One (One Universe)

stuttered laugh she gave off at school.
    “See ya, Elias.” She throws a glance at him over her shoulder on the way out.
    If they’re letting themselves out, they must be here all the time. This is the Nelson High crew of Ones. And they’ve just let me in.
    “Glad you were here,” Elias says, jotting down one last answer before finally closing his reader and sliding it onto the bed next to him. “I was really starting to feel like a third wheel.”
    Did he just read my mind? “What are you talking about?” I ask.
    “Len. She’s been crushing on Daniel for ages. Somehow my room turned into flirt central last year. I think you helped.”
    New visions of friendship with Leni flash through my mind.
    Mrs. VanDyne’s voice rings through the staircase and into his open door. “Elias? You still have someone up there? I have dinner for you two!”
    “Yeah, Mom,” he calls down. “Be right there.”
    He stands up and reaches down for my hand, and I give it to him without thinking. His hand is so huge that his fingers and thumb overlap a good inch when they wrap around mine, and he hoists me up with no problem.
    “After you,” he says, motioning me down the stairs. I try to think of an excuse to get out of there, back to the safe familiarity of my car, but Elias’s mom is standing at the kitchen island, and when she smiles at me, it’s too late. She presses a button, and the counter opens and pushes up two huge, gorgeous, incredible-smelling homemade pizzas. His mom pulls a giant green salad out of the fridge and throws on what must be the last of the season’s tomatoes.
    “Thanks for dinner, Mrs. VanDyne,” I say.
    “It’s no problem. Rosie made it. And you can call me Dierdre, sweetheart.”
    Sweetheart? No adult’s been that affectionate with me for ages, not besides Dad, anyway, but somehow this presumption, coming from her, doesn’t bug me.
    “Okay. Um, thanks, Rosie.” I look up and around, uncertain of where to say it.
    “Elias, honey, I’ve got some things to finish up. You two going to be okay here?”
    “Yeah, fine,” he says.
    She makes herself a plate and heads off to another room, picking up a leather ladies’ briefcase on the way. Elias sits on one of the stools at the island and pulls out one for me.
    Elias puts a piece of pizza in front of me, and I start on it right away. Hopefully my chewing means he won’t try to talk to me for a few minutes. I wrack my brain for anything we’ve already talked about, anything I know for certain we have in common.
    The kitchen is lit up, but the house has an open floor plan and I can see that the rest of it is dark. The living room sits pristine and empty, and the two hallways leading off of it are dark too. There’s a spot of light from some French doors at the corner of the living room, which must be Dierdre’s office.
    We always feel cramped at my house, especially now that Michael and Max are shooting up so quickly, but it never feels empty. I’d rather feel full than empty.
    “Is it weird without them here? Your sisters?”
    Elias still chews on his first piece of pizza, even though I finished mine a while ago. He puts another one on my plate, and I pick it up to take a bite. He puts a napkin to his mouth and wipes his fingers too, and finishes his mouthful before he speaks.
    “Yeah. Yeah, it is. I mean, I expected them to be gone for college anyway, I guess. They didn’t get into any of their top choices, of course — Normal Ivy Leagues. I wasn’t surprised when they took the option to spend the year at the Hub. But they don’t call.”
    “Never? Are you guys close?”
    “Never. And, yeah. Really close. They’re awesome. They never treated me like I was an annoying little brother, even though I was, you know?”
    “Yeah, I know.” I smile. “I try to treat my brothers that way, too.” I can’t imagine I would ever leave them without word from me for that long.
    Elias’s eyebrows furrow. “I haven’t gotten an email from them, even. Should see them at the Symposium, though.”
    I had almost forgotten about the Symposium. Every year, the hob-nobbiest Supers flood Superior to check out all our advances in Supers’ biotech. I’d always wanted to go to check out what it is exactly that Mom and Dad do. But you only get to go if you work there or if you’re rich or important. Then I remember. Elias’s family is all three.
    I clear my throat. “I’m jealous,” I say, smiling.
    “I’d trade places with you in a