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immediately switched from annoyed to worried. “Everything okay?”
    â€œSure,” I responded automatically.
    â€œReally? You’ve been acting kind of—I don’t know. Just not yourself. I noticed earlier, too.”
    I was touched that she seemed so concerned. Not sure what to say, I toyed with the key-shaped necklace, which I hadn’t taken off since it had arrived.
    Megan’s gaze followed my hand. “Ooh, cool pendant!” she said. “Where’d you get it?”
    I hesitated, wanting to tell her the truth. Maybe not the whole truth—I had no interest in spending my twelfth birthday in the loony bin. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell her the non-loony parts, right?
    â€œActually, it’s a long story.” I glanced around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear us. “But you have to swear not to tell anyone, okay? Like, not even Lav or the others.”
    â€œCross my heart,” she said, tracing a manicured finger in a big X across the front of her cute pastel-striped shirt.
    I took a deep breath. “It’s about my—my dad.”
    â€œYour dad?” Megan looked confused.
    â€œHe died when I was a baby,” I said. “I don’t remember him at all.”
    She leaned forward, looking stricken. “Oh, Cass! I had no idea. I’m sorry.”
    â€œThanks.” I shrugged. “The thing is, my mom is really weird about him. She won’t tell us anything, and Cait and I have always wanted to know more.”
    â€œOf course you do!” She nodded emphatically. “You must be dying of curiosity. Why won’t she talk about him?”
    â€œI don’t know. And I can’t really even ask.” I grimaced, picking at a peeling bit of paint on the edge of the table. “If you knew my mom, you’d know she gets mad if you ask too many questions. And trust me, you don’t want to get her mad if you can help it.”
    â€œOh.” Megan looked thoughtful for a second. “Do you have any other relatives you could ask?”
    â€œNot really.” I shrugged. “I mean, I’ve got plenty of family on my mom’s side. But they won’t cross her. Plus I’m not sure how much any of them even know,since Mom got married when she was stationed overseas.” I took a deep breath. “But actually, the reason I’m thinking about all this now is because our grandmother—my dad’s mom—sent Cait and me a package with this necklace and a letter, too. It came yesterday. Until then, we didn’t even know she existed.”
    â€œReally?” Megan exclaimed. “What’d the letter say?”
    â€œGood question.” I slumped in my seat. “Mom grabbed it before we could read more than, like, the first few lines.”
    â€œWhoa.” Megan fell silent for a moment. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, it’s hard for me to imagine not knowing everything about my family.” Her mouth twisted into a half smile. “Sometimes it feels like it’s basically Aura’s town history!”
    I chuckled. “Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem, too.”
    She smiled. “So I don’t know how much help I can be. But still, I’m here for you, Cassie, if you need to talk or whatever.”
    â€œThanks.” Megan was being so cool that I was half tempted to share the rest of my family secret.
    But only half. She might be understanding, but it was asking a lot to expect her to believe I could predict the future. I hardly believed it myself.
    So instead, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. But as soon as I touched her, my vision went all fuzzy, and Megan’s sympathetic face faded into the background.
    Overlaid on top of it was a much brighter, more vivid Megan. But this Megan wasn’t sitting in the library. She was pushing open a big wooden gate into a grassy yard dotted with trees, carrying a small bag with the