“Yeah, but it’s so lame.” Cece rolled her eyes. “I mean, Winterhaven delivers bag lunches to Sunnyside. Technically, that makes it a school-approved field trip.”
“Yes, but an unchaperoned one,” Sophie reminded her.
“Ooh, so naughty!” Cece was laughing now. “Think of all the trouble we could get into. You know, at an old cemetery and a historic site.”
“Uh-oh,” I said. “Matthew.”
“What about him?”
“There’s no way he’s going to let me go off campus without him, not after what happened in Atlanta.”
“Seriously?” Cece asked.
I nodded. “Seriously.”
She groaned loudly. “Well, forget the unchaperoned part, then.”
“I just won’t go, that’s all. I’ll stay here with Aidan.” Because there was no way Mrs. Girard would let him go. It was too dangerous, even during daylight hours.
“But you have to go, Violet. I mean, we don’t have that much time left together as it is.” Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “There’s just this and then prom and graduation.”
“We’ve got the trip to England, too,” I reminded her. At least, I hoped we still did, what with Aidan being mad at me and all. My own vision was swimming with tears as I fit myself between the two of them.
Cece shook her head. “Oh no. Don’t start. ’Cause if the two of you do, then I’m gonna start bawling my eyes out.”
I wrapped an arm around Cece; Sophie laid her head on my shoulder.
Just then, the door banged open. We all looked up to see Marissa standing there in the doorway, looking like she was about to cry too. “What’s going on?” she asked, her gaze sweeping the room.
Sophie’s breathing was ragged now as she reined in the tears. “We’re running out of time together.”
“I thought . . . never mind.” Marissa shook her head. When Cece held out a hand to her, she hurried over to the bed and joined in the group embrace.
“I’m going to miss you guys so much,” Cece sobbed, her face buried in Marissa’s hair now. “What was I thinking? I’m going to be all by myself at Tulane!”
“But you’ve got family in New Orleans,” I reminded her. “Your grandma and cousins . . .”
She shook her head. “It’s not the same. Marissa and Max are both staying in New York. Violet and Aidan are going to Paris. And you’ll have Tyler at Princeton,” she directed at Sophie. “Even if he
“We can Skype every day.” Sophie sniffled.
“Yeah, a group video chat,” I agreed. “Every night.”
Cece shook her head. “You’re going to be in Paris, remember? Nighttime for us will be, like, butt crack of dawn for you.”
“More like the middle of the night,” Sophie corrected.
I reached for a tissue and dabbed at my eyes. “So, we’ll find a time that works for everyone. Maybe not every day, but at least once a week, okay?”
Sophie nodded, reaching for my hand. “Agreed.”
“Agreed,” Cece echoed, adding her hand to the pile.
We all looked expectantly toward Marissa. “Agreed,” she said. “What, did you think I wouldn’t?” She rolled her eyes as she placed her hand on top of ours.
Still, I couldn’t help but think how drastically things were going to change, and soon. Sophie was right—all we had left was prom and graduation and our trip to England.
Just a matter of weeks.
24 ~ I Spy
Never mind,” I said, shaking my head. “This was a bad idea.”
Cece sat up in bed. “C’mon, aren’t you curious? I’ll just project out there quickly and see what’s going on and then I’ll come right back. Five minutes, tops.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, torn. On the one hand, I wanted to know what happened when Jenna went wolf—and exactly what role Aidan played in it. But on the other hand, I was asking Cece to do something that was against the COPA. Plus, I didn’t want to be the kind of girlfriend who spied on her boyfriend.
Still . . . I was curious. “You’re sure you don’t mind?” I asked her.
“Totally. Anyway, I’ve done it before—gone astrally strolling through the woods at night. Remember?”
I nodded, recalling the last time she’d spotted Jenna and Aidan together, arguing. At the time, we hadn’t known Jenna’s story and hadn’t realized what was going on.
“I guess,” I conceded. I wasn’t worried about her getting expelled—not anymore. The snow I’d seen in my vision was long gone, replaced by the lush green of late spring. “But don’t go for long. I can’t stand seeing you lie there while you’re projecting. It totally freaks me out.”
“Now you know how I feel when you’re having a vision,” she shot back.
“Okay, okay.” I held my hands up in mock surrender. “You better get going before I change my mind.”
With a grin, Cece scooted down on her bed, lying back on her pillow with a sigh. “Why don’t you . . . I don’t know, read a book or something? No hovering.”
“No hovering,” I repeated, hurrying over to my own bed. “Got it. I’ll text Whitney, see what she’s up to.”
“Turn the sound off, though. I need quiet.”
“I know. Sheesh.” I flipped the volume switch on my cell to off. “There. Now go.”
I tried not to watch as Cece began the process of deep breaths and slow exhalations. A couple of minutes passed in relative silence, and then I couldn’t help but peek.
She was entirely still, a peaceful look on her face. My gaze slid down her body, looking for a twitch, a tremble—any sign of life. There was none. She might have been a statue, carved from stone. Clearly, her astral self was gone.
A shiver raced down my spine. I had to take a couple of deep breaths myself as I fought the urge to go over to her and shake her. I still didn’t quite understand exactly how this astral projection thing worked, but I couldn’t help worrying about what would happen if she somehow couldn’t get back to her body. She’d assured me over and over again that there was no danger of that, but it didn’t assuage my fears, not entirely.
I ran a finger over my cell’s slick screen, debating whether or not I should actually text Whitney. With my luck, the second we got into a conversation, Cece would come back. It seemed best to just wait patiently, but the longer she was gone, the more nervous I became.
Setting aside my cell, I rose and padded over to the window, pulling back the curtains to gaze out at the starry night. The full moon hung high in the sky, casting a silvery glow across the lawn and the treetops beyond.
They were out there somewhere, Aidan and Jenna. I hated the thought of them together. Still, I felt stupid for sending Cece out to spy on them. I resisted the urge to look over at the still form lying on the bed—just an empty shell. I wanted to shake her, to tell her that I’d changed my mind. Instead, I leaned against the window, pressing my forehead to the cool glass, and took a deep, calming breath.
In through my nose, out through my mouth. The glass fogged, obscuring my vision as the minutes ticked by. Slowly, one after another, until I didn’t think I could stand it any longer.
Careful to keep my back to Cece’s body, I shuffled over to my bed and retrieved my cell, then hurried back to the window. I glanced down at the screen with a huff of frustration—only seven minutes had passed. Not nearly enough time for her to have seen anything worthwhile.
I had to distract myself. Keeping the volume off, I checked my e-mail. Then my text messages. Then my social networks. With nothing else left to do, I tapped open a game.
