But I wouldn’t.
“Vi!” Arden’s voice jolted me out of my head, her concern palpable before I even met her eyes. “Is everything okay?” she asked, studying me closely. “Where were you just now?”
Phoebe jumped to her feet. “I’m gonna do homework,” she said, veering for her bedroom. Arden furrowed her brow, looking between us. “Or something. Later!”
I watched the traitor disappear into her room, gnawing my lip. Arden shifted her gaze to me, sharper, more suspicious.
“What was that?”
“She’s fourteen. I don’t know.”
“Violet. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Am I talking about the engagement too much?” she asked, wincing. “Oh god. I am, aren’t I? You’re already picturing me as Bridezilla and you want to rip my face off.”
“Arden, no. I want to hear about the engagement. We’ve barely scratched the surface.” I took a breath, wiping my palms on my sweatpants. “Sorry. I’m not trying to be weird. I just… I have to talk to you about something.”
Her hand flew to her chest. “You’re sick.”
“What? Obviously not.”
“Oh, thank god. Sorry. My mind goes to the worst-case scenario when someone says they have to talk to me.” Her eyes widened. “Noah.Phoebe.”
“Arden.”
“Sorry. I’ll stop guessing.”
The catastrophic guesses softened the blow, so I took a breath and forced the words out.
“Phoebe and I are going on a trip.”
She pushed a curl out of her face, her ring glinting in the sunlight. “Since when?”
“Yesterday.”
“Does this have to do with where she was?” Her expression went grim. “I got so distracted, I never asked after you told us she was okay. Where was she?”
“She went to Sequest,” I said quietly. Arden’s eyes sharpened, as if she read ahead in my face to see exactly what the future held. “She, uh, found Catalina.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“She basically stalked her way to the information. I don’t know.” I sighed, rubbing my eyes. “Phoebe went to Sequest to convince Dex to give Catalina the letter and, somehow, it snowballed into this.”
“This?”
I winced at the edge in her tone. “The road trip.”
“Trip where?” she demanded.
“Oregon,” I told her. She blinked.
“Oregon.” Another blink. “To… what? Give Catalina the letter?”
“Yeah.” I hesitated. “With Dex.”
Arden fell back in her chair with a humorless laugh. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re going across the country with the robot who shoots lasers out of his eyes? That’s what you’re telling me right now?”
