“Which floor are we on, Ella?” I asked.

                She glanced at the paper. “Sixth floor.”

                “To sort weapons for Ravens,” Veronnica noted.

                Ella nodded. “Yeah. I told you, packing.”

                “You could have been more specific.”

                “Not really.” They led the way back to the elevator, bickering. I held back a smile as Ella fumbled with the buttons.

                “Here, let me,” Veronnica said.

                “No, I’ve got it.”

                “That’s the fifth floor, not the sixth—“

                I choked back a laugh as Ella pressed the correct button and pushed away Veronnica, maybe a little bit harder than necessary.

                “See you at dinner, Willow,” Veronnica said as we stepped out, pointedly ignoring Ella, who in turn grabbed me before I could reply and pulled me into the larger of the two rooms on the sixth floor.

                “Willow…Treble…” she glanced at me. “I guess you want me to call you Willow, also.”

                I shrugged. “You can call me either.”

                “That’s what I’ve been doing,” she said, exasperated. “I feel like I have to be consistent, though.”

                I smiled. “In that case, call me Willow. It…it makes me feel like a new person. You know, that person you’ve always wanted to be, but never could be quite as good as them.”

                Ella nodded grimly. “That’s why I enjoy imagination so much…I can be whoever I want to be. So you’re doing the same thing, just more realistically and consistently.”

                I squirmed. “I guess.”

                “It’s not a bad thing,” Ella said. “It just shows you’re scared to face reality and who you are.”

                Her words stung, and I wondered if she meant them to, or was just ordinarily tactless. Neither would surprise me. “Maybe I am.”

                We reached the group in the center of the room. Four others sat on the floor—three were Gaps. One was a woman I recognized from the council meetings  I had attended here at the safe house, a runaway from Doves named Ivi.

                “You’re late.”