Sean
Considering I talked twice with Kira over the weekend and spent Sunday afternoon shooting hoops with her, it seems pointless to ignore her at school Monday. So I don’t.
“Hey. Good weekend?” I greet her when she arrives in Physics class.
To my relief, she seems to have come to the same conclusion. At least, she stops and smiles instead of just nodding as she passes me.
“Mostly the same weekend you had, I think.” Her smile is almost a grin now—though I detect a certain wariness in her eyes. “How was yours?”
“Better than most, actually.” I hold her gaze so she’ll know I mean because of her.
A tiny crease forms between her brows but before she can reply, Alan comes in looking irritated.
“I thought you were going to wait, Kira.” His peevish expression encompasses both of us. “I only needed to stop at my locker for a second.”
Kira keeps looking at me for a heartbeat before turning to Alan. “What difference does it make? We’re both here now.”
He shrugs. “So you two are talking again?”
“Yeah, we ironed out our little…misunderstanding over the weekend.” I can’t resist slanting a smile down at Kira as I say it, earning a positive glower from Alan. I shouldn’t enjoy needling him like this, but he ticked me off last week, trying to move in on Kira while I was keeping my distance.
“Did we?” She arches an eyebrow at me but looks more amused than upset.
“I hope so.” Again, I try to imbue my words with extra meaning. By now she’s had time to think over everything I told her yesterday. If I succeeded in changing her Anti-Royal attitude, I won’t feel so guilty about the way she affects me.
Her expression doesn’t give anything away, though. After watching me for a long moment, she just turns away with a tiny smile. Alan follows her to their lab table, though with a quick frown over his shoulder at me.
Our next chance to talk is in Lit class, though we carefully limit our conversation to schoolwork. Even so, her comments are interesting. So much so that I catch up with her on the way to the lunchroom afterward.
“Are you as frustrated by this assignment as I am?” I murmur too softly for any Duchas to overhear. “Comparing the stifling of information in Fahrenheit 451 to what went on under Faxon’s regime would make an excellent essay, don’t you think?”
She glances up at me in evident surprise. “I’ve been thinking that exact same thing! I guess all dictators realize at some point that they have to control what people are allowed to know if they hope to maintain power over them. Do you remember how—?”
“Ooh, what are you two whispering about?” Molly pops up next to me out of nowhere, grinning. “Or shouldn’t I ask?”
I give her a quelling look. “Just the book we’re reading in Lit. Drawing some parallels to stuff we can’t talk about in class.”
“Oh.” Her grin gives way to disappointment, but only for a second. Then, “Why don’t you sit at our table today, Sean? Then you can continue your, um, discussion.”
“Right. Because Bri and Deb and the other Duchas at your table won’t think it’s weird at all if we start talking about Faxon and Mars.”
Kira chuckles at my sarcasm. As always, the sound sends a not-unpleasant shiver through me. “It might be interesting to see their expressions if we did.”
Molly gives us both a wry smile. “Okay, so I didn’t exactly think that through. But you can still sit with us. And Kira, maybe you can come over again tonight or tomorrow so you guys can finish discussing that topic.”
“Er, maybe,” she replies noncommittally, shooting me a quick, sideways glance. “I’ll, um, let you know.”
Pete Griffin joins us then to talk basketball, though I notice him sneaking looks at both Molly and Kira while we chat. When we reach the cafeteria two other teammates from last year waylay Pete and me, while Molly and Kira keep walking.
When I finally have my tray, I take a couple steps toward Molly and M’s table before noticing Bri and Deb are sitting between Kira and the only empty seat. Stifling a pang of disappointment, I head to my usual table instead.
Probably just as well. Molly doesn’t need extra ammunition for her transparent attempts at matchmaking.
With that in mind, I don’t go out of my way to talk to Kira in Government, where Molly’s watching us a little too interestedly. In fact, I don’t get a chance to talk to her again at all that day. And when Kira gets to Physics the next morning, Alan is with her and sticks too close before and after class to allow us to say anything to each other without him hearing.
I’m resolving to snag a word with her before Lit class when Molly catches me in the hall between second and third period.
“I talked to Kira in French class just now and she says she can come over tonight! Thought you’d like to know.” A mischievous wink accompanies her words.
I respond by frowning. “Why are you doing this, Mol? You heard what Mum said last week. What if—?”
“Oh, pssh.” Molly waves a dismissive hand. “Mum will come around once she sees how much you and Kira like each other.”
“How much—? Molly, I keep telling you we hardly even know each other yet. If you convince Mum it’s more than that, she might try to discourage Kira from visiting our house again.”
Molly looks startled. “She wouldn’t do that! She said herself we should be making friends with the new students.”
But she looks slightly worried now—enough, I hope, to keep her from doing anything too embarrassing while Kira’s at our place tonight. Molly knows as well as I do that our mum is completely capable of freezing somebody out without technically being rude. She does it to Rigel every time she sees him—and he helped save the planet.
Sure enough, when Kira arrives that evening, Mum’s greeting is noticeably less warm than it was a week ago.
“Oh, hello, Kira. Molly said you’d be stopping by again so she can continue helping you to catch up in French class.”
“And Government,” Molly says from behind Mum. “Sean’s in that class, so he can help, too. And don’t you two have a couple of other classes together?”
Despite the sharp look Mum gives me, I reply, “Physics and Literature, yeah.”
“I see.” There’s no mistaking our mother’s coolness now. “I was about to suggest Molly and Kira go up to her room to study, but I suppose the living room—”
“We can all study in my room, it’ll be fine,” Molly interrupts. “Why don’t you two go on up and I’ll get us some tea and cookies.”
Mum turns The Look on Molly. “Nonsense. All three of you can go upstairs and I’ll bring up a tray once the tea is brewed—though I can’t help thinking you’d have more space to spread out down here in the living room.”
“It’ll be quieter upstairs,” Molly counters, looking slightly disappointed. “Come on.”
Kira and I follow her up the stairs, keeping enough distance between us there’s no risk of accidentally touching. Until I find out whether I’ve changed Kira’s mind about M and the monarchy, I absolutely need to avoid that extra complication.