Pulse

was thick and black, and to her surprise, he was writing. With a pen. In a notebook. He seemed to be ignoring his Tablet.
    She sent a message to Hawk and began drawing with her finger.
Who’s the caveman in the back row?
    A moment later, Hawk answered.
Dylan Gilmore. He doesn’t talk too much. At least not to me. Also, he’s an a-hole.
    Faith stole one more glance. The profile of his face and upper body revealed a strong chin and muscular arms. Please be tall, Faith caught herself thinking. Whatever he was working on, he was really into it. And his head was moving up and down. It looked to her like he was listening to music, not to a lecture. But that wasn’t possible. The Tablet wouldn’t let him do that during a lecture.
    There were three more messages from Hawk before the lecture came to an end. When it did, Faith turned in her chair.
    “Please don’t do that while I’m in the middle of a class. Buford is tough, and Shakespeare is confusing.”
    “No problem, I can chill. Suuuuper chill. What was your name again?”
    Faith rolled her eyes and got up to leave, but then she thought better of the idea and turned back. She could have worse things than a friend who was really bright and knew how to hack into a Tablet.
    “It’s Faith. And no more messages during class, okay?”
    “Totally, yeah. Got it. Faith.”
    It dawned on her then that Hawk was probably a lot younger than she was. They were glomming the classes together more and more, because there didn’t seem to be a good reason not to. Faith was a junior, and by the looks of this little guy, he was probably a freshman.
    “How old are you?” Faith asked as they walked out of the classroom.
    “Seventeen. Okay sixteen. I mean, I’ll be sixteen in practically no time.”
    There was a long pause in which Hawk decided she was going to find out soon enough.
    “I’m thirteen.”
    “Are you sure you’re not nine? You look like you’re nine.”
    “Ouch,” Hawk said, holding his heart. “That one stung.”
    Faith punched him on the arm. A low punch was required to miss the side of his head.
    “Just kidding. You look at least eleven.”
    “Really? Thanks!”
    They laughed as they entered the corridor and looked both ways. Faith could imagine what it had been like when there were 2,000 students and 75 teachers. The energy must have been amazing. As it was, the place felt like a morgue. A few bodies moving between doors, a very low hum of voices.
    “I wonder how long they’ll keep this place open,” Faith asked.
    “Hard to say,” Hawk answered, making a note on his Tablet, which he had snapped to small and held in his delicate palm. “But I’ll see what I can find out.”
    They were about to part when two tall figures arrived, entering the corridor from the far end of the building. At first Faith only saw their silhouettes against a bright window behind them. There was a confidence in these walking shadows that seemed out of place at Old Park Hill. As they came closer, Faith realized it was a guy and a girl, and that they were at least her own age.
    “Who . . . ,” Faith started to ask, but Hawk was already on it. “Wade and Clara Quinn,” Hawk said, leaning in a little close to catch the scent of Faith’s perfume while he thought she was distracted. “Believe it or not, they’re in the Field Games, representing the outside. They’re scary smart, too. Also a-holes.”
    Faith was starting to think Hawk thought everyone at Old Park Hill was an a-hole. But she didn’t mention it, because Wade Quinn was staring at her. His sister had peeled off, but Wade’s eyes were locked on Faith. It was like there was no one else in the world. The closer he got, the better looking he was, until he was standing right next to her and she was doing something she rarely ever did. Faith Daniels, five feet eleven, was looking way up at a boy.
    “How tall are you?” she said without even thinking. It just tumbled out of her mouth unexpectedly.
    Wade smiled, blond hair falling down around blue eyes.
    “Tall enough,” he said. “I’m Wade.”
    “Hey, Wade. How’s it going?” Hawk asked.
    Wade didn’t look at Hawk or answer his question, but he nodded at him, never taking his eyes off Faith. They were having a moment , both of them instantly attracted to each other. Their eyes kept making contact, then dashing quickly to the floor or a locker. Wade loved tall girls, the taller the better, and he liked the way Faith’s hair fell over one bright eye