"Where am I? This isn't my apartment." "I asked you something, Linnea." Carolina's face filled the edge of my world, sleepy and practical and already done with other people's drama. I sat up so fast the bunk rattled. My hand went straight to the jade pendant under my shirt. It was cooler than the room, and it hummed against my palm like a tiny, impatient animal. "Don't tug that out in the open," Carolina said. "You'll have the whole dorm sniffing treasure." "It's not treasure," I said. I kept my voice flat. "It's mine." "Wow," Mara said from the next bunk. "You sound like the heroine in that town book. You know—'the girl with something secret.'" "You mean Juliana's favorite." I let the name land where it would. Carolina's smile faded. "Lin, you really look like her. The same jaw, same thin mouth." "I don't want to look like a book." My teeth showed as I said it. "I want to keep warm and not be traded at market." "Trade?" Mara laughed. "We've all read the chapters. You'll get a suitor, or a patron, or a plot twist." "Then make it a boring chapter," I snapped. "I refuse to be anyone's plot." Silence tightened. Someone coughed. "That's a strong word," Carolina said finally. "Refuse." "You heard me." I folded my blanket like it was a shield. "I refuse." Carolina muttered, "You're not sleeping right