Glitch

a fl ash of fi re.
    What if, with more information, we could fi nd a way to save
    others, to let everyone feel the things Max and I were feeling
    now?
    “Max, we have to fi nd out.” I grabbed his hand. “Just
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    G L I TC H
    think about it— all of those kids in the Academy with us,
    Linked and never knowing anything diff erent.” The more I
    thought about it, the angrier I got. “What they’re doing to
    us all is wrong!”
    Max lifted his shoulders with a shrug, but he didn’t let go
    of my hand. “It’s not like we can change things. The Com-
    munity is too big. I’ve been listening for a while and this
    thing is global. We don’t stand a chance against something so
    powerful.”
    “But then why do you risk so much to fi nd out informa-
    tion?” My anger turned to a tingling excitement. I stood up,
    pulling my hand out of his as I did, and paced in the small
    space. “It’s because you want to know, you need to know.
    Well, I need to know too. Maybe everybody needs to know.”
    I thought about my brother and the empty look on his
    face during SSD. Just telling him about the lies wouldn’t
    be enough. He wouldn’t understand, not while he was still
    under the control of the Link.
    “We need more than information,” I said with more cer-
    tainty. “What if we could do something about it?” My mind
    was spinning with the possibilities. I’d thought escape was
    the only answer, but what if there was another way? A way
    for everyone to be safe. Maybe the Uppers and offi
    cials work
    so hard to control information so much because they know if
    enough people knew the truth, they’d lose their grip on us.”
    Max laughed. “All we need to do —” He pulled me lightly
    down beside him again, his thigh side- by- side with mine.
    “—is survive and learn how to work the system. I want to
    help you survive, too. What ever happened to you on the
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    Heather Anastasiu
    Surface— it’s even more reason not to take risks. But we can
    still stay safe and fi nd a way to have a happy life. You and me
    together.”
    “A happy life?” I asked, incredulous.
    “Don’t you see? We’ve been given these gifts and we need
    to enjoy them. We can’t risk losing it. We’re special. Diff er-
    ent from everybody else.”
    “But what if other people at the Academy are glitching?”
    The excitement rose up again. “If enough people started
    glitching, then we’d be able to unite together and fi nd a way
    to change things.”
    “Zoe, you can’t—” He stopped suddenly, cocking his head
    sideways. “Wait. I just heard the front door. One of my par-
    ents is home.” He pulled me to my feet. “We can talk more
    later. I arranged another home tutor session in two days.”
    I held on to his arm, suddenly afraid of leaving him, of
    having to go back out into a world where I couldn’t be my-
    self. Where I had to walk around constantly fearful some-
    one was going to discover my secrets. Where I’d suff er the
    sick feeling of walking side by side with people who were so
    abused and used, but didn’t even know they were victims.
    Max reached out to open the door, then stopped and
    turned to me, wrapping his arms around me tight. I leaned
    my head into his chest, surprised by how good it felt to be
    held. He was right— touching did feel good. It made me feel
    so overwhelmingly safe.
    We stood like that, holding each other tightly until the
    click of his parent’s shoes sounded in the hallway. He let me
    go and I quickly tucked my mussed hair back into its clip.
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    “Greetings, Mother. This is Zoel Q-24.”
    “Greetings, Maximin. Greetings, Zoel,” his mother said,
    her face blank and emotionless. “Was the tutoring session
    productive?”
    “Yes.” Max turned to me. “I’ll see you in two days for
    follow- up?”
    His mother continued by and he turned back to me and
    winked. I grabbed my tablet case and headed out the door,
    my mind spinning. More secrets, piling up on other secrets.
    I was both thrilled and afraid. But at least now I had some-
    one to help me bear them. The memory of how safe I’d felt
    in Max’s arms made me smile long after I’d turned the lights
    out that night. I wasn’t alone anymore.
    The next day at school, I was constantly aware of Max. I
    couldn’t stop sneaking looks at him across the hall or the
    classroom or at the lunchroom table. He never looked anom-
    alous once. I wondered if he could give me tips. He’d told me
    he was mostly