I waited in my usual spot against the wall outside of the locker room for Kamari—and possibly Demitri. He walked home with us most days. Well, by “us,” of course I meant he and Kamari walked and talked together, and I trailed behind them like a sad puppy texting Chelsea about how hot Demitri was.

But not today. I could still turn it around. Before now, I didn’t think Demitri and I had any common ground outside of my brother, and I wasn’t going to talk about him. But he liked books! And not just any books, but the same kind of books I did. Or at least this one, but the possibilities were endless.

It started with just the one book, but there were others by this author. I could recommend him a few, and then we could talk about them together. Maybe have our own little book club. And I wouldn’t have to worry about Kamari bursting in, because he thought fantasy was dumb and for kids, but Demitri wasn’t like that.

I sighed, imagining it now. He’d come out of the locker room, a new book in hand, that beautiful smile on his face as he saw me and my copy. We’d walk home together, talking about the characters and the plot…maybe the romance. And one thing would lead to another, and when we got to my house he’d lean in and—

“Nice face-plant, loser.”

Naomi’s callous laugh pulled me out of the daydream. She and her cronies were sauntering toward me down the hall. Shame burned in my throat as Hannah acted out a comical version of my tumble just for them to laugh at hysterically. It wasn’t that funny, I thought, cringing.

I didn’t bother to speak up. All it would do was throw gasoline on her petty little fire. Naomi tossed her long, glossy hair in my face as they passed me. I glared but did my best to ignore her. Comebacks were not my strong suit; it was best to let it go.

“So, did I tell you girls who slid in my DMs last night?” she asked, loud enough that I wondered if she wanted me to hear her in the empty hallway. “Our very own Adonis—Demitri.”

My heart stuttered in my chest, then sank.

“We have third period together—you know how he always sits right next to me—and he tried to pretend it was about the homework, but…well.” She turned a sly little smile on her friends, and they all burst into giggles.

“Well” what? I wanted to scream. What does “well” mean?!

“I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he asks me out, and I bet it’ll be after this weekend’s game,” she crowed as they finally turned the corner.

I slid down against the wall, my heart heavy with disappointment. But then again, what did I have to be disappointed about? It wasn’t like I had a chance with him anyway.

***

Trailing behind Kamari and Demitri, I managed to shove that disappointment away. Demitri was a senior; he’d be leaving for college soon, so if I was going to catch his attention, I had to do it soon. And even if I didn’t have Naomi’s hair or her confidence, I had one thing she didn’t: this time, right now, walking home with him.

She only saw him around school, but I had a walking-home-field advantage. Sure, Kamari was kind of in my way, but right now, it was just about establishing a baseline level of communication beyond “Hey,” “See ya later,” or “Are you okay?” when I did something stupid.

The guys were talking about some football strategy for the upcoming game I couldn’t keep up with—I’d tried joining their football talk and just made a bigger fool of myself than this afternoon—but I waited for a break in their conversation and took my chance.

As Kamari inhaled to start in on his next point, I blurted, “Captain Rogers has to be cursed, right? I mean, I haven’t finished yet, but that’s the only explanation for the stunt he pulled at the Bazaar.”

By the end of my statement, the confusion on both my brother and Demitri’s faces let me know he had no idea what I was going on about. Still, I forced a laugh, like it was the most normal thing in the world, hoping against hope that he’d catch on and I wouldn’t look as stupid as I felt.

Kamari cocked an eyebrow. “Luna, I know you’re a massive weirdo, but what the hell are you talking about?”

“Ohh!” Demitri’s frown cleared—mostly. “The book. Yeah, um…no spoilers, I guess, but I see why you think so.”

They both stared at me for a second longer, like they were waiting for me to blurt something else out, but I was frozen with humiliation.

Kamari rolled his eyes. “Anyway…”

They turned and kept walking, and I wished for the umpteenth time for a crater to open and suck me into the earth.