The Princeton library was unusually crowded for a Thursday afternoon. I sat drifted to the thin, bdark /bhaired figure hunched over textbooks three falles away.

AROD

at at a corner table, pretending to read while my attention

Ss Murphy.

“Is that Jade Morgan? In the library?” A whisper floated from a nearby table, followed by a chorus of hushed voices.

“I’ve never seen her here before.”

“Maybe she’s here for the new guy.”

“He’s cute in bthat /bmysterious, brooding bway/b.”

I scrolled through messages on my phone. Ethan bhad /btexted again, asking about my eyes,

Better. Stop asking.

closed My vision had improved enough to read without strain, though distant objects still blurred around the edges. I nced up as Sis c his books, meticulously arranging them in his worn bbackpack/b. His movements were efficient, almost mechanical.

He checked his watch–a cheap bdigital /bmodel with a cracked face–and frowned. Seven o’clock. He gathered his things quickly and headed for the exit.

I waited exactly thirty seconds before following.

The public bus dropped Ss at the bedge /bof Princeton’s poorest neighborhood–abyrinth of crumbling apartment buildings and narrow alleys. I trailed him silently through darkening streets.

bSs /bturned down a narrow passage between two buildings. Even with mypromised vision, I could tell something was wrong when bhe /bsuddenly stopped. Voices echoed between the bbrick /bwalls.

“Well, well. bLook /bwho’s here. A stocky figure stepped into Ss’s path, followed by more shadows–at least a dozen. “Been looking for you, Murphy.

what do you want?b” /b

bSs’s /bshoulders tensed. “What do you

“Your bpiece /bof shit father owes my cousin three grand. Plus interest.” The leader stepped closer, streetlight glinting off something metallic in his hand. “Then there’s the hospital bill for Joey’s broken nose.”

“I don’t have money,” Ss said, voice bt/b.

“That’s too bad. bGuess /bwe’ll have to take payment another way.” The guy tapped a metal pipe bagainst /bhis palm. ‘How about we start with your legs?

The bothers /bughed, moving to form a circle around Silus.

I expected him to run. Instead, he swung his backpack, ratching the leader squarely in the face. The man stumbled back, cursing

“Get him!”

Two thugs rushed forward. Ss dodged the fast swing,nding a sollid punch to one guy’s throat, but the second caught him across the back with a pipe. He staggered but stayed on his feet, ducking another swing

For someone who looked half–starved, he moved well. Street lighting. not trainedbat, but effective enough. Still, the odds were impossible–one against twelve.

ging with him.

A second blow caught his shoulder. A third nced off his forearm as he blocked. They were toying

The leader stepped forward, pipe raised for ba /bbblow /bthat would shatter bone.

“Hey!”

y!” I bcalled /bfrom the alley entrance. “Twelve against one? Pathetic.

Heads turned. I picked up a discarded pipe and twirled it experimentally.

“The fuck are you?” the leader spat.

I didn’t answer, just walked forward. Two moved to intercept me. bThe /bfirst swing was telegraphed so obviously I could have dodged it blindfolded. I sidestepped, brought the pipe down on his wrist–felt bone give way–then drove bmy /bknee into his groinb. /bHe dropped, screaming.

The second barely had time to register what happened before my pipe connected with his temple. Down.

The others rushed me together. A bmistake/b. In tight quarters, they blocked each other, got in their own way. I moved through them knife through butter–precise, efficient. No wasted movement,

Seven seconds. Seven bodies on the ground.

The leader backed away, eyes wide. “What the bfuck /b

like a

1 bclosed /bthe distance before he could finish, drove the pipe into his stomach, bthen /bbrought it down on the back of his neck as he doubled over. Not hard enough to kill, just enough to make sure he wouldn’t get bup /banytime soon.

The remaining thugs scattered, leaving their unconscious friends behind.

Ss stood frozen, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead.

I bwalked /btoward him, pipe still in hand. His eyes widened as I braised /bit and swung.

The metal stopped ban /binch from his face.

“Just kidding,” I said, dropping the pipe

with a tter. “You looked like byou /bneeded help.”

He stared at me, chest heaving. “Why were you following me?”

??

I bwasn’t/b. I bwas /bgetting tacos.” I shrugged. “There’s a Mexican ce around the corner, right?”

b12:27 /bSat, Sep 27

Ss clutched his barm/b, wincing. “Right,”

He looked at me for ba /blong moment, then turned and headed for a rusted door set in the brick wall.

“Hey,” I called after bhim/b. “I just saved

ass. A thank you‘

would be nice. Or at least show me where to get tacos.

Ss nced back, eyes unreadable. Without a word, he jerked his head, Inilleating I should follow.

Am

lly in a notebookb. /bI set my

The bnext /bday, I spotted Ss in the student dining hall. He sat alone, food untouched as he scribbled frantically tray down across bfrom /bhim.

*bLate /bfor ss?” I asked.

He looked bup/bb, /bstartled. “What?”

1 gestured to his notebook. “You’re writing like the world’s ending”

Ss went back

k to his notes

s without answering. The dark circles under his eyes had deepened overnight.

I ced a bsmall /btube on the table between us. “Sports medicine. For bruises band /bmuscle strain. Better than whatever over–the–counter crap you’re using.”

His pen stopped moving. He stared at the tube but didn’t reach for it.

dering if bI’d /bmiscalcted. Then he returned with a

After a moment, Ss closed his notebook and stood. I watched him walk away, wondering tray of food, setting it in front of me.

“How much?” I asked as he bsat /bdown.

I

He ignored the question, reopening his notebook.

“Do you have notes fromst semester?” he basked /bsuddenly, olliv. not looking up. /li/ol

“Yeah,” I lied, “Want to borrow them?”

is bgaze /bnicked up briefly. The question was obvious in his eyes.

His

“What’s in it for me?” 1 asked.

bSs /bblooked /bbback /bdown at his notes, Jaw tightening.

1 finished my bfood /band left the medicine tube on the table.

When Ss entered the ssroom that afternoon, the whispers started immediatelyb. /b

“Did you see him with Jade?”

“In the bdining /bhall-

He slid into his seat, Ignoring the stares. I watched from bacross /bthe rooms as he opened his bbackpack /band froze.

Three spiral notebooks by /bon his desk, eachbeled with a course number. Inside the top one, a note was stuck to the first page:

Study hard. –

200

The notebooks weren’t mine. I’d borrowed them from Amelia Chen, our ss’s resident overachiever. I hadn’t even needed to exin- she’d been so excited about Jade Morgan acknowledging her existence that she’d thrust the notebooks into my hands immediately.

bSs /blooked up, scanning the room buntil /bhis eyes met mine. For a split second, I thought I saw something–gratitude, maybe. But then his expression shuttered closed, and he turned back to the notebooks.

I smiled to myself. The whispers grew louder around us, but neither of us bpaid /bthem any attention

Chapter Comments

3