that was part of the problem. Maybe he made too big a deal out of everything. And maybe, just maybe, Seth was getting tired of it.
“Um,” Nick said, unsure of what to do. His hands were shaking, so he rubbed them on his jeans. “I didn’t mean…”
Seth let out a sharp huff of air. “Whatever’s going on in your head right now, you need to stop. It’s not bad.”
Which was exactly what someone would say when it was bad. “Maybe I should just go home.” That sounded good. He could go home and shut himself in his room. He could do his homework and be a good son, and maybe when Seth was feeling better, they could forget all about this.
Nick shouldn’t have eaten all those cookies.
“I don’t want you to—” Seth sat up in the bed. As he did, the comforter sank lower to his chest. He was wearing a white undershirt, and for a moment, Nick was distracted by how strong his chest looked, how sharp his collarbones were, but then he saw the bruise on Seth’s neck, a purple thing that almost looked like—
“Is that a hickey?” Nick asked, voice high-pitched.
Seth quickly brought his hand up to cover the bruise, but it was large, and the edges still peeked out beneath his fingers. Either someone had attached their really large mouth to Seth’s neck, or he’d gotten hurt, somehow. “It’s not a hickey.”
“What happened? Are you okay? Does it hurt? Can I touch it?”
Seth flushed. “You can’t touch—it’s fine. It’s nothing. Just … hurt myself. Down in the basement.”
Nick nodded solemnly. “Because of the washing machine. Your aunt told me that it was on the fritz.”
“Yes. Exactly. I was trying to fix the washing machine. The motor is broken.”
“I thought she said it was the filtering valve?”
“Uh. That’s what I meant. The filtering valve is broken.”
“Oh.”
Seth sighed again. “Nick, look. There isn’t any no-kill-shelter mafia. There’s no secret girlfriend and/or boyfriend.” He paused for a moment, took a deep breath and said, “And I’m sorry I kissed you on the cheek. I shouldn’t have done that. I know you don’t—”
“It’s okay,” Nick said hastily, not wanting Seth to take it back completely. Right? Right. “It just … surprised me. You’ve never done that before.”
Seth looked down at his hands. “Well, maybe I haven’t had a reason to.”
Nick felt like he was on fire. “And you do now?”
Seth shrugged. “There’s … things. About me. Things I haven’t told you. Not because I don’t trust you, but because I wanted … I didn’t know how you would see me. After.”
“What things?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
That almost sounded like an insult, but Nick kept the hurt from his face. “Why?”
Seth looked back up with a fierce expression. It was familiar, though Nick couldn’t place why. “You’ve got this idea about what it means to be an Extraordinary. You think it’s a gift that will solve everything. But it won’t. You don’t have any idea what it does to a person, and how much easier it’d be to let it all go. To just let the bad things happen. But you can’t.”
“I would never do that,” Nick snapped. “When I become an Extraordinary, I’m gonna do good for everyone. I wouldn’t ever want it to go away.”
Seth laughed bitterly. “You say that now. Just wait until—”
“I know you never wanted it,” Nick said, standing up from the bed. His head almost hit the biplane. “Not like I do. And that’s okay. That’s your choice. This is mine.”
“Why? Why do you want this?”
Nick shook his head. “I’ve told you this before.”
“Right. Because of Shadow Star. Because you think he’s this person you’ve built up in your head. What if he’s nothing like you think he is? What if all you’re going to get is disappointment?”
“No,” Nick said, taking a step back. “It’s not—okay, it was like that. And maybe part of it still is. Because he’s amazing and brave, and no one can tell me otherwise. Just because you can’t do what he does, doesn’t mean you get to talk crap about him.”
“What changed? Why do you want to be one now?”
Nick’s skin was itching. It felt like his brain was leaking out his ears. “For the people. To keep them safe. Shadow Star can’t do it all on his own, right? He needs my help. If I can do that, if I can really help him, that’ll help Nova City, and then it’ll help my dad. And then maybe he won’t hate the