Page 105 of Hide and Keep

“Littoral. I’m meeting with the dean.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Mm-hm.”

After using the visor mirror to reblend my makeup, I take small hesitant bites of my breakfast. Plain Greek yogurt tastes awful on its own, so I’m not sure I’d be able to tell if anything was done to it.

At a stoplight, Crue picks up the black tourmaline I keep in one of the center cup holders, inspecting the polished tumblestone.

“Why is there a rock in your car?”

“It’s not a rock. It’s a crystal.”

“Why is there a crystal in your car?”

“Same reason I have crystals everywhere, because they have powers.”

“What kind of powers?”

“That one’s black tourmaline and it’s good for protection.”

“What do you need protection from in your car?”

“Shouldn’t you, of all people, know? You’re the expert on vehicular catastrophes.”

The thud the black tourmaline makes from Crue dropping it back into the cup holder sets my teeth on edge.

Neither of us speaks, both of us focused on the winding road ahead as Crue gets back up to speed, the bright yellows, whites, and pinks of spring making everything seem so much more hopeful than it actually is.

At Littoral, Crue helps me out of my car, which is a first, and hopefully not a last.

Releasing my hand, he immediately latches on to my wrist.

“You weren’t wearing this earlier.” He thumbs my brown-and-tan beaded bracelet.

“How do you know that?”

“I just do. They don’t ruin your aesthetic?”

Probably. But I don’t care.

“No, they don’t.”

“Your clones don’t wear them.”

“They don’t believe in crystals.”

“These are crystals, too?”

“Yes.”

“What’s this one’s power?”

“Tiger’s eye provides protection from other people’s bad intentions.”

“Whose bad intentions?”

“Everybody’s.”

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