Glitch

come
    through the front door. “My brother will be home any
    minute.”
    “Sorry, I just had to see you,” he said, coming closer.
    I stopped looking back out the door and smiled at him.
    284

    G L I TC H
    Just being near him made all the tension seep out of my
    muscles, replaced by a tingling excitement.
    His expression seemed to darken.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    “Nothing.” His face cleared as he smiled, his green eyes
    sparkling. He came closer and took my hand gently. I felt my
    stomach swoop at his touch.
    He lifted his other hand to my face and I trembled. Then
    he kissed me, gently and slowly. Like it was a question he was
    waiting for me to answer. I had asked myself so many ques-
    tions of my own about our kiss the other night, but the in-
    stant his lips touched mine, all of my doubts and fears washed
    away.
    I sank against him, all my emotions breaking loose in our
    kiss. He responded, pulling me against him roughly, and it
    only made my heart beat faster. My heart monitor started
    buzzing between us but I didn’t care. It hadn’t beeped in
    ages. A little now was worth it. I pulled him closer, pressing
    against him, but just as I reached up to tangle my hands in
    his hair, he pushed me away.
    “Wha—” I started dreamily, but suddenly it wasn’t Adrien
    standing in front of me anymore.
    It was Max.
    All the relief I’d felt a moment ago vanished instantly. A
    heavy pain hit the bottom of my stomach like a rock, taking
    my breath away.
    “I knew it!” he yelled, slamming his fi st into my bed-
    room wall. His face was red with fury.
    I felt my mouth drop open and my throat choke with
    285

    Heather Anastasiu
    thick guilt. “Max, I’m so sorry. I was going to tell you.” I
    tried to reach out to him but he yanked his arm away.
    “Tell me what?” I looked away from him, hot water
    burning at the back of my eyes.
    “Tell me what?” he said, angrier this time. He was seeth-
    ing, but I could see and hear the hurt behind it. For once, he
    wasn’t masking himself. “That your heart monitor buzzes
    when he kisses you but not when I do?”
    “You know you are important to me, right?” My eyes
    swam as I said it.
    “But?” He spit out the word.
    “But I also feel for Adrien . . . like . . .” I stumbled over
    my words, seeing the fl are of Max’s nostrils. I had to get it
    all out now. “Like togetherness feelings for him.”
    “Don’t say that.” His voice was hard, angry. “You don’t
    mean it.”
    “I do. I’m sorry. It just happened. I didn’t ask for it to hap-
    pen, but it did. I never meant to hurt you, Max. And I was
    going to tell you—”
    He came toward me now and he gripped my upper arms,
    his fi ngers like a vise.
    “Ow, Max, you’re hurting me.”
    “You don’t understand. He’s a liar. He’s tricking you. The
    whole Rez isn’t who he says they are.” Max’s voice dropped.
    “He’s not one of us. He’s using you.”
    “He’s not.” I tried to pull away from his grip. “He makes
    me feel—”
    “What?” he yelled, letting me go and thrusting me away.
    “Tell me about what he makes you feel? I’ll kill the bastard!”
    286

    G L I TC H
    “Stop it, Max. Someone will hear.” I went over to him,
    trying to touch his arm, but he shrugged me off , staring at me
    with a look that made me shrivel up inside. “I’m so sorry,” I
    whispered.
    He turned away and punched the wall so hard it made a
    dent. He let out a shout of pure rage and I fl inched.
    “I won’t let him have you!”
    “Max,” I whispered, putting a hand on my aching chest.
    Adrien had once told me that hearts could break if some-
    thing hurt enough. I hadn’t understood what he meant at
    the time, but I did now. My heart was breaking, but I
    couldn’t turn back now. He deserved to know everything.
    “I think I was already his, before you and I even . . . I
    mean, I think I started to feel things during the time I was
    away. I don’t remember it all but I think that’s when it fi rst
    happened. It was before we even became friends,” I whis-
    pered. I was trying to fi nd anything to make it hurt less now.
    “It should have been me who rescued you that day you
    disappeared. I was coming for you, too. Before he got in the
    way,” he spat.
    “Stop it—”
    “Zoe, listen to me!” he cut me off sharply. “You don’t
    know anything about him. Think about it. He knows all
    about you from his visions. He knows all the right things to
    say to you. Isn’t that a