History class.
Ami sits still, eyes on the clock. The minute hand barely moves.
She lasts another ten minutes. Then she slides out of her seat, ducks past the half-closed door, and is gone.
The hallway is empty, just how she likes it.
The abandoned gym storeroom smells like dust and old sweat. Ami kicks aside a tangled skipping rope and sinks down against the wall, finally breathing.
*Just ten minutes. Just ten minutes of quiet, without...*
A shuffle. A cough.
Her eyes snap open.
Someone is sitting in the corner behind a stack of mats, a box of basketball nets in his lap.
Dio.
Of course.
He looks up, startled. "Huh. Didn't know anyone else hid in here."
"I'm not hiding," Ami says. "I'm resting."
"Sure. That's what I tell people too." A pause. He squints at her. "Wait. You're the girl from the nurse's room."
*Keep your distance.* She shrugs. "Maybe."
"Dio. 12th-A." He taps an uneven rhythm on the floorboards. "I'm supposed to be grabbing cones for P.E. I've been sitting here for twenty minutes instead."
"Ami. 10th-B."
"Ami." He tries it out, then grins. "I saw you in the music room earlier. Through the window. Nyra's face was something."
She almost smiles. Almost.
Two sharp knocks rattle the door.
"Dio? You in there?"
A boy's voice, with a laugh buried in it. Ami frowns, crosses the room, and opens the door.
SPLASH.
Cold water hits her full in the face and chest.
"GOT YOU, DIO!"
Footsteps pound away down the hall, along with a lot of laughter.
Dio is on his feet instantly. "What the... guys, seriously?"
Ami looks down. Her white uniform shirt is soaked through and clinging to her.
Dio spins to face the wall so fast he nearly trips over the nets. "Uh, here, take this." He yanks off his jacket and holds it out behind him at arm's length, like he's defusing a bomb.
Ami takes it, biting back a laugh.
*Ten years older, and I'm still the one who finds this funny. He's panicking over nothing.*
"Thanks," she says, shrugging it on. It smells faintly of laundry soap and something warm.
Dio is still facing the wall, ears bright red. "I didn't see anything. I swear. I mean, not that there was... never mind."
"I know."
They step out of the storeroom together, Dio scratching the back of his neck.
And there she is.
Alia.
Her eyes land on Dio first, then Ami, then the jacket.
Ami watches the thoughts cross her sister's face one by one. *Who's he? Why is she with him? Since when does she talk to anyone?*
Alia's smile turns sharp. "Ami," she chirps. "Mom's looking for you."
It's an obvious lie. Celeste hasn't looked for Ami in years.
"Tell her I'll be home late."
"Whose jacket is that?"
"Mine."
"Hm." Alia turns to Dio, and her voice goes sweet as sugar. "Hi. I'm Alia. Ami's sister."
"Hey," Dio says, and glances between them. He senses the tension, but he's smart enough not to ask.
Alia holds his gaze a second too long. Then she walks away.
Ami pulls the jacket tighter.
*There it is.* The same look Alia wore right before she took the necklace.
*She's going to want him.*