I dug around in my pocket and pulled it out, all soggy and folded, and I laid it down on the desk. You would’ve thought I had just scored the game-winning goal when Bones saw me pull it out.

“Lump! You got it!”

As I unfolded it, it started to tear, so I stopped. We needed to dry it out somehow—and it came to me: a hair dryer. I was thinking clearly, but not clearly enough.

“Bones, go down to Gina’s room and see if she’s there. We need a—” Bones was out my bedroom door before I could finish.

I yelled after him, “She’s got one in her bathroom.” I sat there at my desk, staring at the note and thinking how lunatic all this was: Bones’ cancer, an app for time travel, Stevie’s kidnapping, a soggy note written in Chinese. And now I could add the dumb idea of sending Bones to ask Gina for something. I should’ve gone myself. He had been missing now for a few minutes.

I went down the hall and looked into Gina’s room. She had Bones moving some boxes around the room. She saw me and smiled. “Hi, Ceej. I just needed a couple of the boxes stacked, and tall Bones, as you call him, is just the guy for the job. Thanks for sending him down.” Gina was pretty much done packing for college; her room was bare. It was depressing.

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