The Point by John Dixon

Author:John Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2018-08-07T00:00:00+00:00

HIS WERE THE ONLY TRACKS in the newly fallen snow. They were spread far apart, Seamus walking at his characteristic clip, fast with long strides.

She hurried after him.

He had disappeared onto Flirtie, the rocky footpath overlooking the Hudson, where cadets came to escape from prying eyes and honor code violations.

She followed the tracks around one corner, then another, heart pounding. What would she even say if she caught up with him?

Hey, I know I caused you hours of pain and terror, but…

She wound around another corner, and an invisible truck slammed into her. She stumbled backward, more from surprise than from the invisible force, some of which entered her and spun at her center. The wall pushed slowly forward, inching her off the trail, and pinned her back against raw stone.

Seamus stepped from the bushes, his face twisted with anger. “Why are you following me, Winter?”

“I—” she stammered, her brain freezing. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Why would a big shot like you want to talk to someone like me?”

“I’m not a big shot.”

He made a face. “Yeah, right. I see you, strolling with Rhoads. You guys are all buddy-buddy, like him and the Queen Bitch.”

He meant Dalia, she knew. That was what the cadets called her behind her back. Dalia knew it, liked the name, and perpetuated it.

“Well?” Seamus asked. “What did you want to talk about?”

She’d planned to apologize, but suddenly she didn’t want to mention the Chamber at all. Her mind scrambled. “I saw you in the dining hall.”

“So?”

“You were all alone.”

“And?”

“It’s Christmas.”

He rolled his eyes. “Spare me.”

“But your family.”

“They’re dead,” he said. “No one told you? Seamus the orphan, Seamus the unloved.”

“No,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Being a rock star isn’t enough? You have to be the rock star with a heart? Well, save it. I don’t want your pity.”

“It wasn’t like that. I’ve been trying to talk to you since forever.”

He looked at her for a second without saying anything. “I’m not interested. Okay? Just because you’re a rock star doesn’t mean everybody wants to be your groupie.”

“Drop the rock star crap, okay?” she said. “You don’t even know me. If people back home could see me now…”

“Let me guess,” he said. “You were the prom queen bound for Harvard, right?”

She laughed. “I was in juvie during prom. I barely graduated.”

Back on campus, the clock chimed. Thirty minutes until formation at The Point.

“Too cool for school, huh?” The invisible wall evaporated. He started to walk away.

“I just never got my act together,” she said, falling in beside him. “That’s why I laughed. I mean, nobody thought of me as a rock star. Well, my mom, maybe.”

“And your dad?”

She laughed again, not bothering to hide the bitterness. “I was an embarrassment to him. He’s all Army, all the time. Said I had to enlist. I said no way…then Rhoads showed up.”

He slowed his pace. “What’s in the box?”

She looked down. One corner was dented from the wall of force. “Cookies.”

“What kind?”

“I don’t know yet,” she said, and stopped walking.

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