I washed away my guilt for ditching Blake with a raspberry Italian soda. Sure, Jack had given me one job and one job only, but it wasn't like I could follow Blake home and stare at him while he slept. Still, despite my inclination to keep my distance, I sent him a text asking if he was okay. I checked my phone every few minutes while we waited for our pizza to arrive.

No response.

My parents, thrilled that their daughter had made friends who would want to hang out with her on a Friday night, insisted our Veggie Labyrinth pizza was on the house. I sat with my elbows on the table, head resting on my hands, thinking about Dakota's seeming connection with Ethan and Zeke, and how Blake tied into all of it. I knew for sure now—Ethan had made up the rumor about me lusting after Blake. He'd told it to Dakota, and she'd spread it all over the school, just as Ethan knew she would. What was he playing at?

I couldn't wait to tell Jack about it. He'd have some sort of insight. Slumping against the booth, I remembered my cruel new reality—Jack might not be there to tell my news to when I got home. He might never be there again.

"Mazie," Vanessa nudged me. "Did you even hear anything we just said?"

"Hmm?" I looked up at three expectant faces. "Sorry, I'm just tired. The dance was quite the shitshow."

Kayla caught my eye and nodded. What a relief it was to have a friend who was in the know. "Well, what we were saying is that we got out of there just in time. Ace texted me and said they shut the dance down after the fight and questioned a lot of kids about what happened."

I snorted. The only people who knew what happened, or rather, why it happened were not going to tell the teachers a damn thing. "Good luck with that. We've been trying for... how long now, Kayla?"

Darren looked over at Kayla. "What does she mean?"

Kayla narrowed her eyes. "Can I talk to you a minute, Mazie? Like, alone?"

I shrugged. Vanessa moved out of the booth to let me up and Darren did the same for Kayla, who then dragged me over to the side near the swinging doors leading to Mazzeria's kitchen. "What is wrong with you? I love Darren and Vanessa, but they aren't exactly ready to hear about Jack. Why are you acting this way? Is it about Blake?"

"Not everything is about that boy," I scowled. "But also, yes, it is." I recounted to her what had happened when Blake came to whisk me off to the dance. I rubbed at my eyes trying to keep the waterworks at bay. "So, there you have it. Jack is gone. Maybe forever. And the last thing he asked of me is for be to watch out for Blake, which I absolutely am not prepared to do."

Kayla stood silently for a moment, then nodded. "You're catastrophizing again. Jack will come back. Blake got into a fight with Ethan because they're both stupid boys."

"Blake isn't stupid."

"Don't defend him. He has issues, and one of them is that he was stupid enough to date Dakota, which is probably what this is all about anyways. Dakota most likely decided to slum it one day and had a roll in the hay with Ethan, hence the tension between them."

I stood a little taller. "Oh my god."

"See, it's a logical theory."

"No. I mean, yes. It's a great theory, only..."

"Only what, Mazie?"

"I have to go home to see if Jack is there."

"I get that." She patted my shoulder. "Of course, you're worried about him, but our pizza hasn't even arrived yet."

"You can have my slice." I rushed back to the table and grabbed my purse. Vanessa and Darren looked at me like I was about to tell them the alien mothership had landed. "I just remembered that I need to be at home right now. See you all on Monday. Oh, and try the spumoni ice cream. It's really good."

I rushed through the darkened streets of Dorn, not even changing to the other side of the street to avoid the omnipresent jug band. My body tingled and I walked faster. The thought of coming home to a spirit-free house made me want to turn back and linger with my friends in Mazzeria until closing time. But I had to press on and hope he'd be there. I wasn't ready to share my theory with anyone else yet, not even Kayla. Hopefully, she wouldn't take my lack of forthrightness to heart.

The theory bubbled over in my mind. Dakota knew the brothers. They seemed familiar with her—not like they'd met her right before the dance. They'd been previously acquainted. Zeke had stood so close to her. Not touching, but almost. Dakota, who hated everyone but her fellow Populars, didn't care that she was being seen with Ethan and Zeke. And it was Zeke, not Ethan, who cut into her personal space like he'd done it before. Like she wanted him to. Kayla had been closer to the truth than she knew. Her only mistake had been which brother.

The web was being woven, but the flies weren't caught yet. At a near sprint, I closed the distance between myself and home. I needed Jack to be there and I needed him to work through the clues with me. Something didn't add up, and if it was going to, I either needed Jack to remember or Blake to tell me more than he wanted to. Between the two of them, I had a feeling I would have better luck with a disappearing, forgetful ghost.

I reached my block and ran the rest of the distance to my house. It stood as it always did, a crumbling reminder of how easily the Earth can reclaim what humans foolishly assume is theirs. No Jack in the window, only the shimmering glow of the disco ball I'd forgotten to shut off earlier in the day. My heart pounded. Of course, Jack wouldn't be waiting for me at a window. That didn't mean anything. He could go just about anywhere in the house now. He could turn the television on and off.

I lifted the pot of orange chrysanthemums sitting on our porch next to the front door and grabbed the house key, my hand shaking as I slid it into the lock. "Jack?" I stepped inside and flipped on a light. The living room was silent, the television off.

Closing the door behind me, I ran up the stairs. No Jack in my room, or any other room on that floor. My heart continued to pound as I headed up the attic stairs. He had to be here. He couldn't leave me, not when we were so close to figuring out why he was here in the first place. I needed him to exist. He was as real to me as Blake and I couldn't let him go, not at least, before I had a chance to say that. "Jack?"

Multicolor lights spun in circles, casting rainbows around the normally dingy space. I cleared the stairs and sank against the wall, wanting to weep and never stop. "Jack, please don't be gone."

"Where would I go?"

My breath caught. I turned towards the back of the house, and there he was, standing with his hands in his pockets. I leapt up and stepped towards him.

"You're crying," he said. His voice was steady, but he refused to meet my gaze.

"Are you mad at me, Jack? You disappeared, and I wanted to stay here and wait for you to return, but you'd asked me to go with Blake, and so I did."

"I'm not mad at you, Mazie."

I didn't believe him. Jack had never lied to me and yet, he seemed distant. His eyes still refused to meet mine and his lip twitched.

"I'm so glad you're back," I continued. "A lot happened. I've worked out some more clues, but I need your help. It's a lot to ask, but I need you to remember—"

"I do remember."

The force of his words stilled my own. My tongue felt heavy. "What? What do you remember?"

"I know what happened to me. I mean, what happened to Blake—what will happen to Blake. I think that's why I'm here and only you can see me."

"Are you serious?" I leaned against the wall to keep from falling over. No wonder he was so somber. This was heavy stuff we were treading into. "What happened to you?"

"You mean, what's going to happen to me. My past, his future." He paused, his shoulders hunched like he was carrying an invisible backpack filled with rocks. "And yours."

Mine? I swallowed and nodded. "Okay, what's our future hold?"

"Something bad will happen to me in this house." His foot tapped gently against the ground, once, twice, then came to a halt. "Someone is going to kill me."

I swallowed again. My God. He remembered his own death. "Did you... did you see who did it? Who's going to kill you?"

He spun around and buzzed and I held my breath, afraid he'd disappear again. Instead, he steadied and then he pointed a finger at me. He raised his gaze to meet mine with eyes tinged red like the edges of paper from an old hymnal.

"It's you, Mazie. You're going to kill me."