The lunch bell rang, and almost immediately the hallway filled with noise as classroom doors opened and students poured toward the cafeteria and courtyard.
Lena stepped out with them and checked her phone.
No messages.
She frowned.
Adam normally messaged her when lunch started.
Sometimes it was "Cafeteria?"
Sometimes it was "Courtyard."
Once, simply the word "Food."
Today there was nothing.
That was strange.
A finger tapped her shoulder. Before she could turn, an arm hooked through hers.
"Hey, bestie."
Lena didn't need to look.
Lena smiled warmly. "Hey, Kendra."
Kendra Layton leaned against her shoulder, grinning, dark hair pulled into its usual high ponytail beneath her cheer jacket.
"Where's your bodyguard?"
"Somewhere. I don't know."
Kendra adopted an exaggerated detective pose. "Interesting. Maybe he finally found himself a girl."
Kelly and Anna laughed.
"Talking to Adam's like talking to a brick wall, no way," Kelly said.
"He is kinda cute though," Anna added.
Kendra nodded. "She's not wrong."
Lena groaned. "That's my brother."
"So?"
"He's 16."
"Only 1 grade below us."
Lena covered her ears. "I'm not hearing this."
"Relax, we're joking." Kendra grinned. "Seriously, though. Where is he?"
Lena shrugged. "That's the thing, I have no idea."
"He didn't text?"
"Nope."
Kendra looked surprised, then her face broke into a mischievous grin.
"Well, in that case…" Kendra looped her arm through Lena's again. "You're eating with us today."
The group murmured in agreement.
"We eat together all the time."
"You sit with us, check whether Adam has eaten, disappear to find him, then come back when lunch is basically over."
"That has happened twice."
"3 times."
Lena looked down the hallway one last time.
Nothing.
"Alright. I'm coming."
Kendra grinned. "See? Personal growth."
"Don't make me regret it."
"No promises."
The cafeteria was already packed. Kendra steered them through the crowd while Kelly and Anna argued about the pizza line. Lena grabbed a chicken sandwich, fries, an apple, and juice.
Kendra eyed the tray. "Painfully responsible."
"Better than your triangle of grease."
The others laughed, and Lena followed them toward the tables.
The trip to their table took longer than it should have.
A student-council girl reminded Lena about a meeting. 3 steps later, someone else asked whether she was still helping with the fall fundraiser.
"Probably."
Kendra leaned closer as they walked. "You realize you're allowed to tell people no."
"I do."
"When?"
Lena thought about it. "Sometimes."
Kendra gave her a look.
Lena shrugged. She did not need everyone to like her. She just hated watching something fall apart when she knew she could help. Maybe she had gotten that from Sarah.
Their usual table sat near the middle of the cafeteria, surrounded by the loose mix of cheerleaders, student-council members, athletes, theater kids, and whoever else happened to sit down that day.
Kendra dropped into the seat beside Lena. Kelly sat across from them, and the conversation immediately dissolved into ordinary school gossip.
Lena followed along, but only half-listened.
Her mind stayed on Adam.
Nearly half an hour had passed since the lunch bell rang, and Adam still wasn't there.
Lena checked her phone under the table.
Still nothing.
Her thumb hovered over Adam's number.
She considered sending a message.
Then stopped.
He was probably with Daryl.
Or he'd forgotten.
Adam forgot ordinary things sometimes.
Important things were different.
But birthdays? Appointments? Where he'd left a textbook?
Absolutely. Many times.
Lena locked the screen again.
She tried to keep her mind off it.
Kendra leaned over. "You've checked that thing about 10 times."
"5."
"You don't even know."
"Just Adam. He usually texts me."
Kelly sighed. "He's 16, Lena. He can take care of himself."
"I know. It's just not normal when he doesn't let me know what's going on."
Anna gave her a look. "You two are weirdly attached."
"And that's a problem?"
"No. Just unusual."
Kendra raised a hand. "I agree."
"Unbelievable."
The smile faded.
Lena checked her phone again.
Nothing.
This time, she sent a message.
You alive?
Delivered.
No reply.
She placed the phone face down beside her tray.
The empty chair at the end of the table scraped back.
Hannah Martin sat down.
Kendra took a loud sip through her straw.
Lena brightened. "Hey."
"Hey."
Hannah tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear and placed her tray on the table.
Her eyes moved around the group, drifted toward the cafeteria entrance, then dropped to her food. Lena caught it. Unfortunately, so did Kendra.
"Hannah," Kendra said.
Hannah looked up.
Kendra smiled. "Looking for somebody?"
"No."
Too quick.
Lena narrowed her eyes.
Hannah looked at her tray.
Kendra's smile widened.
"Oh?"
"Don't." Hannah said, looking away.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
Lena laughed.
Hannah looked toward her and suddenly seemed nervous.
"You're coming to my birthday party, right?"
"Of course."
Hannah hesitated. "And... is Adam coming?"
Kendra slowly lowered her fork.
"He said no," Lena said.
Hannah's expression fell before she could stop it.
Interesting.
"But I'm working on him."
Hannah looked up much too quickly. "Really?"
Several little things from the last few months rearranged themselves in Lena's head: Hannah asking whether Adam would be somewhere, finding reasons to walk home with Lena, sitting near him whenever she could.
Her smile grew.
Hannah saw it. "What?"
"I didn't say anything."
"I don't like Adam," Hannah blurted.
Kendra nearly choked on her drink.
"Shut up," Hannah muttered, red-faced but smiling.
Lena filed the discovery away.
But before she could continue, a familiar voice carried through the cafeteria.
"Costanza."
Lena turned.
Coach Henry stood several tables away, clipboard tucked beneath one arm.
"Coach?"
He motioned toward her. "Come here a second."
Lena stood.
Kendra immediately reached toward her fries.
Lena slapped her hand away without looking.
"I saw that."
"Worth trying."
Henry waited near the cafeteria doors. Students moved around him automatically.
Sometimes he reminded Lena of Grigori-not in appearance or humor, but in the calm way both men watched a room.
Rarely surprised. Rarely hurried.
Lena approached.
"What did I do?"
Henry glanced down at his clipboard. "Nothing yet. You're still helping with the cross-country fundraiser Friday?"
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
Lena frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because the last time you volunteered, you ended up doing half the setup yourself."
"That wasn't my fault."
"It became your fault when you refused to tell anybody no."
Lena folded her arms.
Henry looked at her over the top of the clipboard.
For half a second, she saw Grigori again.
The expression was almost identical: he already knew what she was going to say and was only waiting to see whether she said it anyway.
"I can handle it."
"I know you can." Henry tucked the clipboard beneath his arm. "That's why I'm telling you not to handle everybody else's part too."
Lena smiled despite herself. "Yes, Coach."
"And tell your brother cross-country practice is 20 minutes later today."
Her smile faded slightly. "You haven't seen him?"
Henry noticed.
"No."
"He was supposed to meet me for lunch."
"Maybe Norris kept him."
"Maybe."
Henry studied her for another second. "Something wrong?"
"No. He's just being weird."
Henry's expression remained perfectly flat. "So he's breathing."
Lena laughed. "Pretty much."
"Then I wouldn't panic yet."
"Thanks, Coach."
She started back toward the table.
"Costanza."
Lena looked over her shoulder.
Henry pointed past her.
Kendra had successfully stolen 3 fries.
Lena stared.
Kendra froze with one halfway to her mouth.
Henry walked away.
Lena returned to the table.
"You have 5 seconds."
Kendra shoved all 3 fries into her mouth.
Lena grabbed her wrist. "You animal."
Kendra tried to laugh around the food.
The table erupted again.
For the next several minutes, Lena mostly forgot about Adam. They talked about Hannah's party, chemistry, cheer practice, and nothing important.
Everything felt normal again.
Then a chair scraped sharply across the floor.
Lena looked up.
Several students near the cafeteria doors were already standing. Somebody abandoned a tray. Another student hurried past the windows.
The noise of lunch changed. Not quieter, but sharper, charged with sudden excitement.
"Fight!"
Half the cafeteria started moving.
Kendra stood immediately. "Oh, shit."
Lena pushed her chair back more slowly. "Why do you sound happy?"
"Because lunch was getting boring."
"That doesn't make you sound better."
Kelly and Anna followed them into the hallway.
Hannah followed a step behind the others, visibly nervous.
Students were moving toward the courtyard doors, some walking quickly, others running. Several already had their phones out.
Lena caught the sleeve of a senior passing in the opposite direction.
"What happened?"
"Fight."
"I got that part."
"Junior and a senior. Carter's one of them."
Lena stopped.
Her hand went into her pocket.
No reply from Adam.
You alive?
Delivered.
Nothing beneath it.
Kendra saw her expression.
"Lena?"
Lena was already moving faster.
The crowd thickened near the courtyard doors, where the hallway widened beside the gymnasium.
Somebody shouted.
Then came the unmistakable crash of a body hitting lockers.
The students around them answered with a collective roar.
Lena's pace quickened.
"Move."
2 boys in front of her barely looked back.
"Seriously. Move."
Something in her voice worked.
They shifted aside.
Lena forced through the gap with Kendra behind her.
Another opening appeared.
And Lena saw him.
Adam.
For 1 relieved second, that was all that mattered.
Then Carter Phillips hit him in the face.
Adam's head snapped sideways.
The crowd erupted.
Lena froze.
Carter stood several inches taller and considerably heavier than Adam. He wore his varsity jacket with the sleeves shoved halfway up his forearms, and his face was red with either anger or exertion.
Adam staggered into the lockers.
His backpack lay several feet away.
"Adam!"
Lena tried to move forward.
Kendra caught her wrist. "Are you crazy?! You're gonna get beat up!"
"Let go, Kendra." Lena tried again.
Her friends held her back.
"We're not letting you go in there," Kelly said.
Carter shoved Adam into the lockers again. Metal rattled behind him.
"What?" Carter shouted. "Nothing to say now?"
Adam wiped his mouth with the back of one hand.
Blood marked his skin.
His lower lip had split.
He looked at the blood, then at Carter.
"No."
Carter laughed without humor. "Of course not."
"Can I go now?" Adam asked in the same flat, blank tone.
Carter's eye twitched.
A few students laughed.
Carter's face darkened.
"You think this is funny?"
"No."
"You think you're better than me?"
Adam's expression barely changed. "No."
"Bullshit."
Carter stepped closer.
"You've been walking around with that same stupid look on your face all week."
Adam said nothing.
Carter shoved him again.
"You take my spot and suddenly you don't have anything to say?"
Lena frowned.
His spot?
Beside her, Kendra leaned closer to hear what was being said.
"Oh, shit. This is about cross-country. Carter thought the last district spot was his. Coach gave it to Adam."
Lena looked back at Adam, worry tightening in her chest.
Carter had run cross-country every fall since freshman year. He'd been one of Pinewood's better distance runners for years.
Adam had joined quietly.
Then started beating him.
Apparently Carter had taken that personally.
"You know how long I've been waiting to run districts?" Carter demanded.
Adam stayed silent.
Carter's jaw tightened.
"4 years, Adam. I put 4 years into this."
He jabbed a finger toward Adam's chest.
"You show up, start cutting seconds, and suddenly I'm the one watching."
"Coach picked me. I didn't make the decision."
That factual answer only made Carter angrier.
Carter punched him again.
The fist caught Adam across the cheek and drove him into the lockers.
Lena jerked forward.
"Adam!"
Her voice disappeared beneath the shouting.
Carter grabbed the front of Adam's shirt and pulled him away from the lockers.
"Say something."
Adam caught Carter's wrist.
For half a second.
Then released it.
Carter shoved him again.
Something felt wrong.
Lena couldn't explain it at first.
Adam was losing.
Badly.
That should have been all she noticed.
Instead, she found herself watching his feet.
Every time Carter advanced, Adam moved backward.
But he never crossed his feet.
Never stumbled over himself.
Never seemed surprised by where Carter was.
Another punch came.
Adam's arms rose too late, and the fist glanced off the side of his head.
The crowd cheered.
Adam stumbled.
But Lena had seen it.
His head had started moving before the fist reached him.
Not enough to make the movement obvious.
Enough to take the worst of it away.
Her brow furrowed.
Carter threw a wide right hand.
Adam ducked cleanly.
The fist struck a locker.
Carter cursed and shook his hand.
Adam immediately created distance, but not toward the crowd.
Toward the open space near the courtyard doors.
Lena watched him more carefully.
He wasn't watching Carter's face.
His eyes stayed lower.
Shoulders.
Hands.
Hips.
Feet.
Something about it pulled at a memory.
Her father.
Grigori did the same thing when somebody unfamiliar approached too aggressively.
At gas stations.
At stores late at night.
Whenever an angry customer came too close to the postal van.
Hands first.
Waist.
Then the face.
Lena felt something tighten in her chest.
Carter swung again.
Adam caught the blow on his forearms and gave ground.
Or appeared to.
His shoes slid across the tile.
Lena looked at his face.
He wasn't frightened.
He wasn't angry either.
His breathing remained controlled.
Carter was breathing harder.
"What the hell?" she whispered.
Kendra looked at her. "What?"
Lena didn't answer.
Carter caught Adam by the front of the shirt.
Adam's right hand moved.
Fast.
His fingers closed around Carter's wrist. His body turned slightly. One foot shifted into position.
For 1 strange second, Lena knew Carter was about to hit the floor.
She couldn't have explained why.
Then Adam stopped.
He released him.
Carter drove a fist into his stomach.
Adam doubled over.
The crowd shouted.
Lena stared. She knew what she'd seen.
Carter stepped back, breathing harder now.
"You really don't care, do you?"
Adam straightened slowly. "About what?"
Carter gave a disbelieving laugh.
"Districts. Me. Any of it."
Adam wiped blood from his lip with his thumb.
"You took my spot."
"I didn't take anything from you. Coach chose me."
"You keep saying that like it changes what happened."
Adam's attention flicked toward the crowd.
Phones. Faces.
Too many people.
Lena saw him notice them.
His expression tightened into something Lena recognized as calculation, not fear.
Carter followed his gaze.
"Now you care? Because people are watching?"
Adam bent toward his backpack. "I'm done."
Carter kicked it away.
The bag slid across the floor.
"No. You don't get to decide when this is over."
"Move."
It wasn't loud.
Carter laughed.
"There you go. Finally."
He shoved him again.
Adam didn't move as far.
Carter noticed.
So did Lena.
"Come on," Carter said. "Do something."
Adam looked at him.
"Don't."
That only encouraged Carter.
He shoved him again.
Adam barely moved.
The cheering thinned until the crowd was mostly waiting.
Carter looked toward the crowd.
Then his eyes found Lena.
She saw the recognition immediately.
Something in his expression sharpened. Lena didn't like it.
The crowd shifted, opening a clear line between Carter and Lena's group.
Kelly and Anna still had hold of Lena's arms.
Adam's head turned.
Their eyes met.
His blue eyes widened slightly.
"Lena?"
Carter looked between them.
"That's all it takes?"
Adam turned back. "Carter."
"She shows up and suddenly you've got a voice."
"Leave him alone," Lena said.
Daryl stepped between Lena's group and Carter, arms spread to keep them apart.
"Leave her alone, man. Coach is-"
Carther shoved Daryl back slightly.
"Fuck off, Leone. She's next."
Adam moved.
1 step.
"What are you gonna do, Costanza? If you're not gonna react, I'll just knock your sister down."
Somebody muttered, "Dude."
Kendra stepped forward. "What the fuck, Carter?"
Adam's face changed.
Barely.
But Lena knew that face better than almost anyone.
His jaw relaxed.
His shoulders dropped.
Even his hands loosened.
For some reason, that frightened her more than anger would have.
Adam crossed the distance before Carter could turn fully toward Lena.
Carter barely had time to blink.
Adam caught his wrist, pulled him off balance, and drove the heel of his palm into Carter's upper chest. The impact forced Carter back a step and knocked the air from him.
Carter recovered with a growl and lunged, wrapping both arms around Adam's waist. He drove him into the lockers.
Metal boomed behind them.
For a second, Carter tried to muscle him down.
Then Adam moved.
His hips turned. Carter's grip came apart. Adam shifted his weight and Carter suddenly lost his footing.
A trash can toppled as Carter hit the tile hard.
Adam followed him down before he could recover. One hand controlled Carter's arm while the other struck across his jaw.
Once.
Then again.
Carter went limp.
Someone behind Lena whispered, "Holy shit."
"Where did that come from?"
There were no cheers now, no comments. Just stunned silence.
"Adam, stop!"
Adam froze.
His head turned.
Their eyes met.
And Lena watched awareness return. Not of Carter, but of everything around him. The students, the phones, Kendra and the others, and finally her.
Adam looked down at his own hands.
Then at Carter beneath him.
Something shifted in his face. He released Carter immediately and stood.
Carter's blood marked his knuckles.
Lena stared at her little brother.
The boy who forgot homework on the kitchen counter. Who let her steal food from his plate. Who had spent years losing their stupid wrestling matches just enough to make her laugh.
A question she had never needed to ask before settled heavily in her stomach.
Had he actually tried before?
A heavy voice cut through the silence.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Students turned.
Coach Henry forced his way through the crowd with 2 teachers behind him.
His expression was furious. At least until he saw Adam.
Then his pace slowed.
His eyes moved from Carter on the floor to Adam's bloodied hands.
The overturned trash can.
The marks on the lockers.
Adam's stance.
"Costanza."
Adam straightened. "Coach."
"Step away."
Adam immediately took another 2 steps backward.
Henry looked at Carter, who was beginning to stir, one hand pressed to his head.
"You hurt?"
Carter pushed himself onto one elbow. "He fucking attacked me!"
Daryl pushed through the crowd with a wad of paper towels and handed them to Adam. "No, he fucking didn't, Carter!"
Half the crowd followed at once.
"No he didn't-"
"Carter started it-"
"Adam got jumped-"
"He was beating his ass first-"
"Everybody stop."
Henry didn't shout particularly loudly.
The hallway quieted.
"Phones away."
Nobody moved immediately.
Henry's eyes hardened.
"I said put them away."
Screens disappeared.
He pointed to the 2 teachers behind him.
"Get Carter to the nurse."
Then he looked at Adam.
"You're coming with me."
Adam bent to retrieve his backpack.
Henry watched him.
His eyes dropped briefly toward Adam's hands.
Then his feet.
Then his face.
Lena recognized the look, the same thing dad does.
Adam picked up his bag.
Before he could follow Henry, Lena stepped in front of him.
"What happened?"
Adam looked at her. "Nothing."
Lena stared at the blood on his hands.
"Nothing?"
Adam nodded.
"You were letting him hit you."
Adam paused, but only for a moment.
But Lena saw it.
Kendra went quiet beside her.
Adam looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do."
"Lena."
"No." She lowered her voice. "I watched you."
His eyes returned to hers.
Normally, she would have made some joke about his face.
She couldn't think of one.
"You could've done that the entire time."
Adam said nothing.
Henry stepped closer.
"Costanza."
Adam looked toward him.
"Now."
Adam adjusted his backpack strap, then looked back at Lena.
"I'm fine."
She almost laughed. Not because it was funny, but because of course that was what he would say.
"You're an idiot."
Henry led Adam away.
Students parted around them.
Lena remained where she was.
Hannah looked like she was about to cry.
Kendra came to stand beside her. For once, she had nothing clever to say.
Kelly watched Adam disappear around the corner.
Anna finally broke the silence.
"Lena?"
"Yeah?"
"Where the hell did your brother learn to do that?"
Lena kept staring down the empty hallway.
"I don't know."
For the first time in her life, that answer bothered her.