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leave me alone,” I complain as I pull the blanket over my shoulder and roll over.
    “Come on! I saw Kai waiting for us outside. He ’ s probably going to walk us to school,” she says.
    I roll over, lift my head, and say, “What? What ’ s he doing here? Did you talk to him?”
    She sits on the foot of the bed and sighs. Her eyes are glassy. Is she tearing up?
    I sit up and look at her. “Ry? Are you okay?”
    “I ’ m okay,” She says, wiping a tear off her cheek. “I just didn ’ t sleep very well.”
    “Tell me about it. I don ’ t even remember when I fell asleep.”
    She stands up, grabs her backpack, and says, “Get up. We have to get to school.”
    I climb out of bed and start to put on my shirt when my sister stops me. Now I ’ m standing in my underwear with my arms stuck above my head with the twisted shirt bunched above me.
    She pokes me right in the armpit and says, “Oh my God! What is that?”
    I totally freak out. I just found out I ’ m a mutant from another planet! Is there some kind of freakish appendage springing out of me? I rip the shirt over my head and reach my other hand into my armpit with my other hand raised as high as I can.
    “What! What is it?” I yell.
    “Is that . . . a hair?” Ryland teases. “My little big brother has an armpit hair!”
    Awesome. I almost forgot I totally hate her.
    Mom makes us eat before we leave for school.
    I whisper to Ryland, “Are we really going to school? After last night? Shouldn ’ t we be packing or something?”
    “Sh,” she says. “I can ’ t leave without seeing Alice and Melinda, you know, to say goodbye. I know I can ’ t really tell them, but I would feel better if I could at least see them once more.”
    “Yeah. I’d like to see Frederick and Chucky at least one more time.”
    “We ’ ll leave tonight. Okay?” she whispers.
    I nod.
    We finish up, say goodbye to Mom, and catch up with Kai, who ’ s waiting for us around the corner. I’m still working through everything Mom and Dad told us last night. Dad said, “He must know a way to discover other Shifters. If he does, they will too.” After we walk a couple of blocks, I can ’ t hold it in anymore.
    “How did you find us, Kai?”
    Ryland looks at him. I knew it. That must’ve been bugging her, too.
    He looks down and starts watching his feet moving one after the other. “Before the Keepers found us.”
    “The Keepers?” Ryland asks.
    “Yeah, I ’ ll have to tell you about them. Anyway, before they found us, my parents gave me this,” he pulls an iPod out of his pocket and holds it up.
    “You found us with an iPod?” I ask.
    “It ’ s not an iPod. Well, it is, but it ’ s also a tracker.”
    “You have something to track us?” Ryland asks, worry drawn across her face like a curtain.
    “Don ’ t worry. The Shifters don ’ t have them. We took it off of one of the Keepers.”
    He keeps bringing that up. Who are the Keepers?
    “It ’ s not that powerful. I have to get close before it works,” he says.
    “How close?” Ryland is looking more concerned.
    “Like a few feet.”
    Well, that explains the stalking.
    “Shifters emit a kind of a low level electrical current when they’re close to Shifting. Like when they get nervous, or scared, or excited or something. This picks it up,” he explains.
    I finally get it and say, “So you were trying to make her nervous.”
    “You didn ’ t make me nervous,” Ryland says defensively.
    Kai motions his eyes to the iPod, and we exchange a smirk.
    We arrive at school and leave Kai across the street. Ryland and I split up to go see our friends. I see Melinda and Alice staring back where we left Kai then excitedly talking to Ryland. Girls.
    I head over to Frederick and Chucky. They act as if nothing is different—like their best friend isn ’ t a mutant alien with creatures from another planet planning to pounce on him at any moment to prevent him from destroying their universal kingdom. Nope. Just a