I was walking to my car when Erik caught up with me again.

"Wow." He said, absolutely amazed. "You actually got dismissed from Gym early. That's never happened before either."

"It's really easy to amaze you. And confuse you, too."

"Very funny."

Then something hit me.

"Um, Erik?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember what happened at lunch today?"

"Yes."

"So…would you say…that…just maybe…our families aren't very…fond of each other…?"

"Rose, what are you getting at?"

"What do you think would happen if we got caught together?"

He thought about that for a moment.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." And with that, he turned and walked towards his car, all the way across the lot.

I watched him for a moment, and then turned back towards my car.

The rest of my family was already there, waiting for me. The only reason they were waiting for me was because I had the key. If it were, say, Ashlie's turn to drive, then they would've been gone by now, leaving me to hitch-hike or walk.

"Hey," I said as I unlocked the doors and climbed into the driver seat. Ashlie sat in the passenger seat, Taylor in the middle in the back, Drew on her left, Jamie on her right.

"So, what's his name?" Ashlie asked in her cheerful voice, obviously trying to get information.

"Um, Drew?" I pretended to play dumb. But it didn't work very well. We know when one of us is acting or they honestly don't know what we're talking about. I started the engine and drove out of the lot.

"Yeah?" Drew asked.

"No, not Drew," Ashlie was starting to get irritated, which was good on my part. "The guy you were just with. Who is he?"

"Rose, don't try to hide it. I'll know," Jamie threatened.

I sighed. "His name is Erik."

"Erik…" Ashlie pressed.

"Yeah, it seems you to have quite a connection." Drew said.

"They have a what!" Jamie demanded.

"Some sort of connection," he answered, and then spoke to all of us, especially me. "When you two were together just now, I saw this silver cord going through you. The strange thing is, it didn't go all the way through you…it just stopped…like it was binding you two together…weird, right?"

"Way," Ashlie agreed.

"Totally," Jamie added.

"Definitely," Taylor said.

"Ok, then," I wondered what a silver cord looked like. Of course I'd seen one before, but I've never seen one going through two people. We drove down different roads, taking turns left and right, till we finally got to our house.

It was just the five of us; we each got our own bedrooms, and cars. My room was in the basement, with Ashlie's right next me. Drew and Jamie were across the hall from each other. Taylor, for some reason, wanted the attic.

We had an early dinner, as usual, and then talked about our day. We finished talking about anything to keep Ashlie's mouth shut, so then we got an hour's worth of Ashlie lecturing us on how gym was so unfair and how almost every boy on campus was crushing on one of us Montoya girls and all this other stuff we already knew and didn't care much about. Finally, she said something useful.

"Wow. It's been a long day. I'm going to bed."

"'Kay," the rest of us said, almost at the same time.

"'Night, guys."

"'Night." Ashlie walked down the stairs, gracing us with peace and quiet.

"Hey," Jamie said, once Ashlie was gone. "Did anyone check the mail today?"

"I'll grab it," I was closest to the door anyway. So, maybe 9 o'clock at night is a strange hour to check the mail. We didn't care; we're already pretty strange.

In the mail, we had: the water bill, the electricity bill, Ashlie's credit card debt (it was time to talk to her about that…again!), and a small piece of paper folded in half, addressed to me in very nice handwriting. I opened it only to find the same handwriting on a piece of light lavender, floral stationary.

Meet me up the river, Midnight.

I wondered who would send something like this to me. I didn't even know where the river was! How was I going to find it if I didn't know where it was? Maybe if I GoogleMapped it, I'd be able to find it. Or I could follow the sound of the river coming somewhere from my backyard. I stuffed the piece of paper into my pocket and walked back in before anyone noticed I'd been out here a little too long.

"Anything interesting?" Jamie asked as I walked in.

"Yes, actually," but I wasn't about to tell them about the strange letter. I told them about Ashlie's credit card. "Ashlie's last 'Shop-Till-You-Die-Shopping-Spree' hit a new record."

"How much?" Drew asked, "Or do I really want to know?" Drew was the first one of us to get changed, so he kind of took the role of 'leader' or whatever you want to call it.

"Drew, you do not want to hear it," Jamie said when I showed her the open envelope.

"Oh, my God," Taylor muttered. She was leaning on the table, her elbow supporting most of her weight, her hand on her forehead supporting her head.

"It can't be that bad," Drew countered.

"Oh yes it can!" Jamie said back, eyes still on the paper.

"She spent $629 dollars." I got it out of the way.

Drew and Taylor were silent, staring at me as if I'd just gone crazy.

"Oh, my God," they said at the exact time.

"Time to take her Visa away," Jamie mumbled. And all together, we said, "Again."

"I'm going to bed," Drew said, coming out of shock. And without another word, he walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, me too," Taylor stretched. "'Night."

"Night, Tay," Jamie and I said. She walked upstairs.

I put the rest of the mail down on the counter, except my secret note, still hiding in my pocket.

"Rose," Jamie said. She used the voice that usually meant I was in trouble.

"Yes?" I asked, hesitant.

"Rose, is there something you want to tell me?" she was still using that voice.

"No. Why?" But I had a very good feeling on what she was going to say.

She sighed. "Look, Rose. I know Erik. I know he's a Masen. And I know you're probably going out to meet him tonight."

"What?" I asked, still playing dumb.

"I saw him put the note in our mailbox, Rose, which is why I asked if anyone had checked the mail. And while you were checking the mail, I flashed." Flashed is what we call it when Jamie hears and feels the future. "I heard two voices talking near a river. One of them was yours, and the other was the one of the boy who said 'It's just a table' at lunch. A.K.A. Erik Masen."

"How'd you know who he is?"

"He's in my 4th, English. I sit in front of him."

I sighed in defeat, panic written clearly on my face. "Please don't tell Drew. I know we don't like the Masens, but—"

"Rose, calm down," Jamie said. Her cheerful voice was back, along with a small smile. "I won't tell. When Drew was explaining the silver cord thing, I remembered back when we were in New Salem."

"Oh yeah," I said, remembering. "Drew said he saw the same thing with Cassie and Adam, and they ended up together."

"Exactly. And if Drew saw that with you and Erik Masen, then we can't fight it." She smiled again.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" I jumped up and hugged her tight.

Jamie laughed. "Alright! Now go get some sleep so you can wake up in the middle of the night." She walked up the stairs. I couldn't move, knowing that the one person we relay on the almost as much as me for planning escapes and things like that was going to keep mine and Erik's secret. But when I heard a door close I sprinted down the stairs, into my bedroom. I closed the door, quickly got my pajamas on, set my alarm for 11:40pm, and then jumped into bed with the hugest smile on my face.