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squeeze my eyes shut and hold the details tight, running them through my head until they are committed to memory.
    When I look around, I find that I’m in bed alone. I kick the sheets off my legs and quickly stand, then brace myself against the wall to ward off a sudden bout of dizziness. For one panicked moment, I think Luka left in the night. But both of our backpacks are on the chair, and there’s a white note on the pillow. I pick it up.
    Tess,
    At Walgreens. Got an early start. Getting supplies. I didn’t want to wake you up and I don’t want you to worry. Hopefully I’ll be back before you read this. But in case I’m not…
    Yours,
    Luka
    I look at the clock. It’s seven in the morning. What if Luka doesn’t come back to me? I should want that. I should want him to come to his senses and leave; but I’m not ready to be on my own. Not yet. Before panic can have its way, the lock clicks and the door opens and Luka steps inside with two plastic bags in hand. I run to him and fling my arms around his neck, like Leela did with me in the dream. He drops the bags and wraps his arms around my waist, his hands splayed wide on the small of my back. “Good morning to you, too.”
    The sound of his voice in my ear has me remembering myself. I let go and take a step back, cursing the blast of heat in my cheeks. Seriously, enough with the blushing already. “Did you run into any trouble?”
    “It’s seven in the morning on a Saturday. The only person I saw was the checkout person at Walgreens and she was half asleep.” He picks up one of the bags and dumps the contents onto the bed. Two bottles of orange juice. Some bananas. A box of donuts. A buzz cutter. A box of hair dye. And a phone—a cheap plastic mobile one that allows a person to pay for minutes as they go.
    I pick it up. “I have to call Leela.”
    “Leela?”
    “I visited her in my dream.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean I visited her like how I sometimes visit you. I told her everything and she believed me.”
    He looks skeptical. “I don’t know if that’s the smartest idea. To her, it was just a dream. What if she doesn’t even remember it?”
    “Leela won’t report us.”
    “Are you sure about that?”
    I nibble the inside of my bottom lip. Am I? “If she does, we’ll ditch the phone and run. I mean, what’s this for anyway? Who else can we call?”
    “The Greyhound bus station, for one.”
    “And how will we get tickets without IDs? How will we even get there?” The closest Greyhound station is a forty-five minute drive to Eureka. I listened to Luka’s skepticism once about Leela, when he didn’t want me to tell her what was really going on. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe I should have told her everything from the beginning. Or maybe he was right. Maybe telling her everything would have ruined our friendship before it started. “Leela’s our best option.”
    He stares down at the carpet, working a muscle in his jaw. I wait to see if he will extend the same trust I extended to him last night. Finally, he looks me in the eye and gives me a small, singular nod.
    I dial Leela’s number. Five rings, then voicemail. I hang up and try again. “C’mon, Leela, answer the phone.”
    This time, the second ring is followed by a groggy hello.
    “Leela, it’s Tess!”
    My enthusiastic greeting is met with silence. I picture her sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes, trying to bat away the web of confusion. “Tess?”
    “Yes, Tess. Do you remember the dream?”
    She says nothing.
    My heart thuds much too fast. This has to work. “Do you remember jelly donuts ?”
    Luka quirks his eyebrow.
    “Leela, please say you remember.”
    “I do.”
    “Do you believe this is real?”
    There’s an agonizing pause. I wish I could see her face. I wish I knew what she was thinking. I wish, I wish, I wish … until she says two glorious words. “I’m in.”
    She is resolute.
    She is determined.
    We have an ally.

Chapter Six
    Plans & Disguises
    A fter