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Anything was possible. Master Alcántara was a mystery, a myth come to life. Ageless. Unknowable. Terrifying. There was something in his gaze. A look implying we shared a secret I’d yet to uncover. It gave me hope.
And then poof—he was gone. There was a glimmering movement and then Master Alcántara simply vanished. It looked like a movie that’d been edited wrong: In one frame he flickered before us; in the next he didn’t.
Voices hummed through the room, and Tracer Judge silenced us. “You heard Master Alcántara. That means tonight’s homework, like every assignment you receive, demands your best effort. ”
I finally caught Yasuo’s eye, and he oohed and wriggled his fingers in a playful spooky-voodoo way. I gave him a big smile, excited about my prospects.
There was fresh grumbling as talk of schoolwork brought us back to so-called reality. “I know this problem set will be difficult for some of you,” Judge added, raising his voice over the din. “Which is why it’s more important than ever to show your work. These are very basic proofs. You can work through them, and I want to see your thought process as you do. ”
More like he wanted to make sure girls weren’t cheating.
The moment he dismissed us, students bolted from the room. Some seemed upset. Basic tenth-grade geometry would be hard for many of them, I realized.
I bit back a smile. I’d been taking my knowledge for granted, expending my energy feeling sorry for myself about gym class and swimming, but I had a leg up on everyone. I could recite geometry postulates in my sleep. Maybe Alcántara’s test would be a complicated theorem.
And that had to be a lot harder than learning how to dogpaddle.
I wanted that award. And it was within my reach. I just needed to buck up and learn to swim or fight or do however many pull-ups it took to stay alive till the end of the semester.
I felt a person hovering over me and looked up to see Yasuo’s bemused face.
“Well?” He stood there, brows raised, shaking his head ever so slightly. “Girl, don’t tell me that vampire dude hypnotized you like he did everyone else. ”
I opened my mouth to protest, but floundered for words.
“Aww, hell, Drew. Seriously? Man, I can’t wait till I get my vampire mojo. ” He spread his hands as though reveling in his own epic coolness. “Just wait. The ladies will love them some Vampire Yasuo. ”
I laughed. “They won’t know what hit them. ”
He grabbed my coat and messenger bag from the back of my chair. “Come on. Are you gonna sit there all day? I’m starved. I want to get to the dining hall before all the good stuff is gone. ”
“If you consumed something beyond bread, butter, and Fruit Crush—whatever that is—maybe you wouldn’t have such a hard time. ” Standing, I snagged my stuff from him, but didn’t put on my coat. “You go ahead. Tracer Judge said he’d stay after. ”
And I thought it was just as well, too. Yasuo would probably sit with Josh, and after running into him and Lilac, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to chitchat over cafeteria lasagna.
“You’re missing lunch to work on that computer thing? You are such a dweeb, Drew. Didn’t anyone tell you that blondes were supposed to be, I don’t know, perkier or something?”
“Do not start on the blond thing, or I won’t help you with tonight’s proof. ”
“Oh!” His hands clutched his breast like he’d been stabbed. “Whatever, Geek Girl. Just hurry up, okay?”
He heade
d for the door, but I stopped him. I knew I probably wouldn’t make lunch, but there was no way I’d miss my favorite dessert. “Hey, if they have that shortbread stuff—”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll save you some. ” Yasuo shot me one of those careless-boy nods as he loped out.
Tracer Judge stood by the doorway, looking eager to shoo people through. Spotting me, he asked, “Did you need something?” He sounded agitated, which was completely unlike him.
Maybe today wasn’t the best day to stay after. Or maybe he just forgot. My heart fell, thinking I might have to dine with Josh and his pals after all. I slowly shouldered into my coat, not sure how to play it.
He sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face. “Ohh, right. I was going to . . . ”
“Teach me how to do that Linux hack. ” I gave him a hopeful smile.
“I’m so sorry. I completely forgot. We’ll need to—”
Footsteps called our attention to the hallway. My Proctor, Amanda, stood there, frozen. Her eyes went from me to Judge and back again. Despite her pinched brow, she was as stunning as ever, statuesque in a fitted wool coat, her skin shining like a dark, burnished stone.
