I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised when I saw him walk into the halfway house while I was working later that same week. I think my shock came mostly from just seeing a face that I hadn’t seen since the night of my mother’s death. Still, his voice startled me when it sounded in my ear.

“You really should keep that door locked,” Adam said as he walked in.

I was all alone in the building since most of the kids didn’t come in until it got closer to dinnertime. I hadn’t kept the door locked since mom died. I just didn’t feel like I was scared of anything anymore.

I set the broom against the wall, giving myself something to do other than shriek.

“It’s Adam, right?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“I remember you,” I said. “And I saw you at my school a few weeks ago.” I noticed his jacket again and motioned my hand toward it. “So, you’re a Lineage student now, huh? The jacket looks nice on you.”

He chuckled and then took the jacket off to hang over the back of a chair. Wow, I guess I hadn’t noticed his body before.

It was kind of nice, for a Lineage boy.

“Thanks,” he said. “Although I’m not sure I fit in there very well.” He flicked his nose ring with his finger. “I get told just about every day to take this piercing out. They haven’t gotten me to do it yet, though.”

I laughed at that. Lineage was notorious for conformity. I bet he was really testing the patience of some of the faculty there. He walked in closer to me, so I offered him a seat to sit and talk.

“So how did you manage to get into Lineage?” I asked. “I mean, no offense, but it’s pretty impossible unless you have family that’s alumni there.”

“The guy I was with when I came to your school got me in,” he answered. “Michael.”

I inadvertently made a face at the mention of Michael's name, which made Adam laugh again.

“I guess you’re not a fan of his,” he joked.

“How exactly did that work?” I asked, ignoring his comment. “I didn’t think you could just bring random people into admissions.”

“You ask a lot of questions,” he said.

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s kind of a thing with me.”

The shadow of a grin ticked his cheek. “Michael’s mom is the headmistress there, and supposedly there’s some clause in their admissions policy that says an existing student can sponsor your admission if there’s a strong relationship. Like if someone gets adopted or becomes someone’s girlfriend or stuff like that.”

“Wait, so you were either adopted by Michael’s mom, or you became his girlfriend?” I teased.

Adam’s laugh was contagious, and when he laughed, the defined muscles in his chest pressed against his tight black T-shirt. Causing me to stare.

An embarrassing amount of staring, actually.

Adam snorted. “Nah, he was able to twist his mom’s arm to make a special exception for me. I think he needed a friend, and I think his mom was eager to seem like she was doing something charitable by allowing a homeless and parentless guy into her school.”

“That seems like the kind of publicity stunt Marta would do,” I said.

I didn’t know much about Michael’s mother, but I knew enough to know that she was the kind of manipulative widow that would make a great movie villain. “Do you like it there at Lineage?”

He tilted his head to the side. “It’s alright. I mean, I’m way far behind in classes since I didn’t start when most of the other people started college, and they’re not really my people, if you know what I mean. It’s better than being on the streets, though. And, I get to see you again.”

I skipped over his last sentiment. “Actually, most people from the two colleges aren’t allowed to intermingle. I was surprised to see you at Goldshire.”

He quirked and eyebrow and I giggled. “All right, all right. I was surprised to see you again at all.”

He licked his lips. “That’s more like it.”

I hadn’t meant anything by that comment, only that I was genuinely surprised to have seen him again. He surprised me by leaning forward across the table and took my hand in his. His eyes looked serious and intent. “Lisette, I’m really sorry about what happened to your mother that night.”

“Thanks,” I said, and I hoped he caught my tone of voice that said “move past it now”.

There wasn’t any reason to say “thanks” to someone for apologizing for the death of someone unimportant to them. Still, it always just seemed like the easiest response to get people to move on to something else and end the awkwardness of an unnecessarily polite situation.

“I didn’t kill her,” Adam said as he continued to stare at me and press his hands around mine.

I blinked. “What? Why would you say that?”

His hands continued closing around mine. “Because I was there that night, too, and I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t the one who killed her.”

My mind started to race, and I felt my heartbeat pound against my ribs. Then, Adam spoke the words I had been dying for literally anyone else to say to me to confirm that I wasn’t crazy. “You think she was murdered too, don’t you?”

I leaned forward so that our faces were as close as they could get from across the table. “You don’t believe it was suicide, do you?”

“I didn’t say that,” he stumbled over his words. “I just meant that—”

Adam let go of my hands and pushed the chair back quickly with his legs to stand up. “I need to get to class,” he said, suddenly in a big hurry. “I’ll see you soon, though.”

“No!” I shouted as I ran to the door to block his way. “You know something about my mother’s death, don’t you? You have to tell me, Adam. Please!” I felt myself getting hysterical.

Adam shook his head at me. “No, I don’t know anything. I need to get to class.”

I wasn’t about to let him leave without giving me an answer. “If you don’t know anything, then why did you come back here to see me?”

“I came back here to see you because I’ve wanted to see you again ever since the night that I left,” he said.

And I was so completely stunned by what he said that I let him pass by me and leave. So, when I gained my wits about me again, I rushed out the door. I looked around, hoping and praying his conscience had talked him into staying.

However, when I looked out the door again, he was gone.

4

I didn’t tell Julian about Adam. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it yet, and I didn’t want to get him all fired-up and into protective mode unnecessarily.

The next few days passed by uneventfully, though. I went to class, much to Julian’s surprise, and I then went to work. The rest of my time, I spent either hanging out with Julian or alone in my dorm room trying to piece together the fragmented thoughts in my mind. I had a journal that I wrote in sometimes, just to dump some of the thoughts out of my head and down onto a piece of paper where they would be safely stored away.

And I found that journal calling my name as I gravitated toward it.