I look down at the message and feel my heart racing.

Then I turn to Charlie. Her brown eyes are wide.

"Do you think...?" she starts "Do you think it's them? The ones who took Crystal?"

I frown and pull my own phone out of my pocket.

"Maybe" I say "Just a sec - I'm going to make a call."

I rush out of the room and listen for a moment. I can hear my dad's snores through his bedroom door down the hallway.

Good - he's asleep. No chance of being overheard.

I take a seat on the top step of the stairs and raise my phone. I pause. My first instinct is to call Cupid but I realise I don't have his number.

I scroll through my messages to find the one from Cal then press the dial button.

It rings a few times before he picks up.

"Hello?" he says sullenly.

"Cal" I whisper "Charlie's just got a text."

I can immediately sense the change in Cal's mood.

"From the Arrows?" he asks.

"I don't know" I reply "I think so. It's from an unknown number and Charlie knows everyone"

I hear Cal inhale sharply.

"What does it say?"

I bite my lip.

"It says they'll see her at the Forever Falls Dance on Wednesday" I say darkly "What should we do?"

He falls silent a moment as though in thought.

"Forward the message on to me" he says "I'll see if I recognise the number"

He sighs heavily.

"If we hadn't have got caught breaking into the Matchmaking Service I would have been able to use their tracking technology to find out where the message was sent." he says - a sad note to his tone "But I can't go back now. Not until all of this has blown over"

I feel sorry for him a moment. I hadn't thought about how Cupid's plan would implicate Cal.

"I'm sorry" I mutter "This is my fault. I'm sorry we got caught..,"

"What?" he replies suddenly - his voice unusually soft "It wasn't your..."

He stops speaking then sighs.

"Just send me the message" he snaps.

I roll my eyes to myself and key his number into Charlie's phone.

Seconds later there's a pause and a shuffling sound at the other end of the line as Cal checks the message.

"Well?" I whisper "Do you recognise it? Any chance of tracking it?"

"No" he says blankly "I think we'll have to wait this one out."

I frown.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

He pauses again then sighs.

"I mean we'll need to prepare ourselves for Wednesday" he says "Looks like we'll all be going to the Forever Falls High School Dance"

***

I sleep exceptionally well considering the drama of the past few days – but then again I haven't slept properly since Thursday night.

Sunday morning I check in with dad while Charlie is getting ready upstairs.

He seems to be having one of his better days today, and makes bacon sandwiches for us both for breakfast.

"I haven't seen you use the kitchen in a while!" I remark, leaning against the counter.

"Well – if it's a problem I can always take those sandwiches back...!" he replies.

I roll my eyes and smile.

"Not a problem" I say "It's nice"

He looks sad a moment.

"I know I haven't been...well...myself much lately" he says "Not since your mom..."

He pauses a moment then smiles.

"Well I want to do better is all" he says – giving me a kiss on the forehead.

I nod and smile.

"Thanks dad" I reply as Charlie bounds into the room.

After breakfast Charlie and I head to the town square. There's a small, slightly dated clothes shop down one of the side streets and we decide to see if we can pick anything out for the dance on Wednesday.

Charlie seems to be dealing with Crystal's disappearance pretty well – and I wonder if on some level her new cupid instincts are helping. As someone who loves a drama – I'd expected her to be a bit more agitated about this, but she is fairly serene as we walk into the store.

It feels nice to be doing something as normal as shopping after the week we've both had.

"So Cupid and Cal told the police about Crystal, right?" she asks as she runs her hand along one of the clothes racks.

I pause.

Of course we couldn't get the police involved in something like this. What would they do?

I'd discussed with Cal what I would say if Charlie asked this – and I take a deep breath before I tell my rehearsed speech.

"Yes" I lie "But Cupid and Cal think that the people that took her were people she knew – that they took her as a kind of hoax. And that she's fine"

My friend pulls out a long green dress from the rack and holds it to her body. She frowns.

"But you think that message I got last night was from the same people that took her?" she says "And they're going to the dance?"

I nod.

"Yeah" I say "Cal thinks it's all some kind of game. We track them down at the dance – then they'll tell us where Crystal is"

She shrugs and puts the green dress back. We continue to look at the different clothes on display in silence, then Charlie looks up at me uncomfortably.

"How are you going to deal with the whole..." she pauses, not quite meeting my eye "...James situation"

I sigh.

I'd had to tell Charlie about their kiss as she had forgotten about it - and she had been mortified.

"I was trying not to think about it" I say "But it's definitely over between us."

She looks at me sadly.

"Lila" she begins "I'm so sorry..."

I shake my head and smile weakly.

"Look – just forget about it" I say.

It wasn't her fault.

Charlie smiles then turns to the rack behind her. There are a few awkward moments before she plucks out a strapless black dress.

"Hey – this would look awesome on you" she says – holding it up against my body.

I roll my eyes.

I hate wearing dresses.

"It's just...not me" I say.

She thrusts it into my hands.

"Just try it" she says. "I bet Cupid would like it"

She raises an eyebrow, her eyes glittering mischievously.

"Oh shut up!" I say, snatching the dress off her "Why would I care what he thinks??"

Charlie gives me a knowing look then grins.

"You care!" She says "Do you think he'll ask you to the dance?"

I glare at her and skulk off to the changing rooms – but not before she catches the half smile I'm trying to hide.

With all that's going on, and all that is at stake, I feel terrible for even entertaining the thought I'm having.

But...will he ask me...?

***

We all had different classes during Monday morning, so I planned to meet Cal and Cupid in my free period in the afternoon.

Just after lunch I head to our designated meeting place in the school gym.

They're both sat on one of the benches as I walk in. Cal looks uncomfortable to be alone with his brother and sits rigidly about a metre away from him. They're both dressed casually in jeans, with Cal wearing a plain blue sweater, and Cupid a light grey hoody.

They both look up as I approach. Cupid jumps down in front of me.

Even though he looks like he's just rolled out of bed, he still wouldn't look out of place in a fashion magazine.

"Hey Lila" he says. "Anything exciting happen?"

I shake my head.

"Nothing to report" I say "Do we have a plan for Wednesday? For how to deal with the Arrows?"

Cal approaches.

"The dance is going to be in here" he says "We hide some weapons around the room in case they're needed. And we plant one of these" he pulls out a small microchip that looks a bit like the one used in the Sim "on one of the Arrows."

"It's a tracking device. Cal had a couple of old ones lying about." grins Cupid "It's not as effective as using the Matchmaking Service to find out where Charlie's text came from, but providing we can plant it on one of the Arrows - it should lead us right to Crystal."

I nod.

"Then we go and rescue her?" I ask.

"Then Cupid or I go and rescue her" Cal says sharply "One of us will stay with you to make sure this whole thing isn't just a trap to get to you"

I frown – suddenly nervous.

"You think that's possible?"

Cupid nods.

"Afraid so" he says grimly.

We talk tactics for a bit and when the bell rings we all head off out of the gym towards our classes.

"I'm this way" I say to the brothers, taking a left turn.

I'm halfway down the corridor when I hear footsteps behind me.

"Lila...?" calls Cupid.

I turn round to find him inches away from me. I can feel his heat through his hooded top.

My breath catches in my throat.

He is standing too close but I don't take a step back.

"Yes...?" I ask - looking up at his face.

He pauses and looks sheepish for a moment.

"This may be a weird question after all that's going on..." he says "But..."

I raise my eyebrows, my stomach suddenly feeling nervous.

He grins wickedly.

"Will you go to the dance with me?"