Pulse

was why the school had been given its name to begin with. By hill, they’d meant bump. It wasn’t much of a climb up to the campus, and the campus was surrounded by tall trees on every side. The roof of the Nordstrom building was much higher, and there was nothing but a flat parking lot down below. The trees were far enough in the distance to let the light through from a hundred miles away.
    “I think these masterpieces are ready,” Dylan said, placing each thin burger on a white plate.
    Faith let Dylan pull out her chair for her and sat down. There was an orange disk in the center of her plate but no bun.
    “It’s not really a burger without bread, ya know?” Faith joked. She knew bread was hard to come by.
    “I thought about using pancakes, but that just seemed wrong. And it’s not just a burger. It’s a cheese burger. Big difference.”
    “I do like me some cheese,” Faith agreed, nodding at the bunless wonder on her plate. She picked at the gooey corner and pulled up a string of cheese, wrapping it around her fork like spaghetti.
    “It’s getting really close,” she said after chewing on some burger.
    “I heard it’s growing by ten miles a month in some areas,” Dylan said. That made it sound even scarier.
    “So you think Old Park Hill will be gone in less than a year?” Faith asked.
    “They’re prepping land as close as thirty miles that way,” Dylan pointed off the end of the roof with his fork. “I don’t think it will be even a year before they allocate this land for the States. Takes a lot of space to hold a hundred million people, right?”
    “Yeah, I guess so.”
    They ate in silence, Faith taking small bites just to be polite while Dylan put away his entire cheeseburger.
    “This is really nice,” Faith said. “Thank you.”
    “Don’t let the State scare you. It’s for a good reason. Saving the world and all that.”
    “Is it the wall that makes it glow like that?” Faith asked. There was no reason why Dylan should know, but he seemed to be aware of things about the State that others weren’t, so Faith asked.
    “I think so, yeah. Weirdest thing ever, but pretty cool.”
    Faith nodded. All she knew was that the States were surrounded by movable walls that weren’t really walls at all. They were more like energy fields rising into the sky that kept things in and kept things out. As the States grew, the walls moved out, taking up whatever space they wanted.
    “There’s something else I need to show you,” Dylan said. “It’s a little more important.”
    “Let me ask you something first,” Faith said. “How did you hack into my Tablet and send me a message today during class?”
    Dylan shifted nervously in his seat and shrugged, but he could tell that Faith wasn’t going to let it pass.
    “Hawk isn’t the only one who knows how to mess with a Tablet. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”
    Faith nodded slowly. She was starting to think Dylan was mysterious, romantic, and brainy. Not a terrible combination.
    “Okay,” Faith said apprehensively. “What else do you want to show me?”
    She held her hands in her lap, wondering where this was going. The night had been dreamy and exciting, but it had also put her on edge. Seeing the Western State that close made her worry for herself, her parents, everyone she knew. There was something diabolical about the way it was coming toward her.
    “First I need you to do something for me,” Dylan said. He leaned forward but didn’t touch the table and looked at Faith as if nothing else existed in the world, which happened to be true. At that moment, Dylan’s entire universe was filled with Faith and Faith alone.
    She held his gaze, and even in the dimness of the candlelight, her eyes sparkled in shades of blue and green. Her lips parted and she started to speak, then held back with a sigh, tilting her head ever so slightly as if to say What is it you want me to do? She pushed her long, blond hair behind one delicate ear and waited for the answer.
    “Close your eyes.”
    The request was a little unnerving for Faith. She had a hazy memory of Wade Quinn asking her to do the same thing or something like it. “Why?”
    “Just humor me, will you?”
    Faith had the feeling that Dylan was going to surprise her with flowers or a present. She liked the way he was treating her. Faith was thinking all those things at once as she closed her eyes and smiled.
    “Now what?” she asked, nervous but excited. She imagined feeling his