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better friend than a boyfriend since he only seemed to listen when they weren’t dating. She still hadn’t mentioned her oops kiss with Alan to him and it bore into her soul. I give him a hard time for not being honest with me, yet I can’t be completely honest with him. Doesn’t seem right. The timing was all wrong. JD was too hung up on her. Nothing was going to come of the moment anyway, so did anyone else need to know? JD will freak out if he found out now. No, it can stay a secret until we can all look back and laugh. Or forever. That would work too. Accidents happen. I don’t need to hear about every single mistake he’s ever made, that’s for sure.
    At the beginning of next period, she checked in with Mrs. Peterson, the teacher she worked for, and got permission to take the stack of packets she was supposed to put together down to the library. She even told the truth for why she had to go: her friend needed her. As long as Cadence returned ten minutes before the period ended with her work done, that’s all that mattered.
    Alan waited for her near the main entrance. He was browsing popular book titles on display, his hands in his pants pockets. Every so often he moved out of the way of an oncoming student. His interest seemed deeply focused on the back synopsis of “A Tale of Two Cities.” Moments like those showed Cadence how much he cared for her culture and her planet. He wanted to learn and she respected that. Some of his comrades were not interested in learning a thing.
    She coughed quietly into her shoulder. Alan gazed over at her with his steely blue eyes and a soft smile formed on his lips. Cadence quickly averted her gaze away from his and got a key to one of the private workrooms, subtly tilting her head for him to follow. Once there, she spread her work out on a table, getting organized while she waited for him to start talking.
    â€œI got stuff to do, but I’m listening,” she assured him. “What’s going on?”
    He watched her awfully close. Stapling paper together must have been fascinating for some reason, because he didn’t take his eyes off of her. “I’ve been tasked with finding the leak on my ship.”
    â€œThis is your chance to show your boss what you can really do,” she said. “Isn’t that a good thing? Or do you think he’s trying to set you up for failure again? What does Jaes think? I’m sure he’s got a good read on your boss’s motivations by now.” Jaes gave off the impression of being in the know about a lot of things when it came to the ship; then again, he was like her and had the gift of knowledge as one of his powers.
    â€œSir Oriol is not trying to ruin me. In fact, he stopped doing that not too long ago. After we got the Ilotus, he’s been a lot more…civil. Granted, he won’t acknowledge my work to the rest of the ship, but he’s at least wanting my help and not giving me silly jobs for the sake of keeping me busy.” Alan rubbed at his forehead. “At my last visit, however, Sir Oriol seemed rather vulnerable, and it concerns me that he would let such an emotion come out in my presence. Dare I say it, he was desperate, and I’m not sure what to think. I haven’t talked to Jaes about it because he might be part of the problem, so getting his insight is out of the question for the time being.”
    Cadence paused mid-staple and gazed at him with wide eyes. “There’s no way Jaes is the leak. I don’t believe it. He’s too devoted to the cause.” And there’s too much goodness, innocence even, inside of him.
    â€œI’ve asked Jaes, and he told me no. You know he cannot tell a lie. It’s one of his abilities. But my superior has raised some interesting thoughts on the matter. One of them being that Jaes might sympathize with the leak and is helping them gain information. I’m sure over time he’s learned