Page 69 of Flickerstate

He laughs, startled.

“—but why assume we’ll go head-to-head? Neither of the trials has been anything like that. And I don’t want to stop—I mean, I—when we first met on my interview day, I thought you were so hot it made me angry. Since I’ve gotten to know you, I’ve only kept liking you more. I like you. Ilikeyou. What do you want to do aboutthat?”

He stares at me like he doesn’t understand what he’s hearing.

He kicks the ball out from between us and steps close. For asecond we’re just breathing the same shuddery air, and then he kisses me.

***

When I key into my block sometime later—I’m not sure how much later; I lost track of time for a while there—I open the door silently and tiptoe inside. I’m hoping to sneak into my room without Candace or Bree asking where I’ve been.

They don’t notice me. They’re too busy making out on the sofa.

I freeze. A scarlet dusk fills our window, gleaming on the hardwood floor where the carpet ends. The air smells a little like perfume. And, yes, Candace and Bree are kissing with their eyes closed on the pale-blue sofa, Bree’s fingers twisted in Candace’s back collar.

So. Breereallylikes the dress.

Do I…creep past them to my room? Moonwalk out into the hall?

Candace pulls back. “Ah. Norah. I was meaning to talk to you.”

Bree twists in her seat. When she sees me, she blushes fuchsia and beams.

“…Here I am,” I say.

Candace stands and smooths out her dress. “Let’s walk. See you, Bree.”

I follow Candace into the hall and down the stairs. She marches purposefully. I can’t see her face, only her ear and her jaw. It’s not till we’ve exited Lucasson that she slows down, waiting for me to pull up beside her.

“This conversation will be awkward now,” she says.

Not for the first time, I’m tempted to slip into flickerstate and spy on all the awkward possibilities. “Why exactly?”

She sweeps her eyes over the quad. The lamps have turned on, leaking powdery light into the dusk. Glowing scarlet bands the horizon, but overhead, the sky’s purple, striped by gauzy clouds. Students I don’t know, maybe freshmen, are sitting in the dark under the Great Tree. (Little creeps.) “Shall we take the campus loop?” she asks.

We pass between academic buildings onto the paved loop. After a few seconds, I ask, “So?”

Candace bows her head, bob brushing her chin. “It’s going to sound hypocritical, but…you want to win?”

More than you do, I bite back. “Yes. I want to win.”

“More than you want anything else?”

“I feel like you’re catechizing me. Yes.”

“In that case,” Candace says, “I’m wondering if I should give you the talk about Vik.”

The basketball courts come into view up ahead, white lines bright in the dusk. Tingling, not quite painful, sweeps over me from toes to scalp. “Why?”

“Bree thinks you have a little crush on him.”

“Maybe I should give you the talk about Bree.”

Candace winces. “Don’t. I acknowledged the awkwardness and hypocrisy. But Bree’s not the competition.”

“No, she’syour roommate. And teammate. I might reasonably worry about collateral damage if you guys break up tomorrow.”

Candace pretends to examine the science building’s Gothic hulk. “We can’t break up. We’re not dating.”