Adon had heard his students whisper that Sophia Silver had a crush on him, but he’d thought they were only teasing. How could she have a crush on him, she didn’t know him. He certainly didn’t know her. What was there to like or dislike about a stranger. He was partially flattered, but mostly confused, and he desperately hoped she wouldn’t ask any direct question that he couldn’t side-step with a quick smile and the next thing on his to-do list. 

He didn’t dislike her, but he knew she was the epitome of Quartet royalty, that her every wish was some poor Grounder’s command, and that he was likely nothing more than a novelty. He tolerated her flirting during their greenhouse tasks, and sometimes even enjoyed her surprisingly brutal banter because it made the watering go faster. But he never forgot that she was a Silver, one of the four Quartet families: Chrome, Silver, Stone, and Steel. Why they were called the Quartet and not something more… grey was beyond Adon. Probably because there were four of them, four sections and a conductor. Aphy had always wanted to play music, but the time needed to practice, purchase an instrument, and travel to auditions, it was never going to be something they could afford. Not unless Adon got something close to perfect on his CAPT. Then they could all catch up to their dreams. 

They wouldn’t have any dreams to catch, however, if he made Sophia Silver angry. Embarrassing her could cost him more than any regular academy student, he didn’t have important parents to be wary of. 

Stressed and exhausted, Adon thought only of his upcoming CAPT slot, and whether he could trust Aphro, who kept mysteriously disappearing to the same cafe lately, to pick Mess up before curfew, even though she’d already sworn to multiple times. 

“I’ll find you after school then,” Sophia slid off the low wall, landing softly on a stepping stone with a shy wave.

Adon blinked, realizing he’d missed something, “after?” He reset the water gauge before realizing the hose was kinked, “why after?”

“You’re on duty right?” She frowned, the look most kids knew meant trouble. 

Adon hadn’t grown up with the rich Grounder kinds, however, and he only knew that he was confused. He straightened, “yeah, but it’s not— I can’t stay after—”

“It’s important,” Sophia called, continuing toward the greenhouse doors as the warning bell chimed, unconcerned with his priorities, “make sure you’re here no matter what.” 

She pushed through the doors with her district ID band and Adon’s shoulders wilted, his tight smile loosening into dread and disgust. He hated the way the academy kids never asked. Always, they demanded. He pushed his short hair back with a sigh. His exam was in less than eight hours. All of his blockmates would be sleeping, eating, reviewing, and being pampered by eager and encouraging parents. Even the Wells kids woke up to chocolates. But Heather had never been the best guardian, state-appointed or otherwise, and Adon’s life had always been full of now-problems and anything that could wait at least an hour or two, which were simply pushed ahead to future-problems. Suddenly, Sophia Silver was a now-problem. But so was getting to the testing center on time to register his ancient ID in case there was a reader problem like there was every year when he had to update his pendant at the ARC office to renew his minor-assisted guardianship with Heather every year so he could keep Aphy and Mess together with him. 

Always there was that fear that they might be better off somewhere else, a rich Upper family might find Aphro’s attitude charming, might stick her in music and art classes, call her a private rail to dance, and she would hustle through their busy halls, smacking past unsuspecting strangers and hitting shoulders with her overfilled back. She would fight with teachers about her purple hair and ears full of earrings and the Upper kids would love her for it. But Mess? Mess didn’t like school much unless Adon gave him an incentive. He wasn’t motivated by grades or friends, even Chandris, his new best friend, couldn’t get him to get a passing grade without a bribe. The annoying part was that Mess always aced if the bribe was big enough, proving time and time again that he was capable but unwilling, and Adon couldn’t help but wonder if he was missing something, some innate parental understanding about how to encourage ten year olds to dream about a better future. No, the only way to convince Mess was to show him. If he could pass the CAPT, if he could reach the top five percent in his block, he could give them everything from there. He just had to… it was just one exam. He only had to….

Too many fears collided and Adon bent over his knees, rubbing the tears back into his eyes and deflating the scream he definitely wanted to unleash over the waving plants.

A hand patted his back softly, a small box of chocolates waving in front of his hidden face. Adon stood to find Lu smiling bright, shaking the box of chocolates excitedly, and fell against him, letting the tears fall. 

Lu stiffened, confused and concerned, “what’s wrong?” That was a dumb question, everyone got anxious before their exam. He patted Adon’s back softly, tucking his arms around him, “it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Lu tossed the chocolates near Adon’s bag without letting go of him. Embracing Adon, being wrapped in a stolen hug, tucking his arms protectively around him, trusted to be a safe place, it made him feel like a warm person. He smiled, squeezing tight until Adon’s sniffles turned to giggles. Lu released him and wiped Adon’s tears softly, bending down to observe his face with a resolute nod, “yep, it’s going to be okay.”

Adon nodded gratefully, inhaling and smiling back a new bout of tears.

☆

The day passed too slowly. Lu thought only of warm hugs, how much smaller Adon was than his over-large uniform top, and if he’d eaten enough. He never saw Adon eat lunch, now that he was thinking about it. The thought of what Adon might like for lunch lasted the entirety of Jane Teal’s lesson, and the memory of Sophia ordering Adon to wait for her in the thick and fragrant greenhouse air soured his mood immediately. The substitute Jon ran long past the bell, only releasing the classroom door when Lu let out a deep, glaring sigh from the back corner. 

Lu didn’t stop to think why he cared, he was too happy having something to care about. He jogged toward the greenhouse, Adon’s exam slot was in less than two hours, and the rain sirens were already ringing. 

Lu jammed his wristband into the scanner and slipped into the greenhouse, briefly wondering how far Pa’s influence went that he was given unique access to the entire academy. He fully expected to find the place empty, Adon long gone and on his way to the CAPT testing center in Chroma. Instead, he found an obviously panicking Adon trying to step around Sophia who continued to block his way, her arms crossed tight over her chest. 

“Just say yes,” She stomped a heeled gravity boot, “and I’ll let you go. It’s not that complicated.”

“Sophia,” Adon sighed, “I really have to go. I’m not making lame excuses, I’m telling you this is life or death for me, not games.” He hitched his bag, nearly sobbing at the time on his phone, the ringing sirens, and the various rainbow warning flashes flickering over his old alert fob, lingering on orange for the floods. “I promise, If you’re serious, we can have a real conversation after my test.”

At the sound of Adon’s voice cracking, tears thick in his eyes, Lu inhaled, catching his breath, ruffled his hair into place, clearing his throat, then strode over toward Adon. 

“No,” Sophia pouted, shifting her hands defiantly to her hips, jutting her chin, “we can make it romantic later. Say yes now.”

Adon swallowed, eyes darting between his phone and district alert. Missed CAPT slots didn’t get refilled until the following term. And the rains closed down so many stations, he should have left hours ago. He’d come to deliver worksheets to paying students. He’d stayed because he was on greenhouse duty and the others had refused to exchange, now he understood why. Sophia. He had no idea what to do but squeeze his eyes shut and wonder briefly if the universe meant to keep him on the Ground forever. 

Lu draped an arm around Adon, leaning forward to Sophia, his voice low, “has it occurred to you he means to say no?” He winked at her and straightened, planting a soft kiss on Adon’s cheek, nuzzling his forehead against Adon’s temple like they’d been lovers for decades longer than they’d been alive. 

Sophia gaped, surprised, confused, annoyed, weighing her place in the hierarchy against Lu’s.

Lu pulled Adon closer to him with a protective sigh, looking Sophia up and down, as if annoyed that she was interrupting their intimate moment. He turned Adon to face him with a tender smile, lacing their fingers together, “come on, you’re already late.”

Adon was surprised, but didn’t worry about playing along. At the word late, all his fears collapsed on top of him, his chin trembling, tears finally falling out of his eyes as he nodded at Lu, immeasurably grateful. He was late. He was already late. He let Lu pull him out of the greenhouse with a sympathetic wave at Sophia, unconcerned with any consequence. That was a future-problem. 

Lu led Adon through the doors, hands clasped tight as he wound through back corridors of the academy, waved at Sec-Offs to open private passages and yanked his sleeve up to beep his ID band against the request scanner. Fifty-seconds later, they were in a private rail car headed to Chrome, Adon reciting equations and flipping through the notes on his scratched up tablet.

Lu leaned his head against the rattling window, watching Adon across from him. “Why didn’t you just tell her no?” He wondered aloud. 

Adon scoffed absently, “her dad’s the head of the Silvers and her mom pays enough to cover our rent for a single tutoring session,” he explained without looking up, bored of the truth. “I can’t afford to piss her off. Plu, Aphy makes her mad enough for the both of us,” he muttered darkly, circling a term on the screen, then sitting back and wrinkling his nose at Lu. “You saw her, didn’t you? She doesn’t really understand no.”

“How do you even tutor her then?” Lu glared out the window, frowning, “just let her get away with everything? What if she fails? Do you just say it doesn’t count and let her start over?” That was what his step brother did, and Pa always allowed it. Lu, on the other hand, had to keep his grades up enough to inherit the Flock’s construction branch, which Benny reminded him of constantly. 

“No,” Adon shrugged, “I tell her it’s okay, I’m not mad, but I say it like I’m disappointed and I post all their scores to my website for their parents, so she gets competitive. Besides, her parents don’t care about her scores as long as they’re not embarrassing.” He clicked off his screen with a sigh, tucking the tablet into his bag with a heavy sigh, letting his head fall onto Lu’s shoulder beside him, watching caldera pass as the rail spiraled upward. “It’s pretty sad. She’s like a favorite pet, a beloved accessory. I guess maybe I just feel bad for her,” Adon chewed his lip, looking sheepishly up at Lu, “she’s also kind of scary.”

Lu laughed hard enough that he shook Adon’s head off his shoulder, “sorry, I’m sorry,” he chuckled.

“What?” Adon whined, “she could have me murdered in my sleep if she wanted. Who knows what she’ll do to you now that she thinks we’re together.” He slumped into the plush bench, glaring darkly out the window as his nerves settled.

Lu sobered, wondering what Adon would think of him if he learned how cozy Pa was with the Quartet. If he knew Sophia wasn’t a threat to Lu. His body convulsed suddenly at the intruding memory of a finger flying over the jeering crowd. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Adon jumped, surveying Lu for injury.

“No, nothing, sorry.” Lu cleared his throat, swallowing his secrets for later, “are you scared?”

“No,” Adon sighed, distracted by the view as the neon lights of the Arcade faded into the neat rows of solar lamps the Mids were so proud of.

Lu wished he would lean on him again. 

“Okay, yeah,” Adon amended, sliding over the back of the bench back onto Lu’s shoulder. 

Lu smiled, patting his head, “it will be okay.”

“I just need to get in the top ten percent. I’d prefer five, but top ten. Ten whole spots, and I just need one.”

“Hah,” Lu breathed sarcastically, shrugging, “that should be easy for you.”

Adon nodded, staring at the ring on Lu’s hand, “what did you get?” He sat up to meet Lu’s gaze. 

“Me? Mine’s in three months.”

“Oh,” Adon nodded, “that makes sense.” He returned his head. 

“Are you a rain baby?” Lu teased. Kids born during the rainy season always had to take the CAPT first. It wasn’t a secret with a name like Adonis Caldera that he was a ward of the state, but Lu hadn’t thought much about what that meant beyond not having parents to bring him chocolates on the day of his CAPT exam.

Adon pulled out the small box, nibbling the chocolates with a small smile, “all Asylum babies get rain date IDs, because there are less citizens in those blocks. My actual birthday isn’t until spring.”

Lu accepted the chocolate Adon handed him, “asylum babies? I thought.… Are your parents working?”

Adon shrugged, leaning his head into the seat, “haven’t seen either of them in seven years. Pretty sure the dad has been dead for ten.”

Lu frowned at the way Adon had said the dad, realizing that if Adon’s parents had simply been migrant workers in Vice and Grace, he wouldn’t have a state name or ID, he would have his own. He thought of Aphrodite and Messenger, both popular state-granted names. “Are your sibling’s… biological?”

Adon nodded, “same mom.”

“Oh,” Lu pursed his lips, Adon looked drained, as if accustomed to providing personal information to appease someone else’s curiosity. He didn’t like feeling like part of a crowd of entitled people, a jury Adon answered by obligation, so he offered his own story as well, “my brother and sister share the same dad. I never see them though. One time I even forgot their names.”