And at the very end, on the last page, next to “The End,” she had written in faint pencil, as if she’d been trying to hide it even from herself:

I bought the book for $1.25. Then I went home and, on a sticky note, wrote a message. Not mean. Not revenge. Just:

Best $1.25 I ever spent.

My heart did a little tap-dance. The cover was worn, the corners softened like they’d been chewed by a golden retriever, and the spine had those beautiful white crease lines that meant someone had read it a dozen times. Someone had loved this book.

So I did something else.

My name is Nikki Maxwell, and I was on a mission.

“I wish I had a friend like Zoey. Or maybe just one friend at all.”

Zoey nodded seriously. “The ‘no random annotations’ rule stands.”