“So,” Ilene began, yanking Tally upright. “I heard Tracy on the phone this morning. We’re getting a new student in our year.”
“How does your sophomore roommate knowwe’regetting a new student?” Tally asked. She turned to brush off the dead leaves stuck to her butt.
Glenfield Academy hadn’t had a new transfer student in years, especially not one starting as a junior. It was a small school that ran from kindergarten to twelfth grade, and everyone knew everyone inside the campus gates.
“Tracy is very plugged in. It’s a little scary.”
A frigid gust of wind engaged the two girls in direct combat as they approached Glenfield’s main building, and Tally clapped a palm over her bangs to keep them in place until they entered through the large steel doors. She parted with Ilene at the stairwell—“See you at lunch?” “I’ll save you a pasta.”—hurrying to the second floor for first-period world history. Just as the bell was going off, Tally slunk into the classroom, running her fingers through her bangs to smooth them out.
Then she stopped short.
Half her classmates were crowded around the desks at the back, a peculiar energy humming in the air. It couldn’tpossibly be a pop quiz. They had only started their new unit on ancient cultures yesterday.
Tally inched closer, unwinding her scarf. One of her classmates shifted, creating a gap in the crowd, and suddenly she could see a boy sitting atop one of the desks ever so casually, arms gesticulating in the midst of telling some story.
The new student, Tally thought without hesitation. She watched curiously while he dragged a hand glittering with silver rings through his black hair. Maybe he was famous, and that was why he was accepted into the school at such a strange time in the academic year. He certainly had the looks for it, from the long lashes to the devil-may-care grin on his lips.
It was at that moment the boy looked up and caught her eye. In an abrupt lurch, he hopped off the desk, startling the classmates nearest to him. Tally, too, took a step back, surprised by his reaction.
She was even more surprised when he addressed her directly, his eyes pinned so intensely in her direction that there was no doubt who he was speaking to.
“Love of my life,” the boy shouted across the room. “I’ve been looking for you.”
By lunchtime, the whole school had heard of the world history incident.
The new student’s name was Nathaniel Zhou, or just Nate. He was from Shanghai, where he went to theAmerican International School before moving here with his mom for her new job. That was as much as Tally would trust of the whispers. The others seemed less believable. A child spy. A Chinese pop star. A hostage exchange.
Tally pushed through the halls, trying to get to the cafeteria in one piece. Every wisp of conversation she caught was talking about him. Or her, in conjunction. They didn’t even particularly care if Tally was in the vicinity and could easily catch what they were saying.
“Wait, do they know each other already?”
“He’s probably part of some social experiment. Maybe there’s a television crew here too.”
“Why does he keep asking after Tally, of all people?”
“He’s too pretty to be a normal person. There’s no way.”
“Oh my God, I’d let him rail me like a—”
Tally grimaced, pretending not to hear that last snippet before she hurried into the cafeteria, grabbing a tray and approaching her usual table.
Ilene’s interrogation was immediate.
“Are you hiding something from us, Tally Qiu?”
“I’ve never met him in my life,” Tally returned at once, sliding into the seat opposite Ilene. There was no point feigning ignorance. Their school was too small to pretend the whole building wasn’t abuzz with firsthand witnesses from world history spreading the tale.
After the new student’s—Nate’s—dramatic declaration, Tally had gaped at him, at a loss for words. Their teacher had walked through the doors, but upon seeing the scenebefore her, she had opted to sip her coffee and sit at her desk quietly, letting the show play out first.
“It has been,” Nate went on, striding forward and putting his hands on either side of Tally’s arms, “such a long search to find you. Why did you move so far? I suppose you can’t control it, but half the world is pushing it a little.”
Tally finally summoned the ability to speak. “Do... do I...knowyou?”
“What?” Nate returned, amused. “Of course you do.”
Miss Weaver cleared her throat from her desk, saving Tally from her distress at last. “All right, children.” She tapped her whiteboard marker for attention. “Let’s learn some history. The bell has already rung.”
But even after Tally shuffled to her seat in a daze and class started, Nate didn’t stop staring at her. She felt it at the back of her neck. She felt it in the little hairs standing ramrod straight on her arms. And she had no idea what to do about it, so she resolved to ignore him. Even under usual circumstances she hated getting distracted in class, but with their midterm project coming up, sheespeciallycouldn’t afford to get distracted. A perfect score in world history would slap her GPA up to a beautiful, beautiful number. Nothing mattered more than that.
