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inward. She said that what used to draw her to Cyn drove her away.
    The next day, at my locker, I feel Cyn’s presence before I see her standing there staring at me, her arms crossed. For a quick second I forget that we’re not together, but the look on her face freezes me. Quietly, so no one else can hear, she says, “Don’t ever text me about Dove.”
    “I thought he drove by my house, Cyn. My house!” I pause. “That is, until I found out he was with you.”
    She pulls me into an empty classroom and closes the door. “Someone drove by your house?”
    “A big Navigator SUV .”
    “What color was it?”
    “Kind of a light blue.”
    “Oh.” She looks at the floor. Her runners, the ones she bought when we were together, are muddy, like she walked across the park. One of her socks has slipped down into the runner.
    She is so still it’s like she’s forgotten I’m there. I nudge her. “Cyn?”
    She looks at me. Her eyes are wet. “I know that Navigator. It’s someone Dove works for.”
    “You mean, someone your boyfriend works for.”
    “He’s not my boyfriend.”
    “He certainly thinks he is. And you’re acting like he is.”
    “I’m not going to lie. It is getting complicated.”
    I can’t help but laugh. “You not lying—that would be a nice change.”
    “Daniel, I am so scared. I’m scared you’re going to leave me, and I really, really need you not to leave me right now.”
    I am trying hard not to lose it with her. “I know things at your house are pretty messed up. But what you’re doing is serious, Cyn. And you’ve got me pulled into it too. Your boyfriend’s buddy is driving by my house—”
    She interrupts. “He’s not my boyfriend. And the guy who drove by your house isn’t a buddy. Not at all. He’s putting pressure on Dove.”
    I think about the shootings that have happened lately. My head starts to throb.
    She continues, “You don’t have anything to rip off, and you don’t mean anything to Dove. He was probably just trying to scare you.”
    “Well, he did. How does he know about me?”
    She shakes her head. “Someone saw us together maybe.”
    She really does seem scared. I say, “The Navigator. Has it been by your house too?”
    Her shoulders slump. “I’m alone in the house, and we have a security system, but I’m still afraid that he’s going to break in. Normal people keep their lights on and make it look like there is someone in the house. Me, I keep it dark and let the newspapers pile up on the porch.”
    “What about your parents?”
    She sighs. “They’re in Hawaii. They’re not back for a couple of weeks.”
    “So they are away. With Mila’s parents, right?”
    She looks puzzled, like she can’t remember what she’s told me. “Yes.”
    “But you took me to your house. All hell was breaking loose. Your dad was yelling. Your mom was crying.”
    Cyn stays quiet.
    I feel the hair on my arms lift into goose bumps. “But that wasn’t your parents,” I say. I make myself take a deep breath. “You don’t live in that house.”
    She shakes her head. “No. They are our neighbors. We hear them fighting. It’s like clockwork—the guy gets home, they start drinking, they fight.”
    Watching Cyn is like watching a magician reveal her tricks. “And your mother doesn’t use drugs.”
    I can barely hear her answer. “No.”
    Layer by layer, it becomes clear. There was no magic to her deception— if I’d had my eyes open, I would have seen her sleight of hand. But, just like a magician, she relied on my believing in her. “You wouldn’t take me to your real house. You wouldn’t let me into your real world. Because then nothing would make sense. Like that you sleep with a drug dealer. And that he bought you a car so you could run drugs for him across the border. I guess your parents are okay with all that.”
    She throws up her arms, exasperated. “They don’t know about Dove. My parents think Dove is my boss at the restaurant and that I work late