And now, apparently I’ve let that slide by the wayside too.

I sigh and shake my head, try to focus my attention back on the present, to where I now stand, saying, “Wow, that’s… that’s quite a while…” Not really knowing what else to say.

“You’ve been gone a long time.” She lifts her shoulders along with her brow. “So, how was it? How is Summerland these days?” She poses the question so casually you’d think we always talked about such things. Barely venturing a glance toward me before she returns to inspecting her cuticles, picking at a hangnail at the edge of her thumb, as I search for a way to reply, but no words will come. “I know about Summerland.” She shoves her thumb in her mouth, finishing the job with her teeth before settling her hands on her lap as her gaze lights upon me. “Of course I’ve never been, though not for lack of trying.” She makes a glum face. “But it’s tough for a beginner like me.

Jude said you’re the one who first got him there, and now he’s trying to do the same thing for me. Haven’t had much luck so far, but I’m not giving up. I’ve been studying pretty hard, and I’ve read just about everything I can on the subject. Is it really as magical as Jude says?” She slews her eyes over me, taking a tour of my filthy clothes, but to her credit (and my surprise), she shows no sign of the usual snide judgment I’ve come to expect from her. “Don’t look so shocked. It’s not like it’s some big juicy secret.” She arches her brow high and quirks her mouth to the side. “Well, I guess the fact that you go there all the time is kind of like a big juicy secret, but still, it’s not like the place is a secret. Also, it’s not like I’ve told anyone about it, or even about you. Believe me, Jude’s already warned me. Fell just shy of threatening me if I so much as breathe a word about you or what you can do. So feel free to take a deep breath and relax now, k?”

But even though she assures me that it’s okay to relax, I can’t. Any relaxing thoughts I might have, have been taken over by the way she said “Jude.”

Jude said you’re the one who first got him there.

Jude says it’s magical.

Jude warned me not to tell.

The word appearing harmless and casual on the surface, unless you heard the way it was spoken: warmly, intimately, bearing a familiarity that goes way beyond a student/teacher/employee/boss relationship.

Not to mention how often it was spoken, like a girl with the mad-hots who finds any excuse to insert her crush’s name into a sentence.

“So, you and Jude, huh?” My gaze meets hers as I try to determine how I feel about that. Searching for signs of jealousy, and relieved when I realize that’s not what’s niggling me.

I’m feeling protective, not envious. I don’t want him to get hurt. Jude has a long history of falling for all the wrong girls—ones who end up hurting him—including me.

And either she’s making vast improvements in her psychic skills, or I am wearing my very worst poker face ever, because she looks right at me and says, “Look, Ever, I know you don’t like me, or don’t trust me, or both, or whatever, but anyway, a lot has happened in the last six months. I think you’d be amazed.”

“Yeah, well, last time you said that it turned out to be one of those changes that wasn’t even remotely for the better.” My eyes level on hers, holding the look for a moment before moving on to the rest of her.

Noticing how her formerly trend-conscious wardrobe has completely transformed, pared down to a yin/yang tee that hangs well past the waistband of her faded old jeans, a malachite ring, or rather, Jude’s malachite ring, resized with silk thread and shoved onto her middle finger, while a pair of rubber flip-flops dangle from her feet. And I can’t help but wonder if she’s not just dating Jude, but raiding his closet too.

“You’re right,” she says, not the least bit fazed by the admission, which alone is a pretty good indication of progress. “But, what I meant was, I think you’d be surprised in a good way. I’m no longer working against you, Ever. Seriously. I know you don’t believe it, but really, I’ve changed. My whole outlook has changed. And just so you know, I truly care about Jude. I’m not going to hurt him like you.”

I look at her, waiting for her to finish that sentence, sure that what she really meant to say was: “I’m not going to hurt him like you think,” and that she’ll soon correct herself.

But nope, she leaves it at that. Apparently she said what she meant, and it’s not like I can deny that it’s true.

“And Stacia?” I ask, preferring to change the subject to something just as bad if not worse. “Has she made this change along with you?” Knowing firsthand just how selfish and clueless she is, remembering how hard it was just to convince her to apologize for some of the more horrible things that she’d done. But hey, miracles do occur, and it’s never too late to turn your life around and reach for something better—or at least that’s what I hear.

Though Honor’s pretty realistic where her friend is concerned, which means she just laughs when she says, “What can I say? Stacia’s more of a work in progress. But trust me, she’s not near as bad as she used to be, and that’s saying something, right? Anyway, if Jude sees fit to like me, and Ava sees fit to trust me, well, I was thinking maybe you might try to… well, at least tolerate me, then we’ll see where that leads.”