.”
No makeup, no job, no dating—she couldn’t have a life of her own at all. “School is your job,” her parents always said, but it echoed in her mind whenever she heard them follow up with, “When you have your own money, you can spend it how you want.” Everything was for her own good. She couldn’t argue with that.
“If you say so,” her mom muttered, peeking out at Devon through the blinds. “You have your Mace?”
“Yes.”
“Keys?”
“Yes.”
“Phone?”
“I’ve never forgotten anything before,” Lia said. “Why would I now?”
Her mom only shook her head and wrapped a scarf around Lia’s neck. “Text me when you get to school.”
Lia opened the door before Devon could knock. He smiled and waved to her mom. Lia glared at her over her shoulder. Her mom was already gone.
“Is she really okay with you running around so early?” he asked, shifting the bag in his arms from hand to hand. “Should I introduce myself to her or something?”
“She’s not really okay with anything I do, but my dad says we have to show the world we’re not afraid when bad things happen,” Lia said. “Like the world cares.”
Devon raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. The wind had whipped his hair into a knot at the back of his neck and chapped the tip of his nose. It wasn’t cold, not even close to freezing, but the wind was wicked.
“Here.” Lia unwound her scarf from her neck and wrapped it around Devon’s, her fingers brushing through the ends of his hair. “Repayment for Tuesday.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said softly.
They walked to the park in silence and tucked themselves into a bush closer to the lot. Lia laid her water gun in her lap. Breakfast was homemade biscuits with skillet-fried ham and hot sauce in an old plastic to-go container. He had even brought two paper towels.
They had finished eating by the time Peter rolled into the lot.
He glanced around before getting out of his car. Lia couldn’t get a clear shot without standing, but Peter would see her then. Devon lobbed a rock in the opposite direction. Peter’s head ripped around.
Lia leapt to her feet and fired. Water splattered against Peter’s back. He shrieked, falling back against his car. His hands grasped at this side.
“What the hell!” Peter spun. “Lia Prince?”
Lia couldn’t help it. She grinned, savoring the moment. “I’m sorry that you’re wet now, but you’re out.”
Peter groaned, folded his arms on his car, and laid his head on them. “I can’t believe you’re even playing, Devon.”
“Yeah,” Devon said, “I got talked into it.”
“I appealed to his need to prove me wrong,” Lia said.
“It backfired.” Devon peeked into Peter’s backseat. “You need a dry shirt?”
“No, it’s fine.” Peter pushed himself up and pulled out his phone. “Let’s get this over with.”
As they were waiting for the Council’s response, Aaron pulled into the lot. Lia had gone through three yearbooks before figuring out his name. He got out of his car and looked the trio over, chuckling as he approached. His eyes lit up when they landed on Lia.
“You out, Peter?” he asked.
Peter nodded, and Aaron ruffled his hair. Peter patted it down, white cheeks red. He scowled.
“Of course you are. Her brother Mark nearly won, so you didn’t stand a chance.” Aaron nodded to Lia. “Did he give you the maps he made? He knew his way through every backyard and park that year.”
“No,” she said. “I’m going to win on my own.”
The sun had risen higher now and chased away the chill, but the wind still tore through Lia and Devon as they walked back to her house. Devon stayed close to her, his keys jangling in his pocket.
Devon shifted his shoulders. “So, you really didn’t stalk me?”
“You weren’t going to play, so no,” she said. “It would’ve been a waste of time.”
“Small blessings.” He looped their arms together. “What’s your real reason?”
“Fine. You found me out,” she said. “I didn’t follow you because I didn’t want to be bored.”
“Bold of you to insult someone who was in your middle-school classes,” Devon said. “I remember when you believed the ocean was blue because it reflected the sky.”
Lia wanted to lie down and sink into the earth. “She was our teacher! They’re not supposed to lie!”
“She was joking.” Devon laughed softly.
“They’re blue for the same reason. It’s all wavelengths,” Lia said. “It’s not my fault you’re so distrusting of teachers.”
“I’m distrusting of people who use their sarcasm voice constantly,” Devon said. “She was mean. I can’t believe she didn’t count that right on the quiz when she said it in class. It wasn’t your fault you thought she was serious.”
“My dad said it was a good learning experience.” Lia exhaled loudly.
“Did he tell you to toughen up after Abby died?” Devon cracked his neck. “Sorry. Sorry. We don’t have to talk about this.”
“It’s okay.” Lia sniffed. “Why did you really enter the game?”
He turned his face away from her, toward the sun. The light cast long shadows across his face, shadowing his deep-set eyes and highlighting the angles of his cheeks. “I don’t know. Seemed fun.”
“Yeah,” Lia said, “but you never do anything for fun.”
“Hey!” Devon rounded on her, his arm still holding hers to his side, and shot her an exaggerated frown. “I have fun.”
“I’ve never seen it,” Lia said.
She would’ve stuck her nose in the air, but it would’ve only looked like she was staring up at him. Instead, she tucked her hand into her pocket. She walked next to him, flush against his side. Devon nudged her.
“If nothing else,” he said, “this is a good excuse to spend time with you.”