Neal pauses. It's long and heavy, but soon their footsteps are in time. The click of Venus' stylish shoes with the squeak of Neal's sneakers fills the air.

"A Persona user?" he whispers. It's such a secret. His mom and Clarice have no idea what's going on with him, or Flint, or Mason. Would she have been like him? He hopes so. It's stupid and pointless, but it's a nice fantasy. He can't imagine her not being just like him. In the timeline where she pulled through, they'd be in this together.

"Gladstone would have told us if one of his friends—" Neal stops, choked, but pushes through it. "Disappeared."