“Right,” Julian said. “Clara, do you want to come with me to get weapons together?”
“Sure.”
“Patrick, Edan, you guys stay here until the whole team arrives, then bring them to the weapons room. And make sure everyone has a metro pass. From here on out, you should never be anywhere without your metro passes and weapons.”
Patrick nodded. Edan didn’t look up from his phone.
I followed Julian out of the gym, and we walked down the hallway and turned a corner. Julian came to an abrupt stop, glancing around like he was checking we were alone. “I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone.
I peered at the screen, but it was dark. “What?”
“It’s a phone,” he said with a laugh.
I blinked. “You got me a phone?” It looked brand-new, and like it was probably a recent model. It would have cost at least several hundred dollars. I’d never had a new phone before. I always got Mom’s hand-me-downs.
“You’re the only person on my team without a phone,” he said. “I need a way to get in contact with you. Especially now that you guys are going to be out there in the city. What if you get separated from everyone?”
“But . . .” I looked down at the phone as he pressed it into my hand. I didn’t think I should accept such a huge gift, even if I desperately wanted it. And I didn’t know what it meant—was he giving it to me just because of our relationship?
“You really need it. I’ve been messaging the whole team, and you’re not getting any of them. What if you hadn’t been with Edan when the scrabs attacked? You wouldn’t have even known that I messaged everyone to stay put.”
“Oh.” I flushed. Had the rest of the team had been talking about how I didn’t have a phone? Maybe they were all best friends at this point, messaging each other every hour of the day. “I’ll pay you back. After I get my first stipend.”
“Don’t worry about it. I actually went ahead and put this phone on my plan, so you have international data and minutes. I think a couple other members of the team still don’t have new SIM cards, so you can let them use it too, if you want. Think of it as a team phone.”
I knew he was just trying to make me feel better about being the only loser without a phone. I smiled, my cheeks warm. “Thank you.” I stepped forward, slipping my arms around his neck and giving him a kiss.
“You’re welcome.” He kissed me again, then pulled away just a little bit. “You know you can ask me for help, right? If you ever need anything. You’re not alone here.”
An unexpected lump rose in my throat. He didn’t need to say it—Julian was the only reason I didn’t feel completely alone here—but it still felt nice to hear it out loud.
No one had ever noticed me the way Julian did. I’d spent most of my life wishing Mom and Laurence would notice more and that Dad would notice less. I didn’t know what to do with this person listening to me and giving me things like food and a phone to try and make my life easier. I couldn’t remember anyone ever trying to make my life easier. Mostly it felt like people wanted me to go away so I’d stop reminding them of their failures.
I rose up on my toes, tightening my arms around his neck as I kissed him. I didn’t even care if someone saw us. Just yesterday I’d caught one of the Canadian team leaders making out with one of his team members behind the building. That rule was clearly flexible.
Julian smiled at me as he pulled away.
“Maybe you should mention this to Grayson,” I said. “Us, I mean.”
He looked pleased. Maybe it also felt like a step forward to him. “OK. I will.”
He kissed me again, and then we made our way down the hall to the weapons room. It was just a large closet where most of the weapons (except for guns and explosive devices) were stored. We had spears, machetes, Tasers, axes, swords, and a club of Grayson’s own design, which had very sharp blades coming out from all sides (I didn’t understand how we were supposed to transport that one, but I kept that to myself). My favorite was the baton with a hidden sword inside. It looked like a regular baton until you pulled it apart to reveal a twenty-inch blade. The handles screwed together, making it so that you could swing the sword far away from your body. I also liked the ax that folded up sort of like a huge pocketknife.
We also had lightweight armor available to us, all of which was optional. I liked the leather arm coverings, which were like fingerless gloves that stretched up to your elbows. They helped prevent scrab claws from piercing the skin.
Grayson stood over a chest of machetes, and he glanced up as we walked in. “Oh good, you’re my last team. What are you guys taking?”
“We’ll need machetes, batons, shields, and shoulder harnesses,” Julian said. “I think stun guns too. They should get used to the weight of carrying them.”
Grayson nodded, then pointed to a box in the corner. “Clara, you want to count out twelve shoulder harnesses?”
“Sure.” I walked to the box and began pulling them out, piling them up on the shelf next to me.
“Julian, your mom texted me again,” Grayson said. “Call her, will ya?”
Julian rolled his eyes at Grayson. I wondered if he didn’t get along with his mom. All I knew about her was that she cried a lot.
The door opened before I got a chance to ask. Edan stepped inside.
“I thought you were waiting for the rest of the team in the gym,” Julian said,
