It beeped in response and began vibrating as its wheels rapidly spun, searching for a solid surface.
“Okay, okay.”A strip of white fluttered out from the bot’s shiny yellow frame as Elodie lowered it back to the ground.She lunged forward and grabbed the paper before the bot spun around and headed toward the elevator.She had almost balled up the strip of paper and tested her aim by tossing it the long distance to the incinerator pail, when scratches of handwritten text caught her eye.
Salmon Springs Fountain.4:30.
—Your Neighborhood Mohawked Moleman
Elodie squealed ahigh-pitchedbleat of excitement.She clapped her hands over her mouth.This is exactly what Astrid had mentioned.
Would you want to talk to him again in reallife?
Elodie had never answered the question; instead, she’d just reported on her horriblegun-fillednon-datedate with Rhett.She hadn’t thought there was a reason to say anything about Mr.Mohawk, er, theMohawked Moleman.When would she actually ever see himagain?
Today.The word chimed between her ears.Four thirty.Salmon Springs Fountain.
Elodie placed the strip of paper on her textbook.
What wouldVi do?
XXII
Elodie worried the edges of the folded note.No one had ever written her a note.Not a real one, using a pen and paper, that is.Actually, now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember anyone who had written anything down on paper ever.That’s what Holly was for, and holopads, and, well, computers in general.
She flipped up the hood of her rain jacket and activated her Violet Shield as she passed through the automatic sets of glass doors of the downtown MediCenter building and onto therain-slickedbrick sidewalk.
The corners of the paper were furry beneath her fingers as she smoothed them over again and again.It wasn’t technically an invitation, but who went around telling people where they were going to be for no reason at all?Then again, who wrote a note and taped it to a bot?It was like something out ofDeath by Violet—except for the bot, of course.
Rain fell in fat droplets and lapped against her boots as she splashed through shallow puddles on thefive-blockwalk to Waterfront Park.She slipped the note into her jacket pocket and balled her hands within the sleeves.She wasn’t doing anything wrong.Elodie knew that for a fact.But if she wasn’t breaking any rules, why did she feel so...quaky?
Elodie shook her head.She’d never make it to the fountain if she continued down that path.Plus, there would be plenty of time to assess where her current bout of anxiety had come from as soon as she washome.
Across the street, the stretch of grass that bordered the walkway along the river’s edge sparkled vibrant green through the steady rainfall.
Okay.She was nearly there.She hadn’t stopped or convinced herself to go on home.For all the losses she’d acquired at work that morning, she was finally winning at something.
Well, almost.She still needed to cross the street.And all sorts of things happened to pedestrians.None that she could actually recall, but that didn’t mean getting flattened by the MAX or run over by a rogue Pearl wasn’t a thing.
She chewed on the corner of her nail and searched the concrete benches that surrounded Salmon Springs Fountain as she waited along with a handful of other Violet Shielded pedestrians to cross thetwo-lanestreet.
There he was, mohawk and all, casually leaning against a tree, a lightweight jacket over a tightT-shirt, no violet orb around him, without a care in the world.Like he’d somehow been able to transfer all of his emotions to her.That would explain the terrible clenching in her chest and stomach.
He pushed himself away from the tree and waved.
The pedestrian light flashed white, and Elodie suddenly had no idea what to do with her arms or her face.At least her legs were busy carrying her forward, although she’d forgotten how to walk normally, and skipped over to him.Her insides knotted, and she wished she had her backpack to hide behind.She’d left it in her locker in case they were going to go do something.
But why had she assumed they’d go do anything?What if he was trying to return something she’d dropped when they’d met, both the unofficial and official times?Crap, had sheevermanaged to be a normal, functioning human being when he’d been around?Or what if he was a complete weirdo like Astrid had said?He did work down in the morgue.What kind of craziness did you have to display in your testing to make them assign you to a career dealing with dead people?Part of her knew he was a bit weird (hehadattached a handwritten note to a bot), but that’s what had drawn her out into the rain in only her Violet Shield, scrubs, raincoat, and boots, with the hopes of an adventure.
As she reached his side of the street, Elodie clicked the button on her wristband and the purple orb around her vanished.Rarely did anyone stray from the sidewalk that bordered the street and venture into Waterfront Park or take the path that ran along the Willamette River.Plus, it was always awkward to have a meetup with one person shielded and the other person not, and Elodie was already feeling awkward enough.
He jogged up to her, excitement stitched in the creases of his grin.“I wasn’t sure you’dcome.”
“I was surprised when I, um...”Elodie watched the beads of water sliding down the tops of her rainboots as she fiddled with her jacket zipper.“When I got your note.The bot and everything.It was different.”
His worn boots creaked as he shifted.A muddy shadow spread against the pavement where his foot had been before the smudge was pulled away by the steady stream of rainwater seeking out the nearest drain.“Different,huh?”
She couldn’t bring herself to look up at him.“Not different in a bad way.It was just different in a different way.”She winced.“I mean, no one has ever sent me a note before.”Heat crept up her neck.“People have sent me notes before.I get them all the time.”Warmth pricked her cheeks.“Notall the time,all the time.Just some of the time.Like, a normal amount of notes a normal amount of the time.”Her mouth went dry and her tongue felt glued to her teeth.“Sorry, what I’m trying to say is that I liked it.”A stray raindrop landed on her cheek.She brushed it away before it had a chance to sizzle and evaporate against her fiery flesh.“The paper and the bot.Very clever and unexpected.”She sighed, and finally met his gaze.“It wasnice.”
His eyes searched hers, and she felt the sudden urge to zip up her coat and pull the bungees on her hood until only the tip of her nose was visible.She wasn’t going to do it, of course.She’d already made enough of a fool of herself.Not to mention the fact that she had also criticized the very cute thing that he haddone.
