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covered. That had never happened before. She felt cold inside too, like she’d been eating ice. Her lungs felt frozen, unable to expand enough to bring in air.
    Eve reached out and put her hand on a tree trunk, leaning most of her weight on it as she struggled for breath. ‘Hold up,’ Luke called to Jess and Seth. ‘There’s something wrong with Eve.’
    ‘I’ve got to go back,’ Eve managed to say through chattering teeth. She’d thought being so cold your teeth chattered was limited to freezing winter nights, but hers were clicking together uncontrollably even though it was May. ‘I need to get in bed under a blanket.’
    ‘I’ll get you back.’ Luke tightened his hold on her shoulders. ‘Lean on me.’ He helped her turn round and she was able to take a few shaky steps. Jess and Seth stayed close behind them. Eve was scared; she wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it out of the woods even with Luke supporting her, but as they retraced their steps, she began to be able to pull in deep breaths of the warm spring air.
    ‘That was weird.’ The words came out clearly. Her teeth had stopped chattering. ‘I felt like I couldn’t breathe.’
    ‘It wasn’t just weird, it was scary,’ Jess said. ‘You went really pale, Eve.’
    ‘You’re OK now?’ Luke asked, his eyes dark with worry.
    Eve nodded. ‘Still sort of cold, but OK.’ She stopped walking, and forced a smile at her friends. ‘I still want to go home, though. Jess, you and the boys go shop. I know they won’t be any real help, but they can carry things. And you can text me dress pictures.’
    ‘No way. I am not shopping for my prom dress without you,’ Jess replied. ‘Just not happening. We can go tomorrow if you’re feeling better.’
    ‘If you think I’m going to let you walk home alone after what just happened, you’re crazy,’ Luke added.
    ‘Skipping the trip is fine by me,’ Seth said. ‘I hate shopping.’
    ‘Let’s go back to my place. It’s closer,’ Jess suggested as they continued walking out of the woods, and Eve and the guys agreed right away. With each step, Eve felt better.
    What was that? she wondered as they reached the edge of the woods and stepped out onto the sidewalk. The sunlight streaming down on her felt as good as a cashmere sweater. That was so freaky, the way it came and went in seconds .
    ‘You still feeling all right?’ Luke asked. ‘I can call my dad for a ride.’
    He was such a good guy. ‘I’m fine. Really,’ Eve told him. ‘More than fine.’ She proved it by keeping up her end of a lively discussion about what everybody had planned for the summer. It lasted all the way to Jess’s.
    ‘Uh-oh.’ Jess stopped in front of her mailbox. A thick cream-coloured envelope was poking out. It looked just like the one that had come with the candy. ‘No address. Somebody has hand-delivered it.’ She glanced at Eve, and Eve knew they were thinking the same thing. Simon had been back.
    Jess ripped open the envelope, not bothering to open it carefully as she had with the previous one. There was no chance this was going in her memory hatbox.
    ‘What is it?’ Seth asked.
    ‘It’s from Simon,’ Jess told him.
    Seth cursed under his breath. ‘That guy is out of control. What does it say?’
    Jess began to read as they walked up the flagstone path to her house. ‘He says that he didn’t think I was the type of person to judge someone by appearances, but clearly he was wrong about me. Then he calls me cold and callous.’
    ‘That is so not you,’ Eve cried. ‘You’re toasty warm and well-moisturized. You—’ She forgot what she was about to say as her eyes snagged on a few droplets of glistening red shining up from one of the stones of the Merediths’ walkway. For a moment Eve thought it was nail polish. Then she saw a bigger puddle near the bushes that ran under the living-room window. Blood , she realized. It was blood. It looked so wrong against the perfectly manicured green of the