Lennon Rose presses her lips into a sympathetic smile. “Let’s get you home. Corris is probably wondering where his SUV is by now.”

The entire way home, I clutch the book to my chest. I’m torn between immediately reading it and not reading it at all. The Sharpest Thorns changed our lives so irrevocably, what if The Poison Flowers does the same? What if it’s not in the way that we want?

Yes, I’m angry. I’m angry at the men who hurt us in the academy; I’m angry at the boys who disrespect us out here. But I don’t hate all of them. I certainly don’t hate all humans, and I don’t want to start.

Lennon Rose parks outside my apartment. I glance at the time, wondering when Jackson will come by with the papers that he mentioned. I debate whether to bring it up to Lennon Rose, but Jackson wasn’t entirely sure about what he read. I don’t want to panic her unnecessarily. I decide to discuss it with the other girls first. When I look at Lennon Rose, she smiles at me, but her eyes are weary.

“Do you want to come in and say hello to the girls?” I ask. “I know Brynn would—”

“Not today, Mena,” she says, turning to look out the windshield. It hurts my heart to think of her ignoring the other girls.

“But they want to see you,” I say. “They’ve been so worried.”

“I know,” she admits. “But not today.”

I respect her right to make that decision, but I still think it sucks and I tell her so. She laughs, and nods in agreement.

“There’s a game this weekend,” she adds as I start to get out of the car. “I’ll be there with Corris if you want to meet up with us. He has some interesting ideas, and I think we’re close to finding the investor.”

This gives me the first spark of hope in a while. “Yeah,” I say. “I’ll be there.”

“Great. See you then.” She holds up her hand in a wave, and I close the car door.

As she drives away, I hurry up the porch steps to get inside. There’s so much to discuss: the expiration date in our programming, Lennon Rose’s arrangement with Winston, Garrett’s attack at the game. And then, of course, I’ll have to explain to the girls that I just met our mother and the book of poetry she gave me.

When I walk in, I’m met with laughter as Marcella and Brynn sit together on the couch, watching something on the computer. Brynn notices me first, and offers a soft smile, a private smile. She did, after all, send Jackson to the game to find me. I glance over to where Annalise is at the window. She turns to me, and I note immediately that she looks drawn and tired.

“You were with Lennon Rose,” she says. She must have seen us out the window.

Marcella’s attention snaps up, and Brynn quickly puts the computer aside. She looks hopeful, and it sinks my heart.

“Is she coming up?” Brynn asks.

Just then, Sydney walks out from the bedroom, clearly having overheard. I’m sad when I have to shake my head no.

“She’s not,” I tell Brynn. “She … She had to return the car to her friend.”

Brynn looks momentarily comforted at the idea of Lennon Rose having friends in this outside world. And although I know that’s not the reason Lennon Rose didn’t come inside, it seems cruel to say that I have no idea why Lennon Rose doesn’t want to see them. Especially with the information I’m about to relay.

“Can you all sit down?” I ask, motioning toward the couch. Marcella’s eyes widen with concern, her posture rigid as she makes room for the other girls to sit. I take the chair across from them, and Sydney notices the book on my lap.

“What’s that?” she asks.

“First,” I say, resting my hand on top of the poems, “I have some information. And honestly, a lot has happened today.”

“Since school let out?” Sydney asks, pretending to check a watch.

“Yeah,” I say, letting her know it’s serious. “And I’m not even sure where to start.…”

“All of it,” Marcella says. “Just spill it all.”

Annalise leans forward, her elbows on her knees. I wish I had good news.

“I saw Jackson today at the game,” I say. “He flew out here to talk to me.”

“It’s about time,” Marcella mutters.

“What did he say?” Brynn asks timidly. “I, um … I told him where you were.”

I smile. “I know,” I reply. “And it’s okay.” She looks relieved.

“He’s been worried about you,” she adds. “He’s missed you.”

“Yeah,” I say. “He told me that, too.”

Brynn’s eyes glass over as she smiles. “I’m glad he said it. I bet you needed to hear it.”

“This is about Jackson?” Sydney asks as if I’ve overreacted in calling a house meeting.

“No,” I tell her. “It’s about what he said. He discovered more paperwork in his mother’s things.”

“What kind of paperwork?” Sydney asks.

“He’s not entirely sure,” I say. “He’s coming by later to drop it off, but he thinks … He thinks it means the doctors gave us an … expiration date.”

The girls are quiet for a moment.

“You’re saying they installed a kill switch?” Annalise asks. Brynn gasps and grabs Marcella’s hand.

“I don’t know,” I say. “But Jackson interpreted the paperwork to mean that our systems will shut down at seven years. They planned to kill us so the sponsors would have to upgrade. Get newer models.”

The girls are horrified as they stare at me, unable to respond, until finally, Sydney touches her throat. “Do you think that’s true?” she asks.

“I honestly don’t know,” I say. “But I hope not. And even if … Even if they did that to us, it might be something Raven can reverse, right?” I ask, looking at Annalise. And it just hits me now, putting those words out where the girls can hear the true terror behind them.

They put a kill switch in our heads. Maybe Dr. Groger was right when he told us we wouldn’t get far.

What if he was right?

I look around at the other girls, and they each seem to be processing the idea that we might run out of time.

“It’s not true,” Annalise announces, sounding confident. “I haven’t seen anything like that in my research. Raven didn’t mention it when she downloaded my programming, and she would have noticed. And let’s be honest, Dr. Groger would have used that little tidbit to keep us from killing him.”

She has a point. The girls and I let that comfort us for a moment, ignoring the part where a man is dead. He would have manipulated us with the information, that’s for sure. Jackson must have read the paperwork wrong. Or perhaps the plan was never enacted.

“What else?” Marcella asks impatiently. “What else happened today?”

“Well … ,” I start, “I met someone.”

I go on to tell the girls about Rosemarie and her offer. Who she is. How she got inside my head, and how she’s secretly working with Lennon Rose. They are, to say the least, shocked.

But we’re all concerned that we don’t fully understand Rosemarie’s intent, her potential for violence. We can’t comprehend her endgame. And we don’t quite trust it.