Pulse

you, I hope you all make the most of your last days at Old Park Hill.”
    Faith knew what this really meant. Every time a school closed, the numbers got smaller. She was convinced the State used the closings in order to encourage parents to leave the outside behind. Half of the students in the room, more than likely, wouldn’t make it to the next school. She missed Liz more than ever and wondered, for the first time, whether she should simply give up. If it wasn’t for the bizarre events of the night before with Dylan Gilmore, she would have decided then and there to put a stop to her endless waiting.
    “I’ve enjoyed our time together,” Mr. Reichert continued, though he sounded tired and unsure, as if he, too, had run out of reasons to stay. “Let’s do our best to have a nice final run, business as usual.”
    So that’s it then, Faith thought. Old Park Hill will be closed by a week from Friday. Perfect.
    Faith glanced around the room once more, searching for Hawk but finding Dylan Gilmore staring at her from the back row. He shrugged, gave her a little smile, and went back to whatever lesson he wasn’t really listening to.
    “I say we have a party,” Wade Quinn said. Faith rolled her eyes, but everyone else in the class including the teacher seemed to think it was a good idea. “Come on, you guys!” Wade continued, lathering up the crowd. “A real end-of-the-world bash. What do you say, teach?”
    Miss Newhouse looked around the room like it wasn’t really her call. “I’m only here to observe. As long as your work is getting done, I don’t have a problem with a going-away party. It’ll be mine, too. You were my last assignment.”
    “Wait, you’re not even from this school?” Faith asked. It hadn’t occurred to her that the school might be run by teachers from somewhere else.
    Miss Newhouse laughed softly and shook her head. “No one is from here, Faith. Everyone at this school has been moved just as many times as you have.”
    Like on cue, a commercial break appeared on everyone’s Tablet, interrupting whatever individual lecture they were all ignoring. This one focused on the newly released entertainment options for everyone living inside the States. Five new movies were premiering on all State Tablets throughout the week, featuring the biggest-name actors, and a new Tablet series was starting on Friday. This was one of the toughest things about living outside. All the newest, best content was excluded from Faith’s Tablet because she wasn’t on the closed State network. More and more of the really good stuff wasn’t making it out at all; and even if it did, there was a long wait.
    “Outside the States?” the commercial asked. “Catch a sneak peek at what you’re missing, tonight at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. This you’re not going to want to miss!”
    Harsh, Faith thought. It was how the State eventually wore people down. They never forced anyone to leave; they just lured the holdouts in with an endless stream of cool stuff you couldn’t get if you didn’t join. At the end of every commercial message, they flashed a message for about ten seconds: Ready to call the State home? Just let us know; we’ll be right over to pick you up. A button on the screen said HOME . Faith had been in classrooms where people had pushed that button on their Tablet, only to find that their parents were the ones who had to make that decision, not them.
    “It’s been a pleasure serving you,” Miss Newhouse said when the commercial was over, but it was obvious she’d had enough. She hadn’t really taught a class in years, and the commercials had done their work on her, too.
    “Why’d you stay out here so long?” Faith was surprised to hear Dylan’s voice from the back of the class. She’d never heard him speak in class before. Faith couldn’t help remembering what it had felt like to wrap her arms around his back as they flew through the night sky.
    Miss Newhouse straightened her blouse and tried to put on a good face.
    “Because I’m a teacher. I wanted to teach.”
    There was a long silence as everyone stared into their Tablets, and then Dylan said something no one expected, least of all Miss Newhouse.
    “So teach us something.”
    Miss Newhouse looked like she didn’t quite know how to process the request. Teach? You mean, like a subject? her face seemed to ask.
    “Tell us something we don’t know,” Dylan prodded, leaning forward on his elbows, waiting for an