Super Supportive

EIGHTY-ONE: O Cruzamento

81

How? Alden asked Victor, picking him up and squinting at his tubby belly. How are you getting bigger on the diet kitty chow?

Mrrraoow.

Its because there are no vermin here, isnt it? You need mice to chase. Maybe the dorms will be infested.

He doubted it. Anesidora didnt have much of a pest problem. There werent even mosquitoes.

He set Victor back on the sofa because the cat bed wasnt good enough for his orange majesty, then he grabbed his lunch from the fridge. He sent a group text to the girls across the hall, letting them know they could hang out in his apartment while he was gone if they wanted and use his coffee machine.

Natalie responded a second later. [Wait! Ill go with you! I just need five minutes.]

[Ok.]

He used the time to let his fingers flick through his non-auriad spells. He magically sanitized his hands, blew a puff of air at his cat, and then played a little tune.

Victor yawned.

Such a critic. Alden tickled the cats whiskers with his ring fingers while chimes sounded. You know this is majorly impressive stuff, right? For a human.

Maybe Victor would respect him more when he started smacking, crushing, and freezing things. He was sure he could do the spell that hit things with a square of force now. I wonder how much free authority I would need to cast that spell Jel-nor did.

A lot, he assumed. And there had been a chant with that one. But the mince-it-into-diamonds spell, or another like it, could be a longterm goal.

When Natalie was ready, he met her in the hall. She was wearing pink overalls and a backpack so crammed full of stuff it looked like it was on the verge of bursting.

Are you going to school today after all? Alden asked.

Shed gotten her acceptance from the CNH Arts program a few days before Alden, but instead of starting classes right away, like him, she was waiting until the last possible minute to leave intake. Of her roommates, only Hadiza would be going to school with her, and she was upset about leaving the friends shed made here behind.

Apartment hunting, she said in a determined voice. Again.

She wouldnt be staying in the school dorms because they didnt have full private kitchens. She wanted all of her new equipment to go with her.

Emilija finally said that if I could find an apartment she can afford to contribute rent for on her stipend, shed come stay in Apex with me and Hadiza! She thinks I cant do it, but I have twenty pounds of cake and brownies in here. She slapped one of her backpack straps. Ill bribe my way through every landlord in the city if I have to!

They hit the lobby then headed out the doors into the dark morning.

Do you know if bus or train is faster this time of day? Alden asked.

I dont usually leave this early either. I think its train through F, then bus in Apex?

It was windy again, and strands of blonde hair that hadnt been caught by her ponytail were whipping around her face.

Want me to carry your backpack? He kept looking for excuses to experiment with his new magical weight-lifting discovery.

Ive got it. Thanks, though. Are any of the hero track people starting with you today?

I only asked Maricel. Shes going, but I think shes a last possible minute person. She didnt want to leave early.

I want to meet her!

Well all be on campus together, so Im sure youll run into each other.

They dashed through a crosswalk just before the signal changed, and then headed in the direction of the nearest station. As they passed by the yoga studio Alden had noticed on his first ever trip through the neighborhood, Natalie suddenly said, I tried to take a class at this place.

Yeah?

The orange light from a shuttered restaurants sign made one of the silver buttons on her overalls glitter.

I think they didnt want me there. They were nice at first. They said they were used to people from intake visiting, and they didnt mind that Id never done a class before. But then it got weird after somebody asked my rank. You wouldnt think it would matter, would you? For yoga.

I wouldnt have thought so, Alden agreed. But Im still getting used to Anesidora, too. Sometimes things catch me by surprise.

Maybe Im being sensitive for no reason. This place is going to feel smaller if being an S means some people think Im supposed to stay on the north island. On top of everything else.

Im sure its not like that, he said. He hoped not anyway. I think this is a D and F-heavy neighborhood except for intake. Hardly any powers on display. Once you go a couple more blocks, youve got people throwing spells around in the streets.

Natalie perked up. Thats true. I am excited about living in Apex! Itll be perfect if I can keep Emilija with us. And youre going to have roommates finally. I cant believe they left you alone all that time.

Ive liked having the giant apartment to myself.

He didnt tell her that hed asked for it a few weeks ago. Gustavo had made it easy for him. During one of Aldens nocturnal rambles through the dorm hallways, the night counselor had casually suggested that there wasnt much point in putting new people in with him when hed be leaving in a month. Alden had just as casually agreed.

Hed needed it. It was cool of Gus not to make it into a big deal.

Just a little more of a buffer between him and everyone else. Just a little more time before he forced himself into trying for 24/7 normal. No roommates to whom hed feel obligated to explain the insomnia, or any of the rest of it.

If I was placing bets on my ability to be a great living companion right now, I dont know if Id choose me. Its probably good Im in a suite that Lexi is actively trying to make the quiet, studious one.

Another block and then an escalator down, and they were inside the station. It was glossy, immaculately clean, and a little over the topqualities it shared with most of the other public transport spaces Alden had seen on the island. Starburst-shaped chandeliers the size of cars hung from a high, arched white ceiling, and every now and then when you stepped on a floor tile, it would twinkle with embedded lights.

A train had just arrived. They hurried for the nearest car and slipped inside just as the doors were closing.

Made it! Natalie said, sliding her shoulders out of her backpack straps and taking a seat. She patted the one next to her, and Alden sat. Perfect timing! Now I dont feel so bad about making you wait for me earlier.

It was only five minutes. Im not worried about

Hed just recognized someone at the other end of the car. The stocky, brown-haired man had his eyes closed. He was leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed. Possibly resting, more likely watching videos through his interface.

It was the first time Alden had ever seen him not looking like he was spoiling for a fight.

But then he hasnt spotted me yet.

It was the angry guy from the boater whod called him fucking pet within thirty seconds of meeting him at LeafSong. Karl.

The last time Alden had seen him, hed been grunting and glaring from across the locker room in the human dorms. As if the sight of a teenager putting on a pair of socks was an affront to the universe.

Alden swallowed. His hand gripped the edge of the seat harder.

The sudden spike of tension was unexpected and unpleasantly familiar, like hed just received a postcard from eight months ago, when the boater members had been front and center in his mind. Karl had always struck him as unstable, even by the standards of that unpleasant group of adults. And hed had an endless list of grievances against Alden that had been aired in a stream of sniping criticisms and backhanded compliments as the days passed.

Alden was an ignorant globie who hadnt done anything to deserve a Triplanets job. Alden was an idiot whod chosen the wrong button on the washing machine they all shared and stolen minutes from Karls laundry cycle. Karl hated being on the same medical team as a fifteen-year-old. He hated Aldens expensive lab coat, his higher rank, and the fact that he was getting tons of extra work from Joe. He loathed the fact that Alden was making more money than him.

And I dont think Manon was making him behave like that at all. He despised me the instant Bti-qwol introduced me.

If anything, it seemed more likely that Manon had been tamping this particular member of her crews temper down to prevent an altercation. There was giving Alden the outcast treatment so that he couldnt make friends with the other humans, and then there was starting a fight in the middle of a premium assignment shed spent years micromanaging and building her twisted relationships for.

Whats wrong? Natalie asked. You were about to say something, werent you?

He selected her name from his contacts list, then texted her. [Lets get off at the next station and swap cars.]

She gave him a confused smile.

[Theres a guy Ive met before over there. Hes a huge jerk. I dont want him to bother us.]

Karl ought to have enough self-control not to start something on a trainbut Karl should also have had enough self-control not to pick on someone who was just trying to do a good job and get by on his first assignment.

Alden didnt want to deal with him.

Natalie mouthed Oh! then nodded.

After theyd swapped cars and claimed new seats, he said, Sorry. I was probably overreacting, but

No! Dont be! Some people are creepy and awful to be around, and Hadiza is always saying We dont owe them our time, so why are we letting them take it? about people like that. Or something! She says it better. She patted him on the arm. So, you dont owe a huge jerk anything. Right?

Right.

His stomach sank.

Right. The boater.

Cly Zhao was a superhero and a Sway, and she knew about it. And she had chosen to leave it alone. But Alden had still intended to send the boater members all messages saying, Hey. Its really obvious to an outsider that Manon is messing with your brains. I think your friend group and that job you all like so much is scary cult stuff. Maybe you want to get help.

He hadnt done it yet.

Hed been so incredibly busy for the past two months, but not so busy that he couldnt have drafted a few emails. It was justthis wad of pure stress in his chest whenever he thought about it.

He felt as if the messages werent enough, like that plan was a copout. Like he was obligated to do something more serious if he was going to address the problem at all. And at the same time, it was too much. The thought of sending a bunch of emailsones that might put him back on Manons radarmade him so weary.

Im too freaking young to be weary. At this point, arent I just being lazy?

It was like he could see the swamp of human suffering Manon had made from the dry, safe place hed finally found for himself. And he thought he should jump in and swim through it to help everyone shed trapped there. If he was a good person, hed want to do that for them.

Instead, he couldnt even work himself up to shout a warning to them from shore.

A pleasant tone sounded as the train approached another station.

Karl is in the next car. I could tell Natalie to stay here, step back over there, and try to talk to him. I know he wouldnt react well. He might punch me in the face, but its not like thatll kill me. I could do it.

Just do it, Alden. Stand up, go over there, and do the right thing.

The thought of doing it crushed him deeper into his seat. The weight of not doing it made him feel like there was a planet resting on his chest.

He sat there, immobilized by the competing pressures, until Karl got off the train a couple of stops later. Alden watched him stride toward another set of escalators, brushing past a woman who had stopped to search through her handbag.

Doors slid shut. The name of the station was still scrolling over themO Cruzamento.

As the train pulled away, Alden was relieved. And he was devastated that he was relieved.

Im a bad person now, arent I?

He closed his eyes.

Hey, you are okay, right? Natalie Choir asked.

He looked over. Her smile had faded. Her single dimple had disappeared.

Yeah! Yeah, Im great. Sorry. Just really sleepy from the early wake-up. He grinned at her. It was forced, but even if it was obvious, she would let it pass. She and the other girls were good about ignoring things like that for him. So apartment shopping! Its crazy that people our age can do that kind of thing here, isnt it? What kind of place are you hoping to end up in?

After a beat, she nodded at him. Well, I really want

He listened to her talk. The train carried him toward hero school.