Read Online Mortal Danger (The Immortal Game) by Ann Aguirre - Free Book Online Page B

went home. I learned that I had a weird sense of humor, but people liked me anyway—or maybe because of it. I’d spent my life cracking jokes in my head, wondering if anyone but me would laugh.
    They did.
    As for Ryu, I liked being part of something. I didn’t fall wildly in love with him, but he was a great guy: kind, smart, funny, and handsome. It was cool to sit next to him, looking up at the stars, while Vi and Seth whispered beside us. The first time he worked up the nerve to put his arm around her, I smothered a grin and turned to see Ryu watching me with a goofy smile on his face.
    “You act like you’ve never seen people fall for each other before.”
    “Not from so close up,” I said.
    No. I doubted he’d believe me if I said I was operating from what I’d read in books as opposed to personal experience. That truth didn’t fit my new look, even if I was more used to it. So Ryu would never truly know me, and that made me a little sad.
    “They’re pretty cute,” he admitted.
    “Did you know Seth before the SSP?”
    “Only online. We’ve talked in various forums.” From his tone, he’d rather not tell me which ones.
    I could guess. “That’s cool.”
    “Hey, do you mind if I take a picture of us, show you off to the guys back home?” His question gave me a weird twinge.
    Before, he never would’ve wanted to do that, even if he liked me. How did I feel about being eye candy? It was bizarre and slightly unwelcome, not because I didn’t think I was pretty now, but I wasn’t before, and I was still the same person inside.
    “No problem.”
    It wasn’t fair to dump my ambivalence on him without context. This was probably a normal request and something he meant as a compliment. Obligingly I leaned in, tilted my head against his, and smiled. The flash blinded me for a few seconds, and when I focused on the girl in the photo with Ryu, it didn’t feel like me, more as if somebody had transferred my consciousness into her body.
    “We look great. Do you mind if I post this as a status update?”
    “Go for it.”
    He got busy tapping on his phone, so he missed the moment when Seth leaned in and kissed Vi for the first time. They bumped noses, sweet and awkward, and I turned my face away, cheeks hot. Probably they thought I was too wrapped up in Ryu to notice. I liked him, but … he was safe. There was no chance of losing myself in him.
    “And done.” Before he could do more than hug me and kiss my cheek, the instructor called us to attention and directed us to our next lesson.
    Possibly because there were only thirty-six of us, no cliques developed, and nobody was left out. And that was just on the social front. School-wise, I learned a ton. By the time the program wrapped up, we had gone to the Jet Propulsion Lab, the Caltech campus, and Griffith Observatory. Of the trips, I liked the last one most. There was something freeing about being surrounded by people who shared my interests. Nobody thought I was weird for being interested in the stars, not that I wanted to study them professionally. I just found them fascinating, so I enjoyed my time in the dome, working on the orbit determination project.
    The weeks melted away, and I came out of the program stronger and more confident. Kian will be proud, I thought, as I put the last load of clothes I’d ever wash on this campus into the dryer. While I might not be completely used to my new self, I’d gotten good at pretending. That’ll have to be enough.
    The final night in our dorm room, Vi lay on her bed, dreamy-eyed. “Seth and I are going to keep in touch. I have his IM, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and stuff. He lives in Illinois, so he’s only three hours away.”
    I paused the packing long enough to suggest, “You could meet halfway for dates.”
    She sat up in excitement, got online and found the town that was exactly an hour and a half between them. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I never thought of this. It could totally work. I mean, we’d only