Page 32 of The Last Love Story

“Um,” I try hesitantly, “is everything okay?”

I’m not imagining how flustered they look, how Candice turns and tries to write with a capped pen or how Meg twirls a strand of hair in an innocent act.

“Yeah,” Candice says coolly.

“I really appreciate how welcoming everyone has been,” I offer, hoping to break a little bit of the solid wall of three-foot-thick ice that seems to have suddenly appeared between us.

Meg lets out a snort. “Well. Everyone has heard of Ripley Hart.”

The way she says it, it doesn’t sound like a good thing. My gut churns, feeling sour. “What do you mean?”

Has she readWritten in the Stars? Saffron was an invention of a lonely kid. I’m not her. Maybe she thinks I’m that desperate for affection, or that annoying—

“Everyone here had to start with paper pressing and pen sorting. Must be nice not to have to earn your spot.”

I keep my head tilted down toward the page, but my eyes drift up on their own. The vitriol is not even hidden a little bit now.

“I didn’t know there was a lower level,” I say as lightly as I can, but there’s an edge to it I can’t hide. “I would have started wherever Ms. Astor put me.”

“Well, Ms. Astor isn’t here, is she?” Meg spits, her lower jaw jutting forward.

I sit back. Enough is enough. “I’m really sorry about what happened with her. But she wanted me to join. You need people who can write,” I say, stopping when I see her eyebrow arch. I shrug. “I can’t do a lot, but... I can write.”

Candice narrows her icy eyes at me, a smirk curling up the side of her mouth.

Self-consciousness blooms hot under my skin, and I swallow against the lump in my throat, warring with irritation.

“People like my writing,” I insist, refusing to minimize myself. Time to be brave. Bold. “I mean, millions have readWritten in the Stars.If I can use that power to connect with people...”

I trail off. Their expressions make me uneasy, especially when Candice turns to roll her eyes at Meg. It’s like I walked out of the bathroom with the seat protector stuck in my pants and they’re waiting for the right moment to tell me.

“Right. It’s your loveof writingthat brought you here,” Candice coos, laughing as she grabs more paper and gets to work.

“Candice.” A sharp voice bites through the room. Uri and Nef stand at the door, and my face flushes as I wonder how much of that they heard. From the thunderous look on Uri’s face, probably enough.

“We need bodies on bikes. Both of you,” Uri orders.The smirks fall from their faces as they stand, but Meg still shoots me a smug look before pushing her chair in and following Candice into the hallway.

“Ignore them, Ripley,” Uri says softly.

He and Nef join me again, and the sound of pens scratching on paper fills the room.

But it does nothing to soothe the doubt that Meg’s cruel smile kicked up in my mind. The feeling grows roots, settling low in my belly. And it only gets worse when I get home and find the pamphlet I left for my parents shredded into a fine confetti that settles in an even layer across the trash like snow.

I slip up to my room and boot up Spindle.

I accessWritten in the Starsand click through until I find the chapter I’m looking for—the one where Orion cuts his hand on a lava rock as he’s climbing to bring backup to Saffron and her crew on Mars. Together, they stare down the invading Hammers as they seek to decimate a village below.

“We’re outnumbered,” Saffron says, her back pressed to Orion’s. Lasers fly around them, the sound of metal screeching against dirt fills the air.

Orion turns, then, pressing his body against Saffron’s. It’s the heat of battle, but they don’t care.

“You and me. We’re together. The two of us together. That’s the only number that matters,” Orion says, wrapping his hand around the back of Saffron’s neck.

They kiss, and Saffron’s hand finds the holster of her light spear as his lips still on hers, his breath hot against her mouth.

She remembers, as he presses his forehead to hers, what she’s fighting for. She remembers that she can be scared and still move. Being scared is what makes you brave, after all. Everyone knows this.

Chapter 9