They shoved the cake in front of me. It was official. I was 18. I checked my watch. I frowned. No, I was still seventeen. I would be seventeen for another minute.

I was turning eighteen as a public offender. How dastardly I had been. Of course, most of it was on Tyena. But she'd let me have a share of the action.

She was staring across the table at me. She stood, her guitar hanging from her neck. She strummed a cord.

"Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday Dear Sonnet

Happy Birthday to you."

I took a deep breath, blowing out the singular candle Monroe had found somewhere. Then T was my side, hugging me.

"Happy Birthday!"

She sat next to me, pulling the plate in front of me closer.

Monroe stood, holding a knife. We got to see her face now, now that we were both undershoot on sight orders. She was pretty. She had a broad face and green eyes. Her hair was this black, tied back from her face.

She handed me a slice.

"Now that you're one of us." T grabbed a fork, taking a chunk of the cake.

I bumped into her, playfully.

"It's my birthday. Get your own."

"But you're my girlfriend."

"Monroe, get my girlfriend some cake."

Monroe was expressionless. She handed T a slice of cake. T took it, not bothering to replace the bite she'd eaten of mine.

I bit into the cake. It was more like frosted bread, but it was still heavenly. It had the slightest taste of vanilla to it. I shoveled into my mouth before T could steal any more. 

"Do you mind if we turn on the news?"

I didn't want them to do that. I sighed.

"Can you wait until we finish the cake?"

Monroe nodded. She stared at me. "You did good out there."

"How did you even get into the event? It was supposed to be locked down."

"We got hired as security." Monroe shrugged as though that was the easiest thing in the world.

"They'd dumber than I thought."

"Or we're smarter than you thought." Monroe smiled. She was oversimplifying. I relaxed.

"Thank you for coming to get me."

"Of course. We couldn't just let a chance to mess with them on that scale go by without ruining their days."

I smiled. If there was anything the rebellion enjoyed, it was ruining some poor government agent's life.

I finished the cake.

"You can put on the broadcast."

Monroe nodded, standing and walking toward the center of the room. She clicked on a hologram.

An image of me and T kissing appeared. I looked over at her. We looked like we'd stepped right out of a storybook. That wasn't how it'd felt.

A newsdesk was beside us.

"Reports of Sonnet Alam joining the rebellion shocked the nation. Now we go to the prestigious family for a statement."

Our holograms faded away, replaced by an image featuring Mr. Jim and Mrs. Whiney.

"We will always think of Sonnet as a daughter," Mrs. Alam started.

Mr. Jim cut in, holding her hand. "That's why it cut us to our cores that she would betray us like this. Make no mistake, we fully denounce the rebellion and all it stands for. We stand with our government, as all good citizens do. We thought Sonnet was a good citizen, and we're sorry to say that we were wrong."

Monroe snorted. "At least your checks don't seem to agree."

I smiled up at her. The couple was lying through their teeth, but everyone would buy it. I just wondered when they'd trot Chase out. What would he say?

Monroe seemed like she could read my mind.

"I forgot to tell you we have another surprise for you."

I looked up at her. I ignored the newscasters talking about how I was evil incarnated.

"Really?"

Monroe nodded. "I'll be right back."

She left. I looked at T. Whatever the surprise was, she was in on it. Figures.

Monroe returned, with someone else in tow. I jumped to my feet.

"Chase!"

He caught me, letting me hang with my feet off the ground for a few seconds.

"Hey, birthday girl."

"You came!"

"I couldn't miss something like this. You're a senior citizen now."

I hit his arm. I knew he'd make a joke like that.

Chase sat, on the other side of me from Tyena. I closed my eyes. That was the perfect start to 18. I laughed. I was free. I was totally and utterly free.

I leaned against T. Everything was perfect, and for once, I felt like it might stay that way.

✰ ✰ ✰

I opened the book. This what it, the prophecy that'd made people believe in me. I held the chip up. The library of no books had given me a hologram. The librarian seemed surprised to see me.

She promised she wouldn't tell anyone I'd been there. As far as she was concerned, she was alone cataloging new inventory.

I read the book. It had cataloged my entire journey up to this point. I gasped. The government was working on a prototype for another time machine, almost identical to Agatha Reese's. I needed to be on it. I didn't trust them with it, and I needed a ride home.

I swiped up. A voice came.

"This work is in the public domain. Would you like a copy?"

"Yes."

"Select your format."

I scrolled through the options. It wasn't there. I couldn't take a hologram home.

I ran to fetch the librarian. She'd have what I needed. I knew it.

I found her, flipping through holograms as though it were the most mundane thing she'd ever done.

"Can you print anything here?"

"Why would you want to?"

"I can't take holograms where I'm going."

She looked up at me. I knew she understood. She walked over to the prophecy book. She swiped, doing something I didn't quite understand.

She tutted. "Follow me."

I followed her to an old book. She pushed it into a hole. We stood, waiting for a few seconds. The machine spat it back out.

"Here's your book."

I took it, flipping through it. That was what I needed.

"Thank you!"

She nodded, and with that, I was running. I had one last thing I needed to do, and then I was homeward bound.