CODY

The vibration in my pocket was becoming a rhythmic nuisance, a buzzing fly I couldn't simply swat away.

My phone had been repeatedly vibrating for the last forty minutes, and I didn't need to look at the screen to know it was Brie. She was my best friend, sure, but she was also the most impatient human being on the planet when it came to her calculus homework.

I kept my hands on the handlebars of my bike, pedaling hard through the quiet, tree-lined suburbs, the wind whipping past my ears.

When I finally pulled into the driveway of the sprawling, modern estate, I was already sweating through my...