Surviving High School

for being a Swimbot. Now I see that you just wanted to win at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing everything else. I respect that.”
    “Thanks?” said Emily. What was Dominique getting at?
    “So I just want you to know that I’m coming at you full-on now,” said Dominique. “I started a new eating plan, and I’m adding another hour of practice to my normal routine. I’m done with parties, drinking, staying out late, all of it. There’s no point in doing that stuff anyway. I won’t be happy until I destroy you at Junior Nationals.”
    “I—” Emily had no idea how to respond.
    “Now if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you’d get out of here,” said Dominique. “I’ve got the full lunch hour scheduledto listen to this podcast about positive visualization, and you’re kind of eating into my time.”
    Dominique put her headphones back on and resumed staring into space as Emily stood there, wordless. She kicked herself for not asking about Cameron earlier—there was no way she was going to do it now. Finally, she turned and rejoined Kimi at the center table.
    “Well,” asked Kimi. “What did she say?”
    “She’s becoming…” Emily trailed off. “She’s becoming me .”
    In study hall that day, as Emily struggled through her Statistics homework, Ben sat down at the desk next to her and leaned over to whisper, “Hey.”
    “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you be, you know, in class?”
    “I told Mr. Carr I had appendicitis. Again. He really is a terrible health teacher.”
    “I thought you were supposed to be working on your grades,” said Emily with a frown. Had he just told her that in the heat of the moment? What if he hadn’t changed at all? Her mom had warned her about guys like Ben, guys who promised girls the world at night and then took it all back the next morning.
    “I am. I really am,” he said. “I already turned in the last month and a half’s worth of calculus problem sets, and I just got 105 percent on my AP Physics test. But is everything stillokay with you? Last week at the pool you acted like I was a creepy stranger or something.”
    Emily was about to reply when Mrs. Watanabe walked by, checking to make sure everyone was still hard at work. She grabbed an iPhone away from Howard Wu, who was in the process of burning down his Sims’ house, and stuck it in her pocket. Emily and Ben waited in silence until she’d returned to her desk before resuming their conversation.
    “I just want to keep things between us—private. At least for now.”
    “You’re embarrassed of me?”
    “What? No, of course not.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “I mean, we’ve only been on one date,” he said. “I think it’s a little early for us to start fighting.”
    “No, I’m not embarrassed about you—us—whatever,” said Emily.
    “Good,” he said. “Because I already told Spencer about our late-night rendezvous, and he’s not exactly the best at keeping secrets.”
    Emily cringed. What if Spencer had blabbed to Lindsay? Or even worse, Dominique?
    “The thing is, I may have forgotten to mention that my dad is kind of a controlling psycho who’ll ground me for life if he finds out I’m secretly dating you.”
    “So we’re ‘dating’ now?” asked Ben.
    “Are you kidding me?” asked Emily. “Did you just hear a word I said?”
    “Emily, you worry too much,” said Ben. “Not getting caught is my specialty. I’ve sneaked you out after bedtime once. There’s no reason to think I can’t do it again. And again. And again.”
    “This is going to end badly,” said Emily.
    “Is that a reason not to try?”
    She looked into his brown eyes and suddenly lost her ability to say no. She’d have to work on that.
    “I guess I wouldn’t be upset if you happened to show up at ten thirty tonight,” she said.
    “Sounds good. I’ll send you a text when I get to your place. Then you can just hop out the window and”—footsteps approached—“yes, that is how you get the derivative of that equation! Thanks for the help.”
    Emily looked over her shoulder to see Mrs. Watanabe lurking behind her.
    “Kale, out,” she said. “Kessler, save the romance for your own time. I’d hate to tell your father that you’re sitting out a meet to head to detention, but I’ll risk it if I have to.”
    “See you tonight,” mouthed Ben silently as he backed out of the room, and Emily couldn’t help but smile. He was right. Even if it was doomed to