I rested my head on the window, staring at the passing buildings of Heatherfield, at the school called Sheffield, and the sidewalks filled with people milling around. Mom was in the driver's seat, her eyes glued to the road. "We're almost there, Nina," she said, noticing my boredom. I looked at her. "Why does this city have to be so big? I won't ever find my way anywhere." My left hand twisted the ring on my right middle finger nervously. Growing up in a small town can either make you excited or terrified by big cities. I was the latter, told by my dad for sixteen years how dangerous they were. "Will can show you around. She's off school this week."

Right. Will, the cousin that I hadn't seen since we were twelve. Her mom and mine are sisters and used to see each other all the time, but when Aunt Susan saw a big job opportunity in Heatherfield, she had packed herself and Will up and they had moved to the city the same week. Mom and Aunt Susan thought they were growing apart.

Meanwhile, one of my paintings had been accepted into a traveling art exhibition, one that would be going straight to Heatherfield. Mom had been so happy that day, making plans to "follow the exhibition and catch up with family members."

So here we were, cruising through downtown Heatherfield in Mom's purple MINI Cooper. Heading to see Aunt Susan and Will.

Mom put the MINI in park, and I suddenly realized that we were in a parking lot. As soon as the engine was off, I opened my door and stepped out. A cool breeze blew on my face. I looked up at the enormous apartment building blocking the sun.

"Dang," I whispered under my breath.

Mom grabbed her suitcase from the back of the car. "Nina, come get your stuff."

I did as I was told, hauling my green cheeta-print suitcase across the asphalt to the doors of the complex. We didn't say a word to each other as she pressed the button to go to the third floor.

We weren't the only ones in the elevator. After we got in, we were followed by a group of four girls and a guy.A blonde girl went to press three, too, but realized that it had already been pressed, and stepped back. The next ten seconds brought an awkward silence that lasted from the time the doors closed to when they opened again. The group let Mom and me go first, and we all walked down the hall. Mom and I stopped at Will's apartment door, and so did they.

"Oh, you guys must be Will's family!" A small Chinese girl piped up.

Mom nodded. "Are you friends of Will's?"

The guy scratched the back of his head while the blonde girl replied, "Yeah. Wanna knock for us?"

Mom did. Susan answered after the third knock. "Nat!" She squealed, hugging my mom. Behind her I could see Will. She waved at me, embarassed.

When Susan pulled away from Mom, she looked at me. "And Nina, you've gotten so tall!"

In truth I had only grown an inch since I was twelve, but I didn't feel like telling her that as she pulled me in for a quick embrace. She noticed the group behind me and gestured for everyone to come in.

"Looks like we're having a party!" Susan clapped her hands together as we all came inside.

I went up to Will. "Hey," I said, feeling pretty dumb for having nothing better to say.

"Hey," she said back. At least we were both still awkward.

Back before she moved away, Will and I were actually really close. We both knew everything about the other, like how I used to sleep with a stuffed purple unicorn until I was eleven (and still do to this day sometimes), or how Will buried her mom's favorite ring in my backyard as revenge for her mom taking away her pacifier when we were two. Like our mothers, though, we had grown apart.

The boy came over to Will and whispered something in her ear. "Oh, right." She said, then jabbed her thumb at him. "Nina, this is Caleb. Caleb, this is Nina."

"Um, hi." I said. He nodded at me in acknowledgement and pulled on Will's arm. I could've sworn he said something like, "Come on. Guardian business. Urgent business."

"Nina, uh, you and I are sharing a bedroom. It's down the hall, to the left. I'll be right back." She followed Caleb out the door and so did the others.

The Chinese girl waved at me before leaving. "Bye, Nina! Nice to meet you!"

I waved back as she left.

"They're just goung out to finish an essay at Taranee's house," Susan said. "Will will be back soon. Why don't you get settled in Will's room while I make some dinner?"

"No, I'll make dinner, Susan," Mom said. I can't even begin to count how many times Mom's told me how bad a cook Susan is. I smiled and went back to Will's room.

A pigsty. That's all I could say about the bedroom I was in. I couldn't help but sigh in relief knowing that Will hadn't changed at all.

But that's when I noticed it:

A necklace hanging on a lamp, the pink gem of it glowing as if it was alive.