a pretty heated conversation.”

“No,” I said, then corrected myself. “Sort of.”

Clem nodded and waited for me to elaborate. When I didn’t, she shrugged and pointed to the table where Eric was already waiting for us.

“I’m starving, let’s get some food in our bellies,” she said, and hooked her arm through mine. She dragged us into the hall, navigated around the initiates to the line reserved for second years and above, and threw a jaunty wave at Rachel as we passed her table. “She’s nice.”

“Rachel?” I asked. “Yeah, she is.”

Clem handed me a tray, then grabbed one for herself.

“You think so?” she asked, in a voice that tried to be nonchalant and failed.

“I mean, yeah,” I said. “I thought you two were getting along?”

Clem and Rachel had partnered with me during every Intermediate Scrivening class, though they never spent any time together outside of class. Rachel didn’t eat meals with us, and Clem didn’t try to insert herself into my almost nightly nature walks. The two of them seemed to have reached an uneasy truce. That’s why Clem’s question caught me off guard.

“We are,” Clem said. She pursed her lips tightly after that and didn’t say another word until we were back at the table with full plates.

“She’s just sort of difficult,” Clem said at last. “Rubs me the wrong way sometimes.”

“Rachel again?” Eric rolled his eyes to let me know this wasn’t his first time in this conversation. “I’m sure you’re not all peaches and cream around her, either.”

“I’m perfectly nice to her,” Clem said, irritation clear in her voice.

Eric glanced at me warily, then gave me a short shake of his head. I wisely avoided feeding into Clem’s simmering anger and turned the topic to something safer.

“How’s Abi doing? Haven’t seen him around for a while.”

“He’s on the late shift,” Eric said. “I think he rotates back to his normal classes next week.”

“They have tutors for the students on PDF,” Clem said distractedly. “Good ones, from what I hear. I think Abi was promoted to operator, so he’s been learning how to pilot the portals.”

“Really?” That was surprising. “That’s a big investment to make in a student.”

We chitchatted about that for a while longer until the conversation ran dry. I was too distracted by my encounter with Hagar to be much fun, and Clem couldn’t take her eyes off Rachel for more than a few minutes at a time.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Clem said at last. “I’m beat. I think I’ll head back to my room to study for a bit and then turn in.”

“I hear you,” I said. “I should probably do the same.”

“My two best friends,” Eric said, “Sleepy and Grumpy. You guys are the best.”

Clem flicked a glob of mashed potatoes off her plate into Eric’s hair, then giggled and ran off with her tray.

“You need to watch yourself with those two,” Eric said quietly.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Oh, man,” Eric said. “Don’t be so dense. They like you. They both like you. Clem’s got dibs, so she’s extra annoyed.”

“Dibs?” I said, a little too loudly. Rachel caught my eye and gave me a quick wink. “You’re crazy. Even if they were chasing me, I don’t have time for this.”

“I don’t have time for the two prettiest girls in school,” Eric said. “You’re killing me, man.”

“I gotta get outta here, clear my head,” I said. “Maybe I’ll bring a doggy bag to Abi.”

“Yeah, he’ll dig that,” Eric said. “Tell him I said hi. And remember what I said. Those two will carve you up if you don’t.”

“Will do,” I said, leaving my friend behind with a slightly sad, slightly disappointed look on his face. It wasn’t what I wanted, but there was a lot of that going around. I needed to focus on my work with the elders. Nothing else was as important as fighting off the heretics and finding my mother.

I gathered up some easily portable foods in a takeout bag and felt a sudden pang of whatever the opposite of nostalgia was for the year that had passed. I’d entered the school a social outcast and had nearly been in exile by this point last year. This year, I had too many friends that I disappointed because I was distracted by my Eclipse nature and missions for the Shadow Phoenix elders. I wanted a happy medium, and it just kept slipping away from me.

Abi sensed the turmoil within me, of course. Even as I handed him the bag of still warm food, he furrowed his brow and wagged a finger at me.

“Thank you for the meal, my friend,” he said. “But I would thank you more if you delivered it with a smile on your face. You are still so troubled. What is it that bothers you?”

I didn’t know where to start. I had a soul-eating monster trying to bust out of my core. I was going on deadly secret missions with Hagar for the elders of the Shadow Phoenix clan. Clem and Rachel were competing for me, and I hadn’t even known it.

“Girls,” I finally admitted. That seemed the least dangerous of the real problems on my plate.

“Ah, yes,” Abi said, his face split into a wide grin. “The girl problem. Eric and I talk about it whenever we can.”

“I’m sure that makes both of you very happy,” I said and jabbed Abi in the arm. “I put a couple of biscuits in there, a few chicken tenders, and some of those steak fingers you like so much. There’s also an apple and a little cup of broccoli. Not exactly a balanced meal, but it’s the best I could do.”

“Thank you,” Abi said sincerely. He put the bag on the little desk in front of him. “Did you hear the good news?”

“That you’re becoming a fancy portal pilot?” I grinned. “Clem told me. Maybe you could take me for a spin over to Kyoto sometime. They have this awesome ramen place—”

“Do not even joke about that, my friend,” Abi said, his eyes

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