that she’s gonna kiss me. My mind frantically searches for the right thing to do. Lean forward, grab her shoulder, pucker up. Then she opens her mouth.
“Are you aware that you have an imprint of a brick on the side of your head?”
My inner symphony hits a bum note and the orchestra lights flicker off. “Yeah, I’m aware. It hurts like hell.”
She chuckles. “Did someone brand you?”
I lean back, knowing that the red mark is the least of my worries. “I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.” She pulls away. “Just saying. Us poor little orphans have to stick together up here.”
I sigh, resting my chin on my knees. “We lost the Pearl today. I lost my belt. Everything. If Eva hadn’t stepped in when she did, I might be dead.”
Her green eyes fill with concern. “Dead? On a training mission?”
“Yep,” I reply, pressing on the table with my thumb. “And if that doesn’t define my life up here, I don’t know what would.”
“So you think it was your fault.”
“I know it was my fault, Avery. There was this Pearlhound, not even an adult. I should have been able to take him, but I panicked.”
“This guy have a name?”
“Cassius Stevenson.” I sigh.
Her brows raise.
I meet her eyes. “What? Does that mean something to you? Is he like some super macho legend I should know about?”
“No,” she responds. “Just curious.”
“Oh, and by the way, Eva’s pissed about you hacking into our CPs. How do you do that, anyway?”
“A lot of time and a lot of reading.” She shrugs. “But look, I’ve seen Skandar in action and he ain’t so hot. And Eva may think she’s some warrior princess, but I heard she still sleeps with her old teddy bear blanket.”
I smirk. “Really?”
“No,” she replies. “I made that up to get a smile out of you. Truth is, Jesse, it doesn’t really matter. The teachers make it seem like Pearls are the be all and end all, but there are other things in life. Don’t obsess over the parts you can’t control. Jeez, if I spent time wallowing about my failures I’d have jumped off the ship ages ago.”
“I wasn’t wallowing.”
She laughs. “Oh, you’re wallowing. That is the most wallowing bowl of chili I’ve seen in my life.”
I glance over to the lonely bowl, considering her sage advice. It’s times like these that I’m convinced the two of us should just hijack a shuttle and take off for Polaris or Vega or some other fun ship—a ship where they don’t train children for illegal, dangerous work and then mock them when they’re not up to it.
“Speaking of,” she reaches over and grabs the bowl, “you got any enemies, Fisher? We can pick the lock on their door and dump this on them while they’re sleeping.”
I chuckle, despite myself. “That sounds like the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
“Oh, come on. I’ve had worse.”
“Well, there is August Bergmann … ” I wince as I say his name, imagining how he’ll spin my little Surface adventure once he hears about it. The guy’s had it in for me ever since Year Six.
Her face lights up. “Yeah! Now there’s a perfect candidate for a late-night chili dump.”
I shake my head. “But I’m already in trouble. Alkine’s concerned .” I frame the word with air quotes. “They’re all concerned.”
She rolls her eyes. “They’re always concerned. If they weren’t, they’d be concerned about that too.” She pushes the bowl away. It flies across the table, nearly toppling off the edge.
“There were Fringers,” I continue. “Not friendly either. Hence the lovely mark on my cheek.”
She rests her chin in her hand, staring at me. “It’s actually kinda cute. Think of it as a temporary tattoo. Real badass.”
“Yeah.” I smile. “Temporary tattoos are the definition of badass, right? They might as well have just scrawled ‘loser’ across my face. Bergmann’s gonna have a field day with this one.”
She shrugs. “There’s always the chili. Just
“Are you aware that you have an imprint of a brick on the side of your head?”
My inner symphony hits a bum note and the orchestra lights flicker off. “Yeah, I’m aware. It hurts like hell.”
She chuckles. “Did someone brand you?”
I lean back, knowing that the red mark is the least of my worries. “I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.” She pulls away. “Just saying. Us poor little orphans have to stick together up here.”
I sigh, resting my chin on my knees. “We lost the Pearl today. I lost my belt. Everything. If Eva hadn’t stepped in when she did, I might be dead.”
Her green eyes fill with concern. “Dead? On a training mission?”
“Yep,” I reply, pressing on the table with my thumb. “And if that doesn’t define my life up here, I don’t know what would.”
“So you think it was your fault.”
“I know it was my fault, Avery. There was this Pearlhound, not even an adult. I should have been able to take him, but I panicked.”
“This guy have a name?”
“Cassius Stevenson.” I sigh.
Her brows raise.
I meet her eyes. “What? Does that mean something to you? Is he like some super macho legend I should know about?”
“No,” she responds. “Just curious.”
“Oh, and by the way, Eva’s pissed about you hacking into our CPs. How do you do that, anyway?”
“A lot of time and a lot of reading.” She shrugs. “But look, I’ve seen Skandar in action and he ain’t so hot. And Eva may think she’s some warrior princess, but I heard she still sleeps with her old teddy bear blanket.”
I smirk. “Really?”
“No,” she replies. “I made that up to get a smile out of you. Truth is, Jesse, it doesn’t really matter. The teachers make it seem like Pearls are the be all and end all, but there are other things in life. Don’t obsess over the parts you can’t control. Jeez, if I spent time wallowing about my failures I’d have jumped off the ship ages ago.”
“I wasn’t wallowing.”
She laughs. “Oh, you’re wallowing. That is the most wallowing bowl of chili I’ve seen in my life.”
I glance over to the lonely bowl, considering her sage advice. It’s times like these that I’m convinced the two of us should just hijack a shuttle and take off for Polaris or Vega or some other fun ship—a ship where they don’t train children for illegal, dangerous work and then mock them when they’re not up to it.
“Speaking of,” she reaches over and grabs the bowl, “you got any enemies, Fisher? We can pick the lock on their door and dump this on them while they’re sleeping.”
I chuckle, despite myself. “That sounds like the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
“Oh, come on. I’ve had worse.”
“Well, there is August Bergmann … ” I wince as I say his name, imagining how he’ll spin my little Surface adventure once he hears about it. The guy’s had it in for me ever since Year Six.
Her face lights up. “Yeah! Now there’s a perfect candidate for a late-night chili dump.”
I shake my head. “But I’m already in trouble. Alkine’s concerned .” I frame the word with air quotes. “They’re all concerned.”
She rolls her eyes. “They’re always concerned. If they weren’t, they’d be concerned about that too.” She pushes the bowl away. It flies across the table, nearly toppling off the edge.
“There were Fringers,” I continue. “Not friendly either. Hence the lovely mark on my cheek.”
She rests her chin in her hand, staring at me. “It’s actually kinda cute. Think of it as a temporary tattoo. Real badass.”
“Yeah.” I smile. “Temporary tattoos are the definition of badass, right? They might as well have just scrawled ‘loser’ across my face. Bergmann’s gonna have a field day with this one.”
She shrugs. “There’s always the chili. Just
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