CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE

“Jasper, wait!” I follow him out of the gym and down the wood paneled hallways of the tree house. I can’t let this opportunity slip away from me. I might not get another one.

Jasper goes into Sterling’s rooms, where he’s been living since we all moved in to the tree house. This wing of the tree house is dark, like Jasper hasn’t been willing to turn on the lights. Looking around, I can see that he’s left everything nearly the same as Sterling had it. It doesn’t look like Jasper has done anything to make the space more comfortable for him, or personalized it for himself.

I find Jasper in his bedroom, sitting on the edge of the perfectly made bed, his hands on his knees.

“Jasper,” I say, stepping in to the bedroom. “Please. Just talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jasper snaps.

“But I do,” I plead. “I’ve always wanted to know who you are. Where you come from. You won’t share anything about your past, and you keep me at arm’s length all the time.