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either, but you don’t see her winding herself up about it. She just makes the best of it. I mean, it’s not like you’re going to be there every day. It’s just an hour every week or two.”
    Georgiana purses her lips. “An hour can be a long time if you’re at the dentist.”
    “And a short time at a party,” counters Will.
    “St Joan’s is not a party. That I’m sure of. And no matter what they call it, there’s still going to be lots of old people there. They’re going to be in the majority.”
    Will isn’t the type of person to bang his head on the table, but for a second he is tempted. He’s captain of the basketball team and good at strategy – good enough to know when to retreat. So instead of continuing the argument – or banging his head against the checkered tablecloth – he points to her untouched muffin. “Are you going to eat that or what?”
    “Don’t tell me you’re still hungry.”
    “Well, if you don’t want it, I’d hate to see it go to waste…”
    “You mean, unlike my breath,” says Georgiana, and shoves it towards him with so much force that it might be a hockey puck and Will the goal.

Chapter Five
Asher Attempts Negotiation
    “Oh , come on, Claudie,” pleads Asher. “Please? For
me
?”
    She should have known when he offered her a ride home – disrupting his afternoon schedule – that he wanted something. Asher always has an angle.
    “No.” From the way Claudelia shakes her head it’s clear that if they weren’t sitting in his car and there were a door between them she’d slam it shut. “I won’t do it. And that’s as final as the end of the world.”
    Asher’s expression is so guileless he’d make a saint look shifty. “But why not?”
    “Because it’s a stupid idea, that’s why not.”
    “I’d do it for you.”
    Claudelia smirks. “No, you wouldn’t.”
    He decides not to get into that argument. They’ve been officially going out together for almost a year. There may be too many precedents for him to win it. Asher isn’t a mean or ungenerous person, but he is a numero-uno kind of guy.
    “It’s not a stupid idea,” he insists. “It’s sound as Fort Knox. I have the technology. Even you won’t be able to tell the difference between the printouts.” Asher is known for his smile, as charming as a magic spell. “I swear, Claudie. They’ll be identical twins.”
    Claudelia scowls. Today Asher’s smile isn’t charming her. “Except the names will be changed.”
    He winks. “To protect the innocent.”
    Which, of course, is Asher.
    “But it’s not going to protect the innocent,” says Claudelia. “It’s going to hang the guilty.”
    “No, it isn’t. I’m telling you, they won’t be able to tell it didn’t come from the school. They’ll just think there was some glitch in the system. That kind of thing happens all the time. That’s why firms like my dad’s have an IT guy on the payroll.”
    “Asher.” Claudelia puts her hands on his shoulders as if this will help him understand what she’s trying to say. “They will find out. At some point, someone’s going to look in their file or whatever and wonder how Asher Grossman turned into Claudelia Gillen.”
    “Maybe,” he concedes. “Maybe there’s a tiny subatomic-particle kind of chance that that’ll happen. But even if it does, it’ll be too late by then. Nobody’s going to bother switching us around again. It’ll be a
que será, será
situation.”
    “No, it won’t, because it’s not going to happen. I’m not getting involved in one of your great ideas. What about Will? At least he’s a guy.”
    Asher shakes his head. “Will won’t do it. He likes raking leaves.” This is only half of the truth. The other half is that Claudelia isn’t the only one who doesn’t want to get involved in one of Asher’s great ideas. Will got in trouble for letting Asher use Dunkin in his Halloween costume. “But it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong,” insists Asher.