you.
No one in her family had found their footing in America yet. They’d moved from Chandigarh so she could go to Redemption, but back in Salt Lake City, things kept getting worse. Her father’s position had slipped at his company, and he was made to go through Americanization training; her mother, her brother, and her brother’s wife couldn’t find consistent work. The only one who liked it here was her sister, but all of them sucked it up, for the promise of cashing their golden ticket—Neesha’s brain.
What if the school found out about Apex? How would she be punished? And what would her mother say about that?
The Human Lounge had cleared out by the time Neesha was inside. Only the highest frequencies of the sirens were audible through the stone walls, but red lights popped and flashed intermittently down the connected hallways. She took the stairs, two at a time, checking over her shoulder for flashlights. When she reached the third floor, she turned the corner into her hallway and froze—
In the flashing lights, she could make out five staff members, each wearing the school’s plastic protective suits, congregated outside her room.
“Neesha.” One of them noticed her from down the hall; she couldn’t tell who. “We need to talk to you.”
She felt the weight pushing down against her shoulders.
“When was the last time you saw Emma?”
Aiden.
“HEY, BUDDY,” THE voice said to him from above, quick and sharp, with an accent. “Who’s that?”
He rounded the bleachers, turning into the light. It was a tall guy, skinny but with a puffy orange jacket hanging from his shoulders. “Wait,” he said. “I recognize you . . . Peter, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, Peter Novak, buddy.”
“We met Year One, you were in my orientation group. For capture the flag. I’m Aiden.”
“Cool.”
“What are you doing out here?”
Peter cleared his throat. “Seems like a nice night for a sit. You?”
Aiden ignored the question, instead scanning the court for something he might have missed. There was no other entrance to the cage, and no movement around them. It was just the two of them.
“You’re looking for Emma?” Peter asked.
“Yeah, we were supposed to meet after mass, but . . .” Aiden pointed to his head.
“Goofy look, man.”
“It’s not a look, it’s a bandage. I was bleeding from my head after that kid slammed me into the altar.”
“Why’d you let a kid slam you into an altar?”
“I didn’t let him, he was freaking out and I stopped him from hurting anybody. You don’t remember this from mass?”
“Oh, no, I got the fuck outta there. What a mess.”
“Huh. She must have gone back before the sweep. . . .”
Aiden’s skin was crawling. He was sweaty from the run, but it was more than that. The prickly sense that something was wrong, the feeling that someone was watching him, the palpable weight of the mist in the air—all clung to him like moisture.
“Yeah . . .” Peter looked nervous.
“What?”
“I came straight from mass, buddy,” he said. “Emma hasn’t been here.”
Aiden looked at him. “No offense, but you probably don’t know who I’m talking about.”
“No, I know who Emma is. I was supposed to meet her, too.”
He felt the impact in his stomach. “Are you serious?”
Peter nodded.
“For what?”
Peter squirmed a bit. “For important, personal business between me and her.”
Aiden couldn’t control himself; he leapt up the bleachers, two at a time, his hands flying straight for Peter’s jacket.
“Easy, easy,” Peter said, moving away from him. “I was buying! It was a transaction!”
Aiden froze, halfway up the bleachers.
Peter peeked up from where he was crouching. “Jesus, be careful with that energy, buddy. I can see your insecurity from here.”
Aiden sat, rubbing his face with his hands. She never came. She probably never even planned on coming. She’d lied.
“Sorry, buddy.” Peter sat next to him. “Looks like you might’ve been wrong about some stuff.” He felt Peter’s hand on his back. “Whoa, you’re sweaty. Did you run all the way out here?”
Aiden nodded. They sat in silence for a long couple of minutes, his brain racing through everything she’d said to him tonight, everything he’d done in the last two weeks. He’d been afraid that if he didn’t make it out in time, he’d lose her, but the truth was, he never had her at all.
“Let me ask you something,” Peter said, still watching him. “You’re taking right now, yeah?”
Aiden hadn’t noticed, but his hands were active, grabbing uncontrollably at the bottom of the bandage around his head.
“Yeah, you’re up. Here.” Peter held out