Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad) by Scott Reintgen

Author:Scott Reintgen [Reintgen, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2017-09-12T00:00:00+00:00

DAY 100, 10:33 A.M.

Aboard Genesis 11

Meals are unpredictable on Sabbaths. Everyone’s schedule changes so drastically. People eat late or early or not at all. Once, Katsu slept through the entire day. He woke up just in time to start another week of Babel’s endless grind.

So it’s only by dumb luck that I bump into Bilal on the way to breakfast. We exchange good mornings and stumble downstairs together. Naturally, Longwei’s the only other person awake this early. Our annoying leader doesn’t even look up as Bilal and I walk the length of the buffet. It feels so normal to joke with Bilal and sit down for a meal that I almost don’t notice how weird he’s acting. He’s always been a little awkward, but today he’s straight jumpy. His normally tidy hair looks chaotic. As I chew on a piece of bacon, I realize he’s blushing. Sweating too.

I point at him with my fork. “Hey, the hell’s wrong with you today?”

His eyes flick over to the other end of the table, in Longwei’s direction. He’s standing at the buffet, back to us, picking through the deviled eggs. Bilal turns back, content knowing that whatever he wants to share won’t be overheard.

“Last night, Azima kissed me.”

I stare at him. “Sorry, I think your mask’s broken, Bilal. It sounded like you said that Azima kissed you last night.”

His face goes a deeper shade of red. “I did.”

“Azima? Kissed you?”

He nods. “On the lips.”

The widest smile splits my face. No wonder he looks like the world’s ending. Bilal’s probably the nicest kid in the world, but it’s not hard to imagine this was his first kiss. Laughing, I reach out for dap. Bilal pounds my fist, half laughing himself, but then he shakes his head.

“I should not laugh. It is not honorable.”

“Kissing?” I ask. “Dude, nothing wrong with a little kissing.”

Bilal shakes his head again. “But I must ask her parents for their approval.”

“Good luck.” I thumb back. “He’s a few million kilometers that way.”

“Exactly,” Bilal replies, face lined with concern. “It’s not right to—”

The sound of a crashing plate cuts him off. We both look up like startled birds. Longwei’s standing by the edge of the table, his deviled eggs a smash of white and yellow on the floor. But he’s not looking at the fallen plate or the mess. His eyes are locked on Bilal. It takes a second to realize that he’s blushing too.

“Can we help you, Longwei?” I ask.

His fists are clenching and unclenching.

“But I kissed Azima.”

All the color drains from Bilal’s face. The two of them stare daggers at each other as I burst into laughter. It’s too funny not to laugh. All this time Longwei’s built himself up as the untouchable competitor. He works harder and smarter and faster than any of us, but with just four words he’s shattered all my illusions. It’s hard to even imagine him kissing someone. He doesn’t usually do anything that won’t earn points on the scoreboard.

But a glance at Bilal cuts my laughter off.

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