“I’m in,” I said.

Kate let out a squeal of approval. “That’s my girl. I’ll give you a call, okay, Jay?”

“You’d better.” He winked at her.

Brian grinned at me. “See you again?”

“Yeah.” I smiled right back at him.

I knocked on my mom’s office door and entered. She was hard at work on a new design for a website, peering down her nose at the monitor through her computer glasses.

“Hey, baby.” She greeted me with a warm glance as I sat down in the chair across from her desk. “How was the mall?”

“Good,” I replied. “I forgot to give you something earlier.” There were family photos organized neatly around her computer, but today I noticed the photos including my dad were gone. One more step to freedom from him, I supposed. I brushed the thought away and set a stack of stapled papers on the desk in front of my mom.

“What’s this?” she asked, examining the stack. Her eyes went wide.

“An eighty-seven percent,” I said, “on this week’s lit paper.”

She smiled. “I’ll have to stick this one next to the ninety-two on the fridge.”

“You really don’t have to put my good grades on the fridge anymore,” I assured her. “Honestly, I’d be happy with just a gold star and a dollar for every A.”

She laughed. “Is that all it takes for you to get good grades?”

“Plus a lot of studying and no-nonsense brain power.”

Mom sat back in her chair, her smile growing. “I’m proud of the difference in you the last two weeks. Your grades have improved already, and you seem more focused. Should I just keep you grounded all the time?”

I huffed. “No, that’s okay, really. I did want to ask you, though … can I take a break from my grounding?”

Her smile became suspicious. “Didn’t you get a break today while you and Kate were at the mall?”

I nodded slowly and took a deep breath to prepare my lie. “I did … and it was great. Kate and I were thinking of doing a girls’ thing tonight. Just us, at her house. Can I sleep over there? Please?”

“Is Will going to be there?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “He won’t be around, I promise.”

“He hasn’t been around much in the last few days,” she noted. “Did something happen again?”

I shrugged. “I realized I need to spend less time with him if I want to concentrate on school.”

“I just don’t want you to make another poor decision,” she said gently.

“It won’t happen again.”

She smiled. “I know. You’re a smart girl, Ellie. You’re just trying to figure your life out.”

That was all too true. “Tell me about it.”

She loosed a long, low breath. “Well, I suppose I should say no and be firm about this month of grounding, but one night over at Kate’s might be good for you. You’ve been doing really well in school, so yes. You can stay at Kate’s tonight. On Monday, your grounding can resume.”

I brightened, not even bothering to hide my smile. “Really?”

“Really,” Mom said. “One night out, then it’s all business again. You leaving now?”

I shot to my feet. “Yeah. Thanks, Mom. You’re amazing.”

She shrugged. “I know. Love you.”

“Love you too. See you tomorrow!” I called as I buzzed from her office and leaped up the stairs to my room to pack an overnight bag. But when I walked through my door, I stopped at the sight of Will sitting on my bed.

He looked up at me. “We should go patrolling tonight.”

I sighed and dug my duffel bag out from under the bed, tossed it beside him, and yanked it open. “We’ve gone every night this week. Can I get just one day off?” I pulled open my dresser drawer and pulled out a couple pairs of underwear and knee-high socks and threw them into the bag. Ever the gentleman, he looked away from my undergarments.

“Why do I get the feeling you aren’t just staying the night over at Kate’s?” he asked, finally looking back at me.

“Do you have a problem with it?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice cool.

“No,” he replied. “But if you’re going somewhere at night, I should be by your side. I’m your Guar—”

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled. “You’re my Guardian. Don’t you want a night off from bodyguard duty?”

He looked entirely perplexed by my question. “It’s not a job, Ellie. I can’t take a night off.”

“Well, I don’t really want you to come with me.”

His lips parted and his eyes widened, the pain on his face making it so hard to tell him this. “But I have to,” he said.

“No, you don’t,” I said firmly. “And I don’t want you to. I’m going up to State to a party with Kate.” I turned from him and went into my closet to pick out an outfit for tonight.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Hang out with Nathaniel. Go kill stuff.”

“Ellie, I’m serious.”

I left the closet with an armful of clothes and almost stopped when I saw the lost look on his face. I clenched my teeth together and walked over to the bed and stuffed my duffel bag until it was full. “I’m serious, too,” I said. “Can’t I have one night? I need to feel like myself again.”