I realized once again that I didn’t know much about him, not even what he was studying.

I hoped that I wasn’t banging the door down. But that’s the kind of question you ask your friends, isn’t it? That’s what Grace did and that’s what I’d seen Larissa do.

That was the last thing I wanted... Maybe I needed to be more specific.

Erik did nothing for a moment, but then he started typing.

It sounded exactly like my family, except that as a human he certainly didn’t have such devastating problems as a Quatura.

He spoke from my soul. I was asked to integrate myself into the Circle, to help Grace fulfill the prophecy. I had to give everything, give myself up. After all, that’s what it meant to be part of something bigger.

I had to ask this question. Something inside me wanted him to at least be able to put that burden down with me.

I smiled sadly, albeit with relief.

I wanted to ask more questions, wanted to know what exactly his family wanted from him. What if I could help him? If I could be useful to at least one person in my life. One person who saw that I only wanted the best for him.

My own thoughts were enough to remind me of the fragility of all our relationships. Of how I must have been important to my mother until I reminded her more and more of my father every day.

I had never met him, but that was normal for us. The fathers were there to impregnate the mothers and were not allowed to know about us any more than other people.

I looked at the display again.

I swallowed.

If he knew that nothing felt uncomfortable with him except the fact that I couldn’t tell him everything...even having to lie to him.

My heart jumped without me asking it to.

I couldn’t help but smile at his words.

“You seem to have fun.”

Startled, I looked toward the door where Larissa was leaning in her black leather jacket with her arms crossed, grinning at me with amusement.

She seemed to have a talent for catching me texting with Erik.

“I’ve got you to myself now, by the way,” she said, with a broad grin, as if she had planned an assassination attempt on me and came straight toward me, only to drop onto my bed.

“I’m allowed, right?”

Larissa was the epitome of graceful extraversion.

But maybe it was just me. I was too quiet for this noisy world.

I couldn’t help but nod.

She grabbed me by the shoulders and I looked at her in surprise.

“Now tell me, who is this mysterious Erik?”

“Now I want to know who this Erik is, too” it came from the door.

Bayla Adams looked first at Larissa, then at me, a thousand question marks above her head, before looking back at Larissa with a smirk.

Thank you, Larissa. Really. Thank you.

“Julie has a secret boyfriend.” She looked at me as if I had some information for her that everyone was dying to know. “Does Grace actually know about this?”

“No, and I want to keep it that way,” I said, giving Larissa a serious look.

“Ooh, seems to be something very secret indeed.”

She winked at me.

“Not anymore,” I sighed.

I looked at Bay, who raised her hands with a grin. “Sorry.”

“Wow, now that’s what I call deep talk.”

I looked at Larissa, who was grinning and holding my laptop in her arms.

Startled, I snatched it out of her hands and immediately felt my cheeks heat up.

“Does he go to university here, too?”

“Larissa, stop interfering in other people’s lives. There are things you can’t always stick your nose into.”