A Fractured Light (Beautiful Dark)

was the one in the coma !”
    I glanced behind me, nervously.
    “What do you keep looking for?” she asked. Suddenly recognition dawned on her face, and her jaw dropped. “I know that look. That’s the same look you had plastered to your face in the cafeteria all winter, and the look you had when we were waiting for the bus to the ski trip.” Her eyes widened. “You’re looking for them, aren’t you? Asher and Devin? They’re the reason you ran away!”
    “What?” I cried. “No way!”
    “Don’t play this game with me, Skye. The jig is so up. You left me. For a guy. ”
    “I didn’t, I swear!”
    “You know, Skye, I’m boy crazy. I can accept that. But I would never put one of them ahead of you.”
    “Uh,” Dan said, coming up behind her with a long instrument that looked like a deconstructed hanger. “Standing right here.”
    “Not you, Dan,” Cassie said. “The other ones.”
    “ What other ones?”
    Cassie turned to him pointedly. “The ones who came before .” She raised an eyebrow. “Catch my drift?”
    “It’s rare that I do,” Dan said.
    “Aunt Jo may have bought the whole ‘I was scared’ line,” she continued, wheeling back around. “But I know you better than that. You really want to stand there and tell me that’s why you left?”
    No , I thought desperately. I don’t.
    “You weren’t even shaken up after that avalanche almost killed you,” Dan added.
    “Well played, babes,” she said to him, holding out her hand so he could slap it five. “So are you going to tell us the truth?”
    My throat went dry. Every fiber of my being fought against telling her. There were Guardians everywhere. And the last thing I needed was to put my friends in danger. Most of the time, they were all that was keeping me sane.
    “You’re right,” I said. The words were out of my mouth before I could think about what I was going to say next. “The night of your gig—of the party—Asher told me that he wanted to, um . . .” I paused. How could I explain this? “Be my boyfriend. He said with all the drama at home and him and Devin fighting and everything, he wanted to take me away. There’s this cabin in the woods not far from here. We went there for a couple of days.” I paused again. “Just spent some time away from everything. I spent most of it worried about you,” I added, glancing at her. Cassie was frowning at me, listening intently.
    “Skye, that is the”—she propped a hand on her hip—“ best story ever! How romantic! Now I get why you couldn’t tell Aunt Jo. She’d flip, right? Wow. Are you grounded? In the name of love? Did you drive here? Where’s Asher?”
    I grinned. I should have realized the way to distract Cassie sooner.
    “I really was scared, though,” I said quietly. “That part was true.”
    “Eh, I know.” Cassie sighed. “I was scared when I woke up and saw myself in the mirror.” She pointed at her eye. “Purple is not a good color on redheads!”
    “I was scared, too,” said Dan. “My first and only girlfriend almost didn’t wake up. Can you imagine any other girl wanting me after that?”
    “Aw,” Cassie cooed. “Of course they would. If I had died, you’d be all wounded and mysterious and nursing your broken heart. Girls love that crap. They’d want to put you back together.”
    “Really?” Dan asked hopefully. Cassie hobbled over and put her arm around him.
    “You bet,” she said. “But let’s not test the theory, okay?” Dan leaned in really quickly for a surprise kiss, and Cassie lost her balance. She toppled over her crutches, fell to the ground. “Dan!” she yelled. “Ow?”
    “Sorry, sorry,” he said, rushing to help her up again.
    “You know what, on second thought, those girls can have you.”
    “You love it,” Dan said.
    “Not as much as you do,” she crowed. They were kissing again.
    “Guys?” I said. “I’m back now, remember?”
    “Mm? Oh, right, Skye. Sorry,” Cassie said, breaking away sheepishly.
    “Come on,” I said. “I’m driving. I don’t want to be late my first day back.”
    Cassie leaned on Dan’s shoulder, and we made our way to the car.
    “So,” she said as I pulled out of the driveway, “you may have left just in time. I heard that Devin has a new girlfriend.”
    “What?” I wheeled around involuntarily.
    “Oh my god, watch the road!” Cassie and Dan shouted at the same time.
    “God, sorry,” I said. I glanced casually in the rearview mirror as we turned on to