"Psst!" I whisper to Lola.

"What?" she says, a little loud for my comfort.

Thank goodness Gillian didn't hear that. "Note." I hand her a note. On it, I have written:

Talk to Raea about the note after lunch.

She hands me a note back:

Not enough time. After dinner.

***

After classes are done, Coral and I head to dinner.

I train my eyes on the floor. I was always and am still bad with secrets.

"What's bothering you today?" Coral asks.

"Nothing, you know, just usual strain of school..." I improvise, hoping she'll believe it.

"Sure..." she says, clearly unconvinced.

"Look, look," I say quickly to not disappoint Coral, "we are, I mean, Lola and I were going to the library after dinner." At least some of that is true.

"Oh! Can I come?" Coral asks.

"It's for Sage's class. It's project, we have to write an essay on wolves... " I ramble.

Coral looks sad. "Are you still my friend? You're not talking to me, you're so preoccupied, you're keeping secrets."

"No-," I try to improvise but Coral cuts me off.

"Don't lie. Please." Coral squeezes my hand and walk away, not looking back.