“Tons of places. Europe, Asia—all over, really.” Atlas didn’t offer anything else. Sorry, Leda. I tried, Watt thought, murmuring a good-bye and moving deeper into the party. Atlas was as boring and introspective as all of Watt’s hacking had led him to believe.
He saw Avery and Leda’s other friend Eris first, standing at the center of a group of people, wearing a black leather dress that hugged her curves. He recognized her from all the pics he’d seen of her and Avery together. Her long hair spilled sumptuously over her bare shoulders, and her eyes, heavily lined with makeup, glowed golden in the light like a cat’s. She was gorgeous, sure, in a bold, in-your-face kind of way. On any other night he might be trying to talk to her. But then Avery turned around and saw him, and the rest of the room dimmed by comparison.
“Watt.” Her face broke out into that blindingly perfect smile. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
“You throw a great party.”
“This is Eris’s favorite place,” Avery offered by way of explanation.
“You wouldn’t want to have your own birthday here?”
“I always try to do something a little less …” Avery trailed off, looking away.
“Less glow-in-the-dark floating drinks? Less tortured pets?” Watt nodded at Monica Salih’s shoes, which had live neon jellyfish swimming in each heel. Avery snorted at that, and shook her head.
“Just … less,” she said. “I like birthdays with nothing but a few friends, delicious food, maybe getting out of the city. Not checking our contacts a single time the whole day.”
“Really?” Though Watt shouldn’t have been surprised, given what she had said at Redwood Park the other day. “Where would you go?”
“Somewhere green.”
“Don’t you have a garden in your apartment?” He winced the moment he said it; he wasn’t supposed to know that. “I just assume you would,” he tried to recover, but Avery hadn’t noticed the slip.
“Yeah, but it’s hard to grow some things high up. A lot of plants need to put down deeper roots.” She sighed, a little wistful. “I was in Florence on my birthday this summer,” she went on, though of course Watt already knew her birthday was July 7. “Some friends and I rented boats and went out on the lake, and did absolutely nothing all day. I love that—just doing nothing. Here it feels like we’re always trying to do too much.”
“That sounds like a great birthday,” Watt said, looking at her curiously. The more he talked to Avery, the more complicated she seemed. They were both seventeen, and yet sometimes it felt like she was far older, as though she’d already been everywhere and seen everything, and was exhausted by it all. Then she waved over a rose-colored bubble, laughing in delight, and suddenly she seemed young and girlish again.
“Have you ever—” Avery began, and Watt knew even before Nadia told him that she was going to ask if he’d been to Florence.
“Tell me more about your program,” he said, neatly dodging the question. Avery took a sip of champagne and launched into an explanation, telling him about her classes, the funny boardinghouse she stayed in, the long road she took to class every day, past a cheesy New York–themed bagel shop that always made her laugh. Watt loved listening to Avery talk. God, he would probably listen even if she was just reading the dictionary aloud.
The conversation flowed easily between them. Watt was careful with what he said, not technically telling any lies about himself, but referencing enough names and real-life incidents that Avery didn’t question his presence in her world. He tried his best to keep the conversation focused on her. And thanks to Nadia he was asking all the right questions, specific enough to seem insightful without being too specific. Every time Avery smiled, he felt a small rush of victory. He was at the top of his game.
And then, suddenly, she went pale at something she saw in the crowd. Watt turned to look behind him, wondering what had happened to upset her, but of course all he saw was a packed mass of people. “By the way, have you met Ming?” Avery said, and a girl with shoulder-length dark hair and a deep red smile stepped forward. “Ming loves that show too,” she went on, and Watt remembered they’d been talking about something on the holos that he’d never even seen; he’d only referenced it because Avery followed it.
“Ming, this is Watt.” Avery sidelined them both with a gracious smile. “Sorry, I have to go check on something. I’ll be back,” she promised, though of course she wouldn’t be back and all three of them knew it.
“Hi, Watt. So where are you—” Ming began.
“Excuse me,” Watt interrupted, and headed toward the entrance. He needed a moment to think, to clear his head and figure out what had happened to mess things up with Avery.
She wasn’t uninterested. He knew that much for sure. If she didn’t like him at all she would have detached herself from the conversation much earlier. She’d talked to him for twenty minutes at least, practically an eternity at a party like this. She’d laughed at his jokes, been genuinely engaged, until something—or someone—had upset her. Maybe a friend, he guessed, or something to do with the party planning. Or another guy, a more cynical part of him thought.
Watt leaned against the wall, watching the glowing bubbles move slowly around the room like alcoholic blimps. Normally he would have given up by now, called it a sunk cost and moved on. The problem was, he didn’t want to move on. He didn’t want to talk to any other girls, not anymore.
You really like her, Nadia remarked when he didn’t speak for a while.
Yeah, maybe. Watt’s eyes were still glued to Avery as she moved through the crowded room, a bright golden beacon.
LEDA
LEDA PROWLED AROUND the edges of Bubble Lounge, clutching her ridiculous white straw so tight that it left an indentation in her palm. It was a great party—she expected nothing less from Avery—and she knew she looked amazing in her new one-shouldered dress. But Leda still felt unsettled. It was making her want to drink, even though she’d vowed not to have anything tonight, a vow she’d managed to keep. So far.
She saw Avery and Eris together toward the center of the room, and was momentarily struck by the old familiar envy. Avery, of course, was utterly perfect. But Leda was jealous of Eris too, of the way she somehow managed to stand there in a too-short leather dress looking like the queen of everything. It was in the way she moved, the easy confidence with which she carried herself, the scornful entitlement that echoed behind her commands. Leda would rather die than admit it, but back in seventh grade she’d tried to emulate Eris’s movements before the mirror. She never could get it right.
She considered walking over to join them, but decided against it. Avery’s weird hostility was really getting to her.
And why hadn’t she seen Atlas yet tonight? Leda still wasn’t quite sure what was going on between them. When their plans to hang out turned into the group AR game, she’d worried that he wasn’t interested. But they’d been flickering back and forth ever since—about stupid stuff, just school and their favorite holoseries Mike Drop and whether it was worth going to the hockey team’s away games this season. Leda felt certain that some of the flickers were flirty. Yet it had been almost two weeks since their almost date at the Altitude Grill, and Atlas still hadn’t made any kind of move. What was he waiting for?
She eyed an amber bubble floating lazily nearby. One taste wouldn’t do any harm, right? She allowed herself one long sip, relishing the feeling as the whiskey sent a pleasant warmth down her body, all the way to her toes curling in her tall silver heels.
The crowds in front of her shifted, and she caught sight of Atlas across the room.
Without another thought Leda was walking over. “Hey,” she said, excited by the smile that flitted over his face when he saw her. “How’s your night so far?”
“Oh, you know.” He gestured at the room, the crowded guests, the effervescent bubbles. “It’s all very …”
“Very Eris?” Leda supplied, and Atlas laughed.
“Exactly.”