3:59

She glances at the digital clock on the dashboard. Two minutes to four. She should only be a few minutes late, as long as she doesn’t get caught at the train tracks.

Of course it’s her own fault she’s running late, but whatever. Totally worth it to watch Nick at track practice after school.

She speeds around a corner, tapping the brakes as lightly as possible so as not to lose momentum, and veers onto Leeland Road. Up ahead, she can hear the peal of bells even before she sees the flashing lights at the bend in the road. Train coming.

There’s only a split second to decide, but it’s a no-brainer. She slams on the accelerator. The engine revs and the car careens forward as the arm of the railroad crossing descends. She holds her breath in anticipation and she grips the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles ache. She can feel the tension in her fingers, the strain of her muscles as she wills the car onward. Will I make it? Too close to call. Her heart races and her breath comes in short gasps; the anticipation is palpable. Will she die in a glorious explosion as the train hits her car at full speed? She smiles. At least then all her problems would vanish.

The car shoots under the descending arm with inches to spare. For an instant she’s blinded by the lights of the speeding train, then her car flies down the far side of Leeland Road.

She’s not sure if she’s relieved or disappointed that she’s still alive.

Josie sat bolt upright.

Her heart raced, and she was sweating so badly her light cotton pajamas clung to her damp flesh like plastic wrap.

Darkness surrounded her. She was in her bedroom. In bed. Safe. It was just a dream.

Was it? Josie held her hands up in front of her face. Her fingers curled inward, stiff and sore, as if they’d held something in a death grip.

Like a steering wheel.

SIX

1:15 P.M.

SHE NEVER FELL BACK TO SLEEP. AFTER THE nightmare, a mix of insomnia and despair weighed on her, and left her sobbing in her bed late into the morning. So it was some kind of miracle that she managed to get herself to AP Physics just as the late bell rang.

She’d wanted to stay in bed, lock her bedroom door, pull the covers over her head, and stay there until . . . forever. But missing physics would have put their project—and their grade—in jeopardy, and Josie couldn’t do that to Penelope, especially since the Penrose experiment had been entirely her idea. Besides, she doubted the news of Madison and Nick’s affair would have gotten around yet, so at least she’d be spared that indignity. Holding on to that one gleaming ray of good news in an otherwise wretched day, Josie had hauled her ass into the shower and made a halfhearted attempt to look as if her world hadn’t collapsed around her.

A decision she now regretted.

Was it her imagination, or had the classroom fallen eerily silent? She couldn’t look at anyone, didn’t dare lest the precariously controlled sobbing that had overwhelmed her for most of the morning erupt again, but she had the acute sensation that every head in the classroom had turned to face her.

Josie slowly walked across the room to her lab table, eyes fixed on the tiled floor, painfully aware of how tragic she looked. Her unwashed hair had been yanked back into a ponytail and she clearly hadn’t put much thought into the jeans, graphic tee, and stripy grandma sweater she’d pulled on. Her shoes completed the fashion disaster. She’d pulled her closet apart for her favorite pair of pink tweed Converse, but she couldn’t find them, and in the end she just slipped on a pair of beat-up flip-flops that looked as if they’d taken one too many trips through the washing machine. Last, she’d attempted to disguise her dark under-eye circles with a clown-sized dollop of concealer, and to mask her red, bloodshot eyes with a dose of Visine that would have put Niagara to shame.

Yep, she was a disastrophe. Pathetic.

Penelope fidgeted on her stool as Josie sat down next to her. She was agitated, barely able to contain herself, and as Mr. Baines began to explain how he’d be evaluating their proposals, Penelope kept glancing at Josie, taking a breath as if she was going to say something, then looking away. In fact, everyone appeared to be stealing furtive glances at Josie whenever Mr. Baines turned his back. She was clearly the most interesting science experiment in the room.

Her illusion that word of Madison’s and Nick’s affair hadn’t gotten out? Obliterated.

As soon as Mr. Baines started his rounds, Penelope broke her silence. “Oh my God,” she said in a strained whisper. “You’re here. I mean, you’re okay. I mean, I was so worried because you weren’t answering your phone and then everyone was talking about Nick and Madison, and then I saw the necklace at lunch and—”

Josie’s head snapped up. “Necklace?”

Penelope cocked her head to the side. “Yeah. Nick gave Madison a necklace. Entwined hearts.”

“Entwined hearts?” A lump rose in Josie’s throat. “Gold with little red gemstones?”

“Yeah.” Penelope cocked her head to the side. “How did you know?”

Josie groaned. “My anniversary gift.” Nick had given it to Madison.

Penelope’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, you do know that they’ve been getting it on behind your back, right?”

Josie winced. “Yes,” she whispered.

“Oh, good.” Penelope caught her breath. “I mean, no. I mean, I’m so sorry.”

Josie stared at the table.

“So they decided to come clean?” Penelope continued in her high-pitched whisper.

Josie shook her head. “No. I caught them.”

“Shit!”

Zeke and Zeb, the Kaufman twins, turned around at Penelope’s exclamation. They were Nick’s teammates on the varsity track team. Perfect. That was the last thing Josie needed: Nick’s friends reporting back on the pathetic state of his ex-girlfriend.

“Shh!” she hissed at Penelope.

“Sorry.”

She should have stayed home.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Penelope said, her voice low and steady. “I really was worried.”

Josie nodded. She appreciated Penelope’s concern, even if she couldn’t quite process it.

“I wanted to punch Madison in the face when I heard,” Penelope continued, talking nervously. “She was flaunting the necklace around in Humanities. Even Nick looked uncomfortable. Fidgety, and every time she touched him, he kind of stiffened up. It made my skin crawl the way she was acting, like they’d been dating forever and not just screwing behind your back for the last two months.”

“Two months?” Josie’s stomach dropped.

Penelope’s hand flew to her mouth. “I didn’t mean to tell you that.”

“Who’s saying it’s been going on for two months?”

“Um . . .” Penelope lowered her voice. “Everyone?”

“Everyone?”

Penelope slapped her hand over her mouth again and let out a tiny squeak.

Josie lowered her forehead onto the smooth, cold metal of the lab table. Two months? Nick had been lying to her for two months?

How had she not seen this? Not known? How could she have been so stupid?

“Miss Wang. Miss Byrne.” Mr. Baines strolled up to their lab table, clipboard in hand. His lips were pursed, and his wide-set eyes crinkled just at the corners as if he was secretly amused by their setup. “A standard beam- splitter experiment? I expected something less boilerplate from the daughter of Dr. Elizabeth Byrne.”