“Maybe,” she says, and then she grabs her bag from the office locker and leaves.
Evan and Mila are in the pool, racing from one end to the other. He’s letting her win, and she’s howling with delight. I want to rush after Sammie, but I promised I wouldn’t. I hate this. I hate it that she likes him and that he maybe, probably likes me and that I don’t have any idea what I feel about him. Let me rephrase. What I hate the most is that I probably do like him, but I don’t want to admit it. I don’t want to hurt Sammie, but even more, I don’t want to trust anyone else. I don’t want to feel attraction or liking or anything that could possibly lead to love.
And I hate that. I hate the fact that I can’t let myself feel.
And then what I do feel is that rush of dizziness wash over me, and my heart starts to pound in my throat. It’s the anxiety, the panic, flooding over me. I know this. This, at least, is familiar. I lean back in my chair and close my eyes. I close my eyes and try to breathe.
I lie like this for a while, trying to just focus on breathing in and breathing out. The sounds of the pool are around me—most of the families are gone already, but there are a few kids running and splashing, the chatter of their parents, and Mila’s laughter, distant but most familiar.
I actually breathe and calm myself down enough that I start to fall asleep. I let the exhaustion wash over me. I let my body relax. I let myself drift. And I’m on that far edge of sleep when I’m startled awake by screaming—Mila’s screams, Evan’s screams, the guards, the families, all screaming around me.
I open my eyes and find that everyone is not only screaming; they’re running, too, out of the pool, toward the umbrellas. They’re running and ducking and pointing at the sky.
“Run, Viviana!” Mila’s screaming at me from an umbrella near the edge of the pool.
I look up and see what look like bright orange-red grenades falling from the sky.
“It’s the Nut!” Mila yells. “He’s throwing tomatoes!”
“Come here!” Evan screams at me. “Before you get hit! Fast! Run!”
I don’t have time to think. I should run toward the office, which is much closer than where Evan and Mila are, but my instinct is to be with my sister, especially since we’re under attack, and so I run toward them. Thankfully, I move just in time before a tomato falls, splat, on my towel, where I had been sitting mere seconds before.
“What the hell!” I laugh as I squeeze under their umbrella, where they’ve been joined by at least two other families and their kids, who are all soaking wet. “He’s lost his mind completely!”
One of the dads yells up at Professor Cox. “Stop throwing those! You’ll kill someone!”
He’s right, but I can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the tomato grenades being launched from the eleventh floor. A tomato lands right on our umbrella, which makes me laugh even harder.
Professor Cox’s throwing dozens of tomatoes. I’m not sure if he’s aiming at us or at the water, but most of them splatter on concrete, and a few actually make it into the pool. We’re close enough that I can see the pulpy masses turn to slime and spiral through water. Crimson fireworks explode against the pale blue floor of the pool.
Virgo, who’s standing at the edge of the office, starts to sing a deep operatic aria in Italian; his baritone voice reverberates throughout the pool area. It’s the most perfect sound track to this utterly ridiculous event.
That makes me explode into laughter. My laughter makes Mila start to giggle, which, in turn, makes Evan laugh, too, and then we’re all giggling uncontrollably as the dad yells at the sky. Then he turns to us and snaps, “You think this is funny?”
I try to muffle my laughter and shake my head no, but really, I do think it’s funny. I think this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.
I look over at Evan, who’s wearing the broadest, most joyful smile.
In this moment, I’m not thinking about anything.
And it’s amazing.
Before I know it, I’m reaching out for Evan’s hand.
He’s startled for a moment, but then he looks at me with a smile and squeezes mine.
I lean in.
And I kiss him.
First, I can feel his surprise, but then I feel his decision to return the kiss. I close my eyes to let myself feel this moment, my lips on his, his mouth turning from a smile into a kiss.
And then I remember where we are.
I open my eyes and pull away before Mila sees us.
Evan smiles and squeezes my hand again.
Virgo’s still singing, and the tomatoes are still falling, but at a slower rate now. Professor Cox seems to have perfected his aim, as they’re all falling straight into the empty pool beside us.
Five more tomatoes fall, and then it’s over.
Virgo stops his singing, and then Professor Cox calls out, “Triumph is mine!” And then: “All clear on deck!”
We wait for a few minutes, just to be sure.
Evan’s hand is still wrapped around mine. We’re all squeezed in close enough under this umbrella that Mila can’t see.