As the leaves began to turn colors in Oregon, I sat on my bed without my talisman. It was in timeout for making me upset and for not working like I wanted it to.

After all the money I spent and work convincing Jack to dig it out of the ground for me, that was the thanks I got?

Sierra let out a sigh that she wanted me to hear and respond to.

What else did I have to do? Study? Funny.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that Dominic hasn't texted me in a while." She paused. "Or ever, really."

"What? I thought you two were going to get married and have ten kids."

"This is serious, Lindsay. He clearly doesn't like me back."

"So?"

She took in a breath. "You really expect me to believe that you've never had a crush on someone who didn't like you back?"

I nodded. "Never. Usually, I'm the one that does the not liking back."

Sierra let out another obnoxious sigh even though I was already talking to her and laid back on her bed. "What's not to like about me? Is it my nose?"

"What? Your nose is objectively adorable. I've never met anyone else who has such a perfect button nose."

"Then what is it?"

"Maybe it's the nosiness. You always have to know what's going on even if it's not your business," I said.

"Dammit, I knew it was my nose."

Yep. That was it.

"Look, I don't get what you like about him anyway. He's such a jerk and thinks he's better than everyone else. I only tolerate him because he knows about the talisman," I said.

Before Sierra could respond, someone (most likely Jack) knocked at the door.

She got up, took in a long deep breath, and let him in.

"Hi, Jack." I smiled.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" he asked.

I shook my head. "My talisman is in timeout, you're my only friend, and I have no money, so no."

"We're friends, Lindsay. You let me borrow your stuff all the time," Sierra said.

What? "I definitely do not do that."

"Anyway," Jack said before Sierra could rebuttal, "I was asking because I wanted to know if you want to watch us rehearse. And you missed Trailfest, so you have to say yes."

I laughed. "Then why did you ask me what I want if I have to go?"

He shrugged. "It seemed more polite that way."

"I'll gladly go. Sierra? You want to come?"

She nodded. "Anything to get my mind off of him."

Were she and I looking at and talking to the same person? There was no way we knew the same Dominic.

She didn't need to hear that he was actually somehow attached to me and the talisman, so I didn't mention it. She would find out soon enough anyway. I hadn't been able to keep anything about the talisman a secret.

Before I got put on academic probation, college Friday nights were pretty fun. For the first time in my life, I didn't have anyone breathing down my neck to make sure I lived up to some unattainable standard, and if I wanted to forget about everything, I had my new Irish best friend Jack. How did it get any better than that?

If I had my parents' money, my Friday nights would be even better with the talisman, but whatever pocket money I had had to go to that nightmare of an agreement Debbie forced on me.

I figured my parents would cave and send me the money they said was a waste on me. They always did before.

Maybe this would be a Friday night in the right direction. Sierra, Jack, and the rest of his band were a decent group of people to hang around, and as long as Dominic didn't catch a bad case of FOMO and find us thanks to the talisman, everything would be excellent.

I could always leave it behind. How would he figure out where we were without the talisman?

I shook my head. Leave the talisman behind? Over my dead body.

***

That evening, Sierra, Jack, and I headed into the garage of a house just off-campus. Harvey and a few of his non-band buddies rented it out each year, but even though it was cold with no sun, they never turned the space heater on unless I whined about it.

I tugged my denim jacket shut. "Can you turn on the heater? It's freezing in here."

"Why'd you bring her? She's not your girlfriend, and all she does is complain about how cold it is, which is not very punk of her," Harvey said.

"Look, that was a big misunderstanding. We went out one time, but it was a business meeting, not a date. I can see how it would be confusing," I said.

"You don't have to explain, Lindsay. It was a stupid thing for me to say, and nothing is going to change anyone's mind now," he said and set his guitar case down.

I had been around Jack, Harvey, and the other three guys in the band before, and we got along well enough, but I didn't care for any of them besides Jack.

"What was a stupid thing for Jack to say?" Sierra whispered to me.

I didn't bother telling her that was the nosiness I was talking about earlier. "Remember? Jack told his band that we're dating?"

"Oh, right." She looked over at Jack, who already struck up a conversation with the rest of his band. "Why don't you like him?"

I shrugged. "I just don't."

"I'm beginning to think you're secretly a lesbian. I mean, I would totally support you if you were, so you really don't have anything to worry about."

"Well, thank you, but I'm not. I just don't like people in general," I said.

"Except for me, of course."

"Especially you."

She laughed, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Did she think I meant it? I only kind of meant it.

How the hell was I supposed to fix that?

"Of course I like you. I couldn't imagine being forced into a tiny overpriced space with anyone else," I said, and instead of replying, she turned to Harvey.

"It really is cold in here. Could you please turn on the heat?" she said.

Harvey let out a loud sigh. "Maybe you should have brought a jacket."

"If I think I'm going to be inside in a heated environment, I don't bring a jacket. I feel like that's a reasonable policy to have," she replied.

"Yeah, how hard is it to turn on a space heater?" I said. For someone who didn't earn his spot as the leader of the band, he had a lot of nerve to irritate their only loyal fan.

"It's fussy as hell, so there's no point in even bothering with it," Harvey said.

"Just turn on the heater. What's he gonna do?" Jack said as he adjusted the little tuning things on the guitar. What were those called? Was there even a name for them?

Sierra laughed as we flipped on the heater and stood next to each other. "I didn't realize they think this is a serious operation they're running here. When's the last time they had a gig? Trailfest?"

"Yeah. I keep telling Jack he should move on to something better, but he's too loyal to Harvey. They've been playing together for three years," I said.

"Oh, okay. And you've heard them play before?"

I nodded. "They're pretty good when Jack is the only one playing."

Jack strummed a few times on the guitar, and my phone dinged with a text message.

I'm getting so sick of this shit. Three dots bounced under that message as Dominic wrote another.

I wasn't sure what he was sick of, but I agreed. I was very sick of everything too.

It's that feeling again. It gave me a damn asthma attack this time, so thanks for that, he continued, and the three dots popped up again.

How much did he have to say? This was a little ridiculous.

If I die from texting and driving, it's your fault too. This time, the little dots didn't show up again.

My fault? None of this was my fault.

"Who's that?" Sierra asked.

I wasn't about to lie to her about something that she'd have to learn to get over. "Dominic, unfortunately."

"Oh." She paused for a moment. "Do you guys have another presentation you have to do that you're making him do all the work for and it's taking all of his time?"

"Sure, yeah." Whatever helped her sleep at night. "He said he'll be here soon."

"Here? Why'd you tell him we're here? You know I'm not supposed to want to see him right now."

"Sorry," I said. She didn't need to know the whole story that he was somehow connected to the talisman.

Sierra didn't reply to that. Instead, she warmed her hands up by holding them right in front of the heat.

Harvey didn't live far off of campus, so as long as the talisman didn't steer him wrong to make me laugh (but when was the last time the talisman tried to be nice to me?), Dominic would be there soon. Unless Dominic was actually a ghost who lost the talisman years ago and was trying to get it back from me, there was no reason for any of this I need to find you feeling. If that were the case, he would have shot and killed me and dumped my body into the pond already.

And he claimed that he was the one with a right to get upset over the inconvenience. How the hell did he think that this magical stalking situation was worse for him? If anything, I was the one who should have been texting him that I was sick of that shit.

I didn't even want him around. Why couldn't he or the talisman take the hint?

Even though Jack, Harvey, and the rest of the band were finally set up to play, I wasn't in the mood to listen to them anymore. But it wasn't like I could leave. Jack would be mad, and he was my ride back to campus in a warm car.

As the drummer started to play loudly by himself with everyone else in place, I thought to myself that it was a bold, creative choice to start off a song with a drum solo. It wasn't my style, but Jack's talent transcended that. He sang backup with more heart than Harvey did in the lead, and I knew about not having heart. Life was much easier that way.

Just before Harvey could start singing, the garage door opened on its own, and there stood Dominic.

"Well, I'm here now, and nothing is happening, so can I go now?" Dominic said.

"Nothing is happening? Art is happening, bro," Harvey said.

"Is that what you call it?" Dominic turned to me. "Lindsay, can I talk to you?"

I nodded and left the warmth to Sierra. Why couldn't we whisper by the heater? That was a much better option.

"Can someone close the door? They're letting all the cold air in," Sierra said, and someone shut the door behind me.

"What is it?" I asked when we were away from everyone else's ears.

"You need to fix this. I'm so tired of all of this, and I don't think I can stand one more day of dropping everything for no reason," he said.

"I don't know what to tell you. Dr. Reed doesn't have any answers, and I have never wished for your presence ever, so what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Well, do something, because I'm this close to taking that piece of shit and throwing it into the ocean."

"Why do you keep acting like you get the crappy end of this deal? The fact that this golden piece of glorified garbage thinks that you need to know everywhere I go is so much worse than having to follow me around," I said.

"What are you talking about? It's a nightmare to feel like I have to be wherever the talisman is even though I know it's stupid and pointless. And the fact that you're at the finish line makes it ten thousand times worse."

"What did I ever do to you? I normally get why people don't like me, but not you," I said.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Oh, you know exactly what it is."

"No, I don't. Tell me what you hate about me."

He paused. "Are you really that dumb?"

"Tell me. I can handle it."

"No, you can't. You'll laugh even though your feelings are hurt. But hell, I'll tell you anyway."

I raised my eyebrows. Was this another win for me?

"On the first day of class, Dr. Roberts asked us all to introduce ourselves and tell why we were taking the class. Remember that?"

I nodded. "Sure. I said that I was only there because the school wanted to waste my time with worthless gen ed classes."

"What kind of bitch says that?"

This bitch, obviously. "I don't see how one bitchy comment is enough for everything you've said to me."

"Well, maybe if you learned to speak a different way, you'd get that you said that talking to me is worthless. I'm losing my hearing, and one day, it's gonna be gone, and what am I going to have? Lip reading?"

All those times I thought he was ignoring me, he wasn't. He legitimately didn't hear me.

I covered my mouth. "I didn't know that. How was I supposed to know?"

"You don't know nearly as much as you think you do about everyone else," he said.

"Well, you don't know anything about me."

He held up his hand. "And we're gonna keep it that way. Let me know when we can talk to Dr. Reed about finally solving what's going on."

With that, he headed back to his car and drove off. What was I supposed to say to him?

I pulled my jacket close to my body and smacked my hand on the garage door.

"Can you guys let me back in? It's cold," I called, but no one answered or opened the door. They must not have heard me over the music.

I took in a breath that chilled my nose. "Fan-freaking-tastic."

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Hello! How's it going? Thank you so much for reading!

So what is Lindsay going to do with this information? What's Dominic going to do now that she knows?