Walter looked at her. "You're supposed to stop confusing sacrifice with strength." Maya went quiet. He continued. Brooke is pushing harder because you keep absorbing everything.
School, home, Denise, everybody else's emergencies. "What choice do I have?" Walter looked toward the gym doors. "Eventually the choice becomes whether you protect everyone except yourself." Maya stood.
I have class tomorrow. Walter nodded. She picked up her backpack. As she turned her phone vibrated, a message from an unknown number. Maya opened it.
A photograph filled the screen, her, inside Ruth's kitchen that morning, helping Ernest, taken through the front window. Underneath were four words, always playing the hero. Maya's face went cold. Walter saw it. What?
She handed him the phone. His expression changed instantly. The second message arrived before he could speak. "See you at lunch." Maya looked toward Crown Bridge in the distance.
Though the campus was miles away, Brooke was no longer waiting for Maya to make a mistake. She was choosing the time and place herself. The next day, Crown Bridge felt too bright. Sunlight poured through the student commons windows and flashed against polished tables, glass railings and stainless steel counters. It was the kind of clean, expensive brightness that made every stain seem visible.
Maya noticed that before she noticed Brooke, the commons was crowded. Nearly every table was full. Adult students in business clothes, nursing scrubs, varsity jackets and work uniforms filled the room with conversation and the clatter of trays. Maya stood at the entrance with her backpack over one shoulder. For one second, she considered leaving.
Then she remembered Karen Bennett telling her to stay away from Brooke, as if the building belonged more to Brooke than to her. Maya kept walking. She bought soup, a sandwich and water. No milk this time. The thought annoyed her.
She hated that Brooke had managed to change something as small as what she ordered for lunch. Maya chose a table near the far windows. She set down her tray, opened her anatomy notes, tried to breathe normally. For three full minutes, nothing happened. Then laughter rose behind her, not loud, close.
Maya did not turn. Brooke's voice came next. "So it's true." Maya kept reading. Brooke stopped beside the table.
Evan Miller stood behind her. Two of Brooke's friends remained a few feet away. More importantly, several phones were already visible. Maya looked up. Brooke smiled.
"I heard you've been training at Riverton." Maya said nothing, like actually fighting. A few students nearby glanced over. Maya closed her notebook. "I'm eating."
Brooke tilted her head. "That wasn't a question." Maya's pulse began to climb. She kept her hands flat on the table. Brooke leaned closer.
"What are you? Some kind of secret tough girl?" Evan laughed. "Maybe the scholarship comes with combat training." Maya looked at him.