Katharine McGee - The Thousandth Floor

“I haven’t been here in ages,” Leda admitted as they settled in. She thought suddenly of middle school, before her family had gotten into the club, when she always spent the night at Avery’s and then came to Saturday brunch here with the Fullers. She and Avery would pile their plates with egg whites and lemon cakes and try to sneak sips from the mimosa fountain, while Atlas rolled his eyes at their antics and messaged his friends.

“Yeah, me neither,” Atlas said, then laughed. “Obviously.”

Drew, who’d been the waiter at the Grill since Leda could remember, walked up to their table. “Miss Cole. And Mr. Fuller! We’re all so glad you’re back.”

“Glad to be back.” Atlas smiled.

“Can I get you two something to drink?”

“I’d love a beer, actually,” Atlas said, and Drew winked; Atlas had recently turned eighteen, so he was legal, but Drew had been sneaking them drinks for years now.

“Iced tea would be great, thanks,” Leda murmured.

“What, no whiskeycream?” Atlas quipped as Drew walked away.

“You know that’s an Andes-only drink.” Leda tried to play it cool, but her heart was racing. What was he doing, referencing that?

“Thanks, by the way, for the other night,” Atlas went on. Leda hesitated. “About Avery,” he clarified. “You were right, she was really drunk. I ended up taking her home after that game of Spinners.”

“Oh. Sure,” Leda agreed, hiding her confusion. She’d just made that up in order to keep from playing Spinners. She was surprised, actually, to learn that it had been true; Avery wasn’t usually the girl who needed to be taken home. She hoped everything was okay.

“Anyway.” He grinned, and Leda felt that rush again, of being the focus of Atlas’s attention. It was a frighteningly addictive sensation. “I’m so out of the loop. Tell me everything I’ve missed this year.”

She saw what he was doing, deflecting attention away from himself, from questions about where he’d been. Well, she could play along.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about Eris and Cord,” Leda began, taking a quick breath to steady herself. She tried to mentally recite a meditation chant, but none came to mind. “Did you hear about Anandra, though?”

The conversation meandered. Leda told him about Anandra Khemka’s stealing spree, about Grayson Baxter’s parents getting back together, about Avery and Zay, everything that had happened in the year he was away. Thankfully Atlas didn’t seem to notice that her stories were light on details about the past summer. He just listened, and nodded, and even suggested that they share an order of nachos. “Sure,” Leda agreed, trying not to read into it; but there was something intimate about eating off the same plate, the way their hands kept brushing as they reached for the same avocado-smothered quinoa chips. Was it her imagination, or was this feeling more and more like a date?

Drew finally came back over. The table’s view screen projected the bill in front of them, the numbers a dark blue holo on a white background. “Do you want me to charge to your separate—” he started, but Atlas was already waving his hand to put the whole charge on the Fullers’ account.

“No way. It’s my treat,” Atlas said.

Maybe he was just being chivalrous … or maybe she was right, and this was turning into a date. “What are your plans this week? Want to do something?” she ventured.

Time seemed to freeze, the way it used to right before an exam when she’d popped a xenperheidren. Atlas’s hand lay there on the table between them. Leda couldn’t think of anything but the way that hand had been tangled up in her hair, tipping her head back, that night ten months ago. She wondered if Atlas thought back on that night the way she did. If he wondered what could’ve happened between them, if he hadn’t left.

She looked up and met his gaze. Her heart was pounding so hard she almost couldn’t hear. He was about to say something. She leaned in—

“Hey!” Avery pulled up a seat next to Leda and pulled a perfectly toned, tanned arm forward in a stretch. “Man, antigrav yoga today was killer. How are you guys?”

“Hey, Avery.” Leda smiled, hiding her disappointment at her best friend’s timing. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed her arrival; she’d been so focused on Atlas that she’d forgotten to watch the Grill’s entrance the way she usually did.

“I missed you in class, Leda.” It wasn’t a reproof, just a question. Avery’s eyes flicked to Leda and Atlas, his empty beer mug and the remains of the nachos on the table between them.

Leda shifted uncomfortably. She’d gotten so excited about Nadia’s intel on Atlas that she’d forgotten to answer Avery’s flicker from last night, about hanging out today. “Oh, yeah,” she said guiltily. “I just came by for a juice. I’ve been totally lazy all day.”

“And then I talked Leda into nachos instead. Sorry we didn’t leave you any.” Atlas gestured wryly at the empty plate.

“No worries.” Avery’s eyes were back to Leda. “Are you guys heading home? Want to share a hover?”

“Works for me. You ready to go?” Atlas said, turning to her.

“Sure,” Leda said, telling herself that she’d get more time with Atlas soon enough. What Nadia had done once, she could easily do again.

As they started back toward the club’s entrance, Avery reached to pull Leda back. “Can we talk about last night?”

“Right. Sorry I left without telling you,” Leda said, deliberately misunderstanding. “I just got really tired all of a sudden, and I couldn’t find you to say bye. You know how it is.”

“No, I meant about earlier. I didn’t mean to push you, about—”

“I told you, it’s fine ,” Leda said, more curtly than she meant to. But seriously, couldn’t Avery just take a hint?

“Okay. If you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“Thanks.” Leda glanced warily at Avery and decided to turn the tables. “What about you? Atlas said you were really drunk at the end of the night? That he had to take you home?”

“First party back, guess I got a little carried away.” There was something funny in Avery’s tone, though Leda couldn’t say exactly what.

“I get it. That was a great party,” she concurred, not sure why she was overcompensating.

“Definitely.” Avery wasn’t even looking at Leda. “It was great.”

They didn’t say anything else until they caught up with Atlas near the entrance. Leda couldn’t remember the last time she and Avery had been at a loss for words.

Then again, I’ve never kept a secret from her before , Leda thought, just as Atlas turned back to smile at them both, and she realized of course that wasn’t true at all; her biggest secret was standing right there before her.

She just hoped he wasn’t also her biggest mistake.