Chapters

I’d questioned Alek before on why we were running homemade obstacle courses in the trainyard. If the point was simply to become more in sync with Nell and get better at Shaping, surely it would be less of a hassle to do it in a gym. The answer became clear as I hurtled a chest-high […]

It was the day before school started. One last day where I could put my all into learning about Shaping, yet I found myself already perseverating over the coming school year. I eyed the large biology textbook that was missing its front cover. I’d bought it like that, second hand. Sighing, I grabbed it from

The next day, we returned to the trainyard. Sunlight reflected brightly off the train cars in front of me. I squinted, examining the side, finding a good starting point. “The ladder is on the other side,” Nell said archly with her arms crossed. “You know that’s not the point.” “What is the point? Why would

“What are you doing, Alek?” I asked with an edge to my tone. My heart had jumped to going a hundred miles a minute. “Just some physical learning suka. Come on,” he said as he gestured at me to ‘bring it’. “Show me your Shape.” Whenever I was feeling the danger of a situation, the

The next day, I met Nell outside of Kay’s house. She was quiet as we boarded the bus. Her emotions flickered like a burnt out lightbulb. Should I bring it up? I was afraid to say the wrong thing. It was perfectly understandable that Nell had the reaction she did. She interpreted an overly pushy

Kay dropped us off at a thrift store so Nell could buy some clothes that fit her. “I gotta go to a welcome committee meeting at Sillwood U,” she said. “I can come pick you guys up later?” I waved her away. “It’s fine. I can show her how to bus back to your place.”

Kay found a place to park near Alek’s apartment and we set off on foot. Nell’s head was tilted so far back I thought she might tip over as she looked at all the tall buildings around us. “There’s some good arcades around here,” Kay said. “I have a group of friends that hang out

I scrolled through the local news while lying on my bed. Nip purred next to me, occasionally batting at my hand when I stopped petting him for too long. Unsurprisingly, there was no mention of anything beyond just the fires that sprung up in the countryside. “None of the families affected were available for comment,”

A flicker of pain snapped me out of my stupor. I watched a thin trail of blood run down my chin, then my neck. I gently set the razor down on the lip of the sink. That was probably enough. I’d shaved as much as the razor would allow and then kept going, scraping away