Glitch

watched
    his back carefully, relieved every time I saw the subtle rise
    and fall. He was breathing.
    I looked at the Chancellor, keeping myself perfectly still
    as I scanned the exits and calculated the exact position of
    Adrien and his knife. If I had the right opportunity, I could
    overpower them and take Molla. If I could disarm one of the
    Regulators outside the door, we could be armed enough to
    have a fi ghting chance. She looked at me as if she was reluc-
    tant to carry on.
    “I know this is painful for you, but you do understand
    this is the only way for us all to be safe around your volatile
    powers. And as for Max, I assure you that his current unfor-
    tunate condition was his own doing, and I take no plea sure
    in it. He understood the terms of our agreement. When I
    off ered him a position as Monitor, he seemed to truly grasp
    the importance and scope of my mission. But it seems he has
    suddenly changed his mind.”
    “No!” I said immediately. “That’s not possible.” Max a
    Monitor, spying and reporting on glitching students? All
    my confusion suddenly wiped clear. She was lying. Max
    was trying to save me from her , and she was a fool to think
    331

    Heather Anastasiu
    her twisted lies would trick me. But she kept talking, obliv-
    ious to my growing disgust, and the buzzing that had started
    to ring in my ears.
    “Poor thing. Maximin is such a good little liar. A veri-
    table chameleon. He’d helped me keep an eye on the Uppers,
    and he was quite skilled at it, too.” The Chancellor frowned.
    “Max had access to everything he ever wanted. But he was
    willing to throw it all away. All that power, everything he
    could ever want— simply for the possibility of escaping with
    you.
    “If Adrien hadn’t had a lucky vision, Max might have
    gotten away with it, too. And why did you want to escape,
    Max?” She laughed, turning to Max and putting a rough
    hand on his shoulder. He cried out in pain.
    “Stand up.”
    Molla strained against Adrien’s grip again as Max started
    to move. She started twisting in Adrien’s arms, her sobs fi ll-
    ing the tense silence.
    Max hobbled to his feet, even though it looked like it
    hurt him to do it. Dried blood was caked on his forehead
    and his lip was cut and bleeding. I hurt just watching him. I
    looked back at the Chancellor, wanting to hurt her for hurt-
    ing him. For lying about him.
    The Chancellor put a hand underneath his chin to make
    him look her in the eyes. “Tell them, Max. Tell them all
    about your scheming.”
    “Stop it!” Molla shouted, her mouth breaking away from
    Adrien’s hand for just one moment. She started sobbing
    louder.
    332

    G L I TC H
    “Don’t you get it, you sniveling idiot?” She turned to
    Molla, addressing her for the fi rst time. “He doesn’t love
    you. He will never love you even after he put a baby in you.
    He was going to abandon you so he could run away with
    her.” She pointed at me, then turned back to Max.
    Molla’s eyes widened and she stilled, stunned.
    “Max,” said the Chancellor, quietly. Her eyes stared into
    Max’s face intensely. All the pain showing on his face
    seemed to disappear instantly, and his eyes glazed over. His
    body tilted toward the Chancellor.
    “Tell them,” she said. “You thought you’d found a way to
    escape my powers on the train platform, didn’t you? That
    I couldn’t latch on to you to control you when your image
    kept shifting. And it worked, for a while. But I’m much
    faster than you can imagine.” She leaned into Max’s face,
    her blazing eyes an inch away from his. “Now, tell them!”
    “It’s true,” Max said, his voice rough, and raspy. He
    stared straight ahead as he spoke, looking completely empty
    of all that was Max. “The Chancellor approached me months
    ago. She caught me shifting on a surveillance camera. She
    off ered for me to join her voluntarily and be a Monitor.
    She told me I could have everything I ever wanted. I’d be
    able to live like an Upper, with Zoe. We’d be allowed to
    live here together and never have to give up glitching or get
    the adult V-chip. I thought I could keep us safe. Keep Zoe
    safe. All I had to do was watch and tell the Chancellor about
    what I saw. I accepted her off er.”
    My heart sank, but I held back the water that stung be-
    hind my eyes and willed myself to keep listening.
    333

    Heather Anastasiu
    “She told me to get close to Molla, so I did. But all I really
    wanted was for Zoe to want me back. I