It was those last six words – believe me the way Avery does – those words, and the way Lyra jerked her arm away from Rosario's hands like she'd been burned, that was what did it. They landed like a slap in the face, a sharp rebuke, and for an instant Rosario was transported back to the cafe. She'd only gone because Lyra had begged and wheedled her into it, insisted he was a good guy and they should get to know each other and trust me, you two have more in common than you think. She'd gone cuz she was trying to be a good friend, and when she'd got there it'd turned into a two-on-one, Avery calling her stupid and Lyra not disagreeing, just nodding along as he listed off all the ways that her brother and bio-dad were not of this world, arcing up when Rosario pushed back, as though Rosario was the one being goddamn unfair!
"Avery believes in UFOs!" she shot back, stung. "Avery thinks I'm a damn UFO! You're gonna trust him over me?"