Nova looked at the lecture slide.
Nothing stuck.
The room hummed. AC. Pens scratching on paper. A cough. She repeated the line twice, and a third time with worsening spelling. Her hand shook. Heat had a home under her skin like a small animal.
Her cell rang in her lap.
Arin: You in class?
Nova: Body present. Brain absent.
Arin: Side effect of raisin.
She smiled although she didn't want to. The smile fell fast. The professor kept going on synapses. Hers felt like sparklers.
She crossed her knees. That didn't do anything.
Her pen dropped. It clipped off the desktop and fell into her hand. The tiny shock of it ran a shiver up her arm that left her breathless. A sound issued from her. Soft. Louder than a gasp would be soft but not to her.
Heads turned. She gazed straight ahead and pretended everything was normal.
Her phone buzzed again.
Arin: Okay?
Nova: No. Yes. I don't know.
Arin: Ten minutes.Outside?
She looked at the time and acknowledged a message he didn't see.
---
Arin exited the bookstore with a low-cost notebook and far too many thoughts. The bell above the door rang out. A cashier with round glasses gave him his change back. Their hands touched for half a second.
The spark jumped.
Not a wave. A flick. Enough to open her eyes wide and open her mouth in anticipation of a word that didn't come. Her cheeks went red. He quickly leaned back.
"Thanks," she breathed, voice suddenly breathy. She blinked as though she'd risen too fast. "Have a… good day."
"You too," replied Arin, heart pounding faster.
He stepped into the light and leaned against the brick wall. Alright. Not only Nova.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown: Told you.
He didn't reply.
He put one foot into the road. A bike zoomed past his shoulder in the crosswalk. Arin's hand went straight out and grabbed the guy by the elbow. The rider guffawed, surprised, then turned red like he'd been caught snickering in church.
"Wow. Reflexes," he said dazedly. He kept pedaling.
Arin exhaled. He could feel the rhythm in his chest. Warm. Certain. Hungry.
He typed.
Arin: He's not only observing me. He's foresighting me.
He erased the message without sending it and kept moving forward.
---
Nova stood in the stairway of her building, shaded from the sun. She wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold. She wasn't.
Arin stepped into the shade. She relaxed her shoulders. The heat in her shaped a form. She didn't move for him. She wished to.
"You're late," she said.
"I'm early."
"Time does not like me today." She exhaled a breath. "My mind cannot function. Any moment I relax, last night keeps me company."
He stood close. Not quite touching. Space between them pulsed. The pulsing turned into a note she couldn't disregard.
"Nova," he told her. "I accidentally touched someone. A cashier. It. did something."
Her stomach constricted. "Did she—"
"She looked surprised. That's all," he answered quickly. "It wasn't like with you."
She nodded too quickly. Jealousy flared and went up in flames. Honesty triumphed. "I don't like that it's not only me."
"I don't either."
They stood in it. The truth. The desire.
"Can we test something?" she asked.
He didn't mention God this time either. He simply raised his hand.
She put her fingers into his. Palm to palm. Warm against warm.
The world tilted.
She gasped for breath. She batted her lashes. She bit her lip to hold back a sound and lost a little. It slipped out anyway in a soft helpless bubble. She gripped his hand in apology and in control.
Arin's face went dark. He swallowed. "Alright," he snarled. "That's… powerful."
The door slammed open above them. Two students clattered past. The moment ducked into the shade and tried to look like it wasn't anything.
Nov wiped her hand free. She felt simultaneously light and heavy. Her knees didn't think so either.
"Tonight?" she echoed too hastily. "Can you—ton"
He nodded. "Say when."
She attempted to be courageous and accomplished more than she had anticipated. "After eight."
"Where?"
She swallowed. "My place."
Before she could turn back, her cell phone rang. She looked down.
Mason: You left class early. Everything okay?
She locked the screen. "I've gotta go back."
"I'll take you," he said.
They ascended the stairs. On the upper landing, a gray coat paused to knot a shoe that didn't need knotting. A phone tipped downward for a moment and then back up.
He didn't see him. Arin recognized him in the corner of an eye. The beat in his chest fell a degree. Not gone. On guard.
"Eight," said Nova at the door of the lecture hall.
"Eight," he said.
She turned to go.
He touched her wrist briefly. Long enough to make the warmth peak. Long enough to watch her eyes get wide and her mouth open and her knees get loose.
"Arin," she whispered.
He let go. "Study."
She didn't study.
---
He passed the time he didn't own. Laundry. Push-ups he didn't need. A cold shower that didn't do anything. The city slipped into evening in orange and blue.
His telephone illuminated the room.
Unknown: You're accelerating. They will escalate too.
**Arin:**Who is "they"
No response. The dots went up and down and vanished like a wave that wouldn't decide.
Another buzz upon another.
Nova: Come over. Now.
He read the two messages. One cold message. One hot message.
He grabbed his jacket.
He was already standing at the door when the third message arrived.
Unknown: I'll be there.
He smiled without laughter and proceeded into the hall.