Comikaze was rad—it took my mind off of everything and gave me the chance to escape for a minute. I even stole away some time to read part of my favorite kind of book—young adult fantasy romance, of course. It gave me the chance to get my mind off of Gretchen, as well as Jamal. Ever since she disappeared, he changes the subject whenever I mention it. He just wants to talk about us. I should be flattered that he’s all about our young adult romance, but it’s a little scary, too. Plus, Jamal wants to move faster than even I do—and I’m the one that needs to! It’s scary because I don’t want him to just disappear one day after I’ve opened myself up like this—but then when I’m with him, I really do just want to jump in. He wants to know everything about my dad and is curious about me, which I appreciate, and steals away to be with me every chance I can. It’s just hard to believe that a Pearl could really fall in love like this…