Music pounded through the gymnasium. Purple and gold balloons hung in large clumps at regular intervals across the front of the bleachers, which were pushed back to make as much room as possible for the temporary dance floor. The room wasn't lit up with fluorescent bulbs the way it was for basketball games, but it was light enough for people to take note of Blake and I arriving together.

Kayla spotted me immediately and waved me over. I abandoned Blake by the refreshment stand and darted towards her.

"What is happening here? You said you weren't coming and now you show up with King Popular?" I could barely hear her over the music, but her confusion was justified.

"I texted you."

She slipped her phone out of a sparkly silver hand purse and checked her messages like she wouldn't believe me unless she saw proof. "So, you did. Still, Blake? Yikes! Wait, did you figure out how to get Jack to, like, possess him or something? Is that really our cute, sweet, not at all an asshole, Jack? If that's the case, you should have waited for me. I want in on the whole spirit medium thing."

"They are the same person, Kayla. In theory, at least. But no, there were no seances held in your absence, I promise. Yet..." I pull her off to the side and out into the corridor leading from the gym to the locker rooms. "Something did happen. Jack and I were having our own dance, and it was beautiful and perfect. Then Blake showed up, totally oblivious as to why being at my house was making him apoplectic. He then begged me to come to the dance with him, and Jack, that traitor, told me to go before he buzzed and disappeared."

"Like, walk into the light disappeared?"

"I don't think so. He's done it before but usually I find him in the attic. This time, I searched the attic and every other room in the house, and he was just... gone. I think it was as weird for him as it was for Blake—them being in the same place together like that. Hopefully he just needs time."

"This is so strange."

"Tell me about it. Plus, I blurted out the truth to Blake, and just like I always knew would happen, he thought I was joking."

I slumped against the wall. Kayla put her arm around me. "I'm sure Jack will return."

"I hope so. I only came because he wanted me to. He says I need to watch Blake. He's worried about him."

"About Blake?" She wrinkled her nose. "Nothing's going to happen to that guy."

"Something always happens to everyone eventually. Blake's not immune. I feel like we're getting so close to figuring this all out, Kayla. Unless Jack really is gone forever. If that's the case, then I guess that's the end of it."

We stood there in our fancy dresses, backs pressed against a sign with a Muhammed Ali quote that read, "I never thought about losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right."

"So," Kayla tapped the wall with her fingernails, "Darren asked if he could kiss me. 'Not immediately, but sometime, whenever you feel up to it,' is how he phrased it."

"Oh my god. What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. I just pulled him onto the dance floor and made him dance with me. I am considering it, though."

"Shut up!" I punched her shoulder playfully. "You and Darren, really?"

"Is that so odd? We've been friends for years. You know I find weirdness attractive."

"No, it's just... He thought you were interested in Ethan again."

She shrugged. "Even I have a weirdness attraction tolerance level. Ethan exceeded that threshold months ago."

"You have been talking to Ethan a lot lately, though. Darren picked up on that."

"That's your fault!" She pursed her lips, giving me a pitiful expression like I already should have known this. "Ethan knows something about Blake—you're the one who told me that. I was just trying to see if he had information. Like it or not, he seems to have at least a minor role in all of this. So, I took one for the team."

"And I'm grateful, believe me. But I'm also relieved you're not still into him. I don't trust him."

"Me neither." She kicked herself away from the wall. "Speaking of boys we don't trust, seems your date is looking for you."

Sure enough, Blake emerged from a door farther down the hall. When he saw us, he made a beeline in our direction.

"Would it be too obvious if I ran away?" I whispered.

"Probably, but I'd run with you if you wanted me to."

I grabbed her hand, gave it a squeeze, then dropped it. "I don't know what I'd do without you. I got this though. Go back to Darren and Vanessa."

"You sure?"

I sighed. "Jack wants me to watch him, so I will. For another hour, at least. Go on."

Blake brushed past her and she gave him the side eye as she headed back into the gym, music pouring out of the door as she opened it, then fading to a muted drone as it closed behind her. I stood alone in the hallway with him.

"I didn't know where you went," He positioned himself on the wall next to me, right where Kayla had been. Too close. I scooted away a few inches.

"I don't have to tell you where I'm going."

"I didn't say that. I just I wanted to ask you to dance."

"Like, in front of people?"

"Well, that's generally how it happens when you go to a dance with a couple hundred people in attendance."

"Blake, I know this is hard for you, but I need you to see reason. Me being associated with you—it's not good for either of us."

"Why?"

"See, that's the thing, if you were thinking clearly, you'd know why. You're in your elite Populars club, and while we both know what I think of that bullshit, it's still a fact. It's part of your life and who you are. And that's because you've chosen it. I'm not part of that life. Everyone you associate with. Dakota, the other Populars—they resent me, and that makes me a target."

"I can change that. They'll back off if I tell them to."

"You don't have as much control over this situation as you think you do."

He leaned his head against the wall. "When I was in your house earlier—I've never felt anything like it before. It was maddening, and yet... This Jack person you talked about, who's real but not real, who's me but not me—he loves you, doesn't he?"

"Blake..."

"He does. That's what I felt when I was there. But it also felt like I was the one doing the loving." He turned towards me. "It felt like I love you. I don't know what the hell is going on or what's real or made up. Maybe we've both gone insane together. But that was the realist thing I've ever felt. I can't forget about it."

Now I was the one who didn't respond immediately. Jack loved me. The thought was exhilarating and heartbreaking, like skiing downhill and then crashing into a tree. Jack loved me and he might be gone forever. I couldn't look at Blake the same way. He came with baggage. And he might be dangerous. Hell, they both might be. Tears spilled down my cheeks and I finally found my words. "Let's go have that dance."

Back in the gym, I did my best to ignore people's stares.

"Hold on a minute, I'm going to request a song from the DJ."

He headed over to Ace, who's forehead wrinkled in confusion. He shrugged and Blake came back over with a triumphant smile.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, you'll see."

I did see. Or I heard, rather. The next song to play was Blake's request, and I could not have anticipated it without my trusty crystal ball. Duke Ellington's Don't Get Around Much Anymore. No wonder Ace had seemed so surprised.

"You've got to be kidding me. You want us to tap dance?"

He took my hand. "You've got this."

His feet began shuffling, performing the same movements I'd gone over with Jack countless times over the past month. I moved in rhythm as the song progressed, stumbling a few times, only to have Blake lead me through to the next movements.

It was the routine Jack had choreographed for us. The shock at this overrode my nerves and I danced and danced, feet shuffling away. It felt like a betrayal, to dance with Jack's real-world counterpart when, just an hour ago, he might have blinked out of existence forever.

It was also freeing. I could dance, I could move, I could ignore what everyone else thought of me. My anxiety could be pushed aside for a few moments of bliss. Maybe I'd take Shelby up on her offer to pursue dance classes after all.

The song ended and Blake shot me a crooked smile. I held onto that moment for as long as I could, but it ended when his grin fell. He looked passed me and I turned to see what had soured the mood. I expected a horde of Populars to be standing in a row, ready to tar and feather us. Instead, there was only one Popular staring at us—Dakota. Flanking her were two unexpected dance attendees: Ethan and his brother, Zeke.

Blake pushed in front of me, blocking them from view. "Go find Kayla."

"Why, what's going on?"

"I told you things might get ugly," he hissed. "Have you seen anything uglier than their expressions right now?"

I stepped back, but after the exhilaration I'd just felt, this didn't feel right. If I could handle anxiety on the daily, what were a couple of wannabe survivalists and a mean girl to me?

Kayla flew to my side before I could decide if I was moving in or out of the fray. "What is Dakota doing with those two?"

My legs trembled. Blake approached the trio, his expression as dark as theirs. I slid away from my friend. "Hold on, I just need to talk to them for a second."

She caught my arm as I moved forward. "They look like they're about to go all Carrie on this gym and you're going to join them for a chat? Are you nuts?"

"Do you even have to ask?" I reclaimed my arm from her and kept walking. Jack told me to watch out for his real-life counterpart. I had to at least make an attempt to do that before I got the hell out of there.

I walked up next to Blake. "Nice to see you all here. Ethan, is that a new flannel?"

Ethan scowled at me. "I told you to stay away from Blake, but here you are, just asking for trouble."

Blake made to stand in front of me, but I brushed him aside. "You gave me advice, not an order. I'm free to make my own choices, even if they're terrible ones."

"You have a lot of nerve," Dakota said to Blake, "Showing up to the dance you were supposed to take me to with her of all people."

"Do you seriously lack that much self-reflection?" I knew I should keep my mouth shut, but a rage had begun to brew. I wasn't gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe. I belonged here just as much as anyone else—with Blake if that's what I wanted. "Look who you showed up with, and you're insulting me?"

While Dakota fumed, Ethan's hostility continued. "I really thought one rumor about you would be enough, but you bounced back."

I recoiled. Ethan was the one behind the rumor.

Blake moved towards him, shackles raised, while Ethan stood his ground. Zeke eyed the scene but hung back. He looked at me with reddened eyes and sallow cheeks. Never in my life have I felt so much like a timid mouse under the eyes of a wolf. He put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let's take this outside."

Bad idea. I'd heard enough and no way in hell was I going to join them for some sort of testosterone fueled brawl.

"I'm out of here." Maybe if I left, Blake would follow. Crisis averted. I turned and spotted Kayla in the crowd. "Blake, unless you want to take me, I'm going to catch a ride home with—"

My sentence was cut off by a loud crash. It took all my resolve to turn around again and face the storm: Ethan and Blake wrestling with each other. Whomever had started it had taken out the admission table in his haste to draw blood.

Teachers and chaperones swarmed the fighting boys, who seemed not to know when to give it up. I did, however. I'd had enough for one night.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Jack, but Blake is going to have to be his own minder now," I whispered to myself.

Kayla motioned for me to join her, Vanessa, and Darren in a little huddle.

When we were all close, she said, "Okay, who wants to get the hell out of here?"