Thomas let Veronica tug him a few steps down the hall before he glanced back with that automatic politeness of his.

  Thomas (quiet, to Melinda): “Good seeing you again. Say hi to your friend for me.”

  Melinda gave a small wave, eyes flicking between them with a knowing half-smile. “Will do. See you around, Thomas.”

  Veronica didn’t slow down until they rounded the corner. Only then did she loosen her grip on his arm—just a little.

  Thomas (mild, curious): “Everything okay?”

  Veronica exhaled, cheeks pink. “Yeah. Sorry. I just—” She stopped, started again. “I saw the way she looked at you. Like she was trying to figure out what changed. And I didn’t like it.”

  Thomas blinked. “We really were just friends. Barely that. She moved right when school let out last year. I hadn’t thought about her in months.”

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  Veronica bit her lip, then decided honesty was the only speed she knew how to drive at.

  “I believe you,” she said. “It’s not that I thought you lied. It’s that… Shoshana lit up yesterday in a way I’ve never seen. And I don’t want anyone—not even a ghost from last year—messing that up before she even figures out what it means.”

  Thomas stopped walking entirely. The hallway noise faded to background.

  He looked at Veronica—really looked—and something soft and steady settled in his expression.

  “I don’t want to mess that up either,” he said quietly. “Yesterday was… new. Good new. I don’t have room for old anything right now.”

  Veronica’s shoulders dropped; the possessive edge melted out of her like tension she hadn’t realized she was holding.

  She bumped his arm with hers, lighter this time. “Good answer. Come on. Shoshana saved you the seat right next to her. If we don’t hurry, the freshmen will steal the good pizza.”

  Thomas smiled—small, real, and just for them.

  “Lead the way.”

  As they walked, Veronica felt the knot in her stomach loosen completely.

  Melinda had been a ghost.

  Shoshana—and whatever this thing between the three of them was becoming—was very much alive.

  And Veronica intended to keep it that way.