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andstraightened her sweater over her jeans. Ginger had the perfect body—no gargantuan boobs or butt ballooned off her lithe ballerina frame. She ran her fingers through her hair, flipping her head first one way, then the other as she glowered at her reflection in the store’s glass wall.
    “All right,” she said, finally standing still. She locked eyes with Lexi. “Do I look okay? Like okay enough to meet a senior?” Her eyebrows were arched in a hopeful expression.
    Part of Lexi wanted to slap Ginger—the girl who’d thrilled at morphing a cloud across a CG sky had been completely subsumed by this boy-obsessed bubblehead. But the other part won control. “You look great,” she said.
    Apparently, Lexi had provided the correct response: Ginger stooped to give her a quick hug. “I had such a great time last night!” she said, and began walking to the door.
    “I’ll see you later?” Lexi asked. But Ginger was already in the hallway. She didn’t look back.
    Lexi sank down onto her comforter. Of course Ginger left the instant she could. What else had Lexi expected? Their friendship had been a one-night-only event, a product of circumstance.
    Lexi hunted around in her messenger bag for her phone. Its battery was low; it had been buzzing all night with texts. All from Darren. She opened the first message:
You still at CommerceDome? On news.
The second:
Mall lockdown? What’s happening?
The next twenty were all in the same vein.
Is it the zombie apocalypse? Anyone resorting to cannibalism?
    Strangely, Darren’s texts made her feel worse. Not one of them expressed interest in whether she herself wasokay. These could have been texts sent to anyone. And for a moment, a vast emptiness opened inside Lexi, a sucking need so strong she felt she might disappear inside it.
    No. She would not fall apart in this rainbow-unicorn cave. Darren was just being his funny self. If he weren’t worried, he wouldn’t have texted in the first place.
    She tried to call him and got an all-circuits-are-busy message. So she sent a text that could go through as soon as some bandwidth opened up.
Still here, trapped. But had full access to computer and new BXE Fillion card so was all gud. Will find out whazzup.
    Lexi heard tromping footsteps and turned to see the Senator barrel in from the hall. The sight of her converted all Lexi’s sadness to rage. This entire situation was the Senator’s fault.
    Dad stood, his head and shoulders rising above the shelf he’d been hidden behind, and hugged the Senator. She practically fell into his arms. She looked bad, wiped out. And not from the usual committee politics.
    “If I kill the mall manager,” Dotty said, “will you support my insanity defense?”
    “The man’s a troll,” Arthur said. “No one would even question you.”
    For a moment, Lexi felt some sympathy for her mother. But then she recalled her mission—Darren (her real friend; her only friend) needed to know what was going on. Lexi could stand talking to her mother to help Darren.
    Dad caught Lexi staring and waved her over. “Maybe now we can finally catch some of that quality family time?” he said. “Anyone as hungry for pancakes as I am?”
    He smiled at the Senator, who reached a hand out towipe something from Lexi’s cheek. Lexi flinched away from her touch.
    “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass,” the Senator said, frowning. “But you guys have fun.”
    Dad grimaced. “You have to eat,” he said.
    “I will,” the Senator answered.
    Lexi had never known the Senator to miss breakfast. The woman was a breakfast nut—“Most important meal of the day!” was a favorite tagline.
    “What’s going on in the parking garage?” Lexi asked. “And don’t say nothing because I have never heard you neg a pancake invitation before.”
    The Senator dropped her hand onto Lexi’s shoulder. “Nothing you need to worry about,” she said. “Have fun at breakfast.” She kissed Lexi’s head and made for the door.
    “HAVE