FenceStriking Distance - Sarah Rees Brennan Page 0,29

hand.”

“Yeah,” mumbled Harvard, and scooped up his phone from the floor.

Aiden watched in disbelief as Harvard rang the second contact on his phone.

“Hey, Mom. Just called to say I love you. And, uh… Do any of your friends have a son my age? Who might be interested in going on a date? With me?”

Aiden sat down hard on their bedroom floor. He tried to have a heart attack in a cool and collected fashion.

9: NICHOLAS

Seiji was mad at him. That wasn’t exactly unusual, but this time it was Jesse Coste’s fault.

Seiji had been silent coming back from the woods, then quiet all night without even uttering the normal bedtime stuff like Turn off the light immediately, Nicholas, and Don’t speak to me. He hadn’t come to breakfast this morning, even though he’d said he would, and Nicholas had saved him a seat.

He kept remembering the moment in the dark woods when Jesse had said Seiji should go with him, and the way Seiji—who never hesitated—had hesitated. Some part of Seiji wanted to go.

Seiji hadn’t gone. Probably because Jesse Coste was an enormous jerk. But Seiji seemed tempted by the idea of Exton and the fencing team there.

Nicholas couldn’t really imagine a school better or fancier than Kings Row. Even when he’d got a brochure for Kings Row sent to Coach Joe’s gym, the place had looked fake to him, a school out of a book or a childhood dream. Nicholas had worried he’d get grubby fingerprints on the brochures, but now that he was there, he felt—and plenty of students acted—as though Nicholas might get grubby fingerprints over the whole school. If there was a better school, Seiji deserved to go there.

He deserved a better fencing partner. Nicholas had figured out that when they were together, sometimes Seiji was fencing someone else, someone also fast and left-handed, but with an advanced skill that Nicholas didn’t have. Yet. He’d have it soon, if Seiji would just wait.

Wait, and not return to Jesse.

How were they supposed to be rivals if Seiji went to a whole other school and forgot Nicholas existed? Nicholas didn’t want him to leave. But he knew uneasily that he would be furious if he were Seiji, cut off from having what he wanted. If Exton was to Seiji what Kings Row was to Nicholas… then Nicholas shouldn’t get in his way.

Nicholas was too dispirited to steal much of Eugene’s bacon.

“Having a domestic, bro?” asked Eugene. “You fighting with Seiji again? Can’t help but notice he’s not here.”

“Yeah, uh…”

Nicholas wasn’t going to get into the whole Robert Coste is my father and his other, legitimate son was trying to lure Seiji away from the team in a limo. He’d never told anybody about Robert Coste. And it seemed like a lot to spill to Eugene over scrambled eggs. Eugene would probably focus on the Robert Coste issue, and right now Nicholas was preoccupied with Seiji.

“I broke his watch?” Nicholas hazarded at last.

He’d been worrying about that off and on. It seemed like basic roommate etiquette—a word from the Kings Row brochures that Nicholas didn’t know how to pronounce—not to break your roommate’s stuff. Seiji must be mad about that, too. Jesse probably wouldn’t have broken Seiji’s watch.

“That sucks,” said Eugene. “But it’s Saturday. Wanna head to town with me and get it fixed? There’s a fancy jewelry shop where my dad got his good watch repaired.”

“Oh, great.” Nicholas was relieved. He’d been at a loss about what he should do. He rewarded Eugene by saying, “Thanks, bro.”

Eugene beamed. “If they can’t fix it, they can totally sell you a replacement.”

Nicholas frowned. “I hope they can fix it. I think this watch might be kinda expensive. Reminds me of a watch a guy from my last school had, and that watch cost a hundred dollars. Can you believe any watch could cost a hundred dollars?”

Outrage made Nicholas’s voice louder than he’d intended. Aiden, passing their table with a cup of coffee, jerked out of his reverie at the noise. He looked a bit pale and twitchy; Nicholas figured he might’ve already had too much caffeine.

Aiden halted beside their table and remarked, “I do find that incredibly hard to believe.”

Even Aiden could see it was ridiculous. Nicholas nodded, feeling fully justified in his indignation.

“Insanity, am I right?”

There was a silence. Aiden took a thoughtful sip of his coffee.

“Let me put this another way,” said Aiden patiently. “How much do you think the watch, which I am wearing on my wrist right