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insignificant as it was—crashed into me.
    “Awesome?”
    I nodded. “New trick?”
    She beamed. “I’m having a good day. Haven’t blown anything up yet. What are you doing here?”
    I glanced around at the others, most of whom had continued about their own business and weren’t paying any attention to us. The exception was, not surprisingly, Micah. He had been on the other side of the sand wall, working directly with Kris, and was now left with nothing else better to do than stare at us.
    The seconds ticked by as I glared at him, until he finally shifted his gaze and, at least, pretended to look preoccupied. Though I knew his ears would be staining to pick up everything exchanged between us, and his mind would attempt to pluck anything he missed out of Kris’s head, I finally explained to Kris my reason for tracking her down.
    Her reaction wasn’t what I expected.
    “Tonight?” she squeaked.
    I tried not to let her lack of excitement deflate my swollen ego . . . too much. “I thought you wanted to get off the island, go do something stupid .” I tried to lighten her suddenly sullen mood by making fun of myself. It didn’t work. She nibbled on her lip like she was starving, and it was a chocolate donut. “Kris? What’s wrong? You don’t want to go?”
    “No, I do!” she responded quickly, as if realizing for the first time her lack of excitement. “I definitely do. I just thought it would be a few days from now, and I would have more time to prepare.”
    “You don’t have to prepare anything. I’m taking care of it.”
    Though she nodded, and offered me a small smile, uncertainty still lined her eyes. After a moment, she mumbled, “I have no idea what I’m going to wear.”
    Sometimes I didn’t understand girls. “It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. You’ll look great in anything,” I said diplomatically. At least I had been around them enough to know the right things to say in most situations.
    Not that it mattered in this case. Kris was in her own little world, silently suffering her odd case of anxiety about tonight, and dwelling on her wardrobe shortcomings.
    “Kris?” I stooped slightly to force her into making eye contact with me. “You okay? You still want to do this? Because you don’t really seem so sure anymore.”
    Finally, I got a full smile—a real smile. “Trust me. I do. I’m just surprised it’s tonight, that’s all.”
    “Okay.” I wasn’t convinced, but didn’t want to push it. “Meet you at your room at five?”
    She nodded, already distracted by her thoughts again. I hesitated, debating briefly whether or not I should push her into telling me what was really bothering her, but ultimately decided to let it go for now. I nodded to Richie as I passed, maintaining a calm exterior despite the churning in my stomach.
    It was only the short notice, and apparent lack of girl-approved attire, that had her acting strange. Nothing else. Nothing was wrong. Nothing of real importance anyway.
    “Nathan!”
    I stopped and looked over my shoulder as Gran trotted after me. I wiped the shit-eating grin from my face before she saw it. Really, all things considered, she moved well for her age.
    “You’ll remember what we talked about?” she asked me.
    I hesitated. Surely her mind wouldn’t be the first to go. “Talked about what, Gran?”
    She gave me that look—the look that made my inner child cower and scamper off to his room for time out. “You know damn well what I’m talking about. The other morning—”
    I groaned when it finally clicked. That talk. How could I have forgotten? “Seriously, Gran? That conversation will stick with me until the day I die. And not because I enjoyed it that much.”
    “Well, it doesn’t need to stick with you for long,” she returned. “Just long enough—”
    “For what, Gran? Long enough for what?”
    “For you to be smart about . . .” She trailed off, for once looking as comfortable as she should have been considering