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“Who’s this?” she asked Derek. “Someone from your band?”

“No, he’s a friend of Nina’s.”

I could see she was about to say something else, so I stepped in before she had the chance. “This is Sal.”

Mike pointed to the bruises on Sal’s face. “What happened to you? Kiss a trans?”

“Might as well have.” Sal laughed. “I walked into a door.”

“Hey.” Derek had been staring pretty intently at him. “I know you. You go to Daley. My locker’s across the hall from yours.”

“Oh, yeah,” Mike said. “You’re the guy whose parents died in that leviton crash.”

Leave it to Mike to get straight to the heart of things, no matter how tactless.

“I am,” Sal replied.

“That’s awful,” I said. “I’m really—”

“My dad’s dead, too.” Sandy slipped closer to him, flashing her sweetest smile. She started twirling a lock of her hair.

More Nonverbal Cues guide. Sandy was acting so typically sixteen; it didn’t matter to her at all that her birthday was still a month away. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she brought up her father being dead to connect with Sal. She was so desperate for guys’ attention, for any kind of connection. That was the last thing I wanted to do, so I kept my mouth shut about my dad.

I’d hoped Sal would leave, but it appeared he was staying. And I wanted to stop Sandy from looking like a fool, throwing herself at him. It seemed like small talk was my only choice. “So who do you live with?”

Sal’s eyes met mine. I hadn’t anticipated the effect those deep brown eyes would have on me. My pulse sped up and I felt my heart banging against my chest. I dropped my gaze to the ground and toed lines in the gravel.

“My brother, John, took me in after our parents died. I help him out repairing transports and city transits. My sister-in-law says it pays my expenses.”

“You work on trannies?” Mike said. “That is so cool. I saw one the other day that I really want. It’s an early-thirties cruiser; comet-tail red, with Orion pin-striping and chromax levelers. Man, what I wouldn’t give to have something like that.”

“Have you got your own?” Derek asked. It appeared he was as impressed as Mike. The pressure was off me, at least for the time being.

“I got my license last year. But John won’t let me buy one until I’m eighteen. He says young drivers have too many accidents. Sounds just like my dad used to. I do get to drive his 260G Perseids sometimes. Man, it’s as fast as a tri-leviton express.”

Almost instantly, the guys were deep into discussing the pros and cons of personal versus multitransits and what models were the best. Sandy tugged me over to the fence.

“That’s him, isn’t it?” She kept her eyes glued on Sal. “He’s really cute. You didn’t tell me he was really cute.” She cut her eyes at me for a second, quickly looking back at Sal.

“He’s okay, if you like tall and skinny. And what happened to my being in danger for talking to a homeless?” I didn’t say what I thought of his looks, and I didn’t dare confide the effect he’d had on me. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, least of all some guy who snuck around in rags and had a raging case of attitude. I did feel bad for him about his parents.

“Oh, he’s definitely not homeless.” She eyed him in a way that made me blush. “And I prefer to call it lean and lanky. Ultrayum!”

“Cut it out, Sandy. You’re as bad as those eighteens on the express.” The way she said it was like Sal was nothing more than something to be devoured. It shouldn’t have reminded me of the pig-eyed ’lete, but it did. I shook it off, putting it down to me thinking too much about Angel and what could have happened. “Speaking of the express ...” I pulled her wrist over, checking the time on her chronos. “We’d better leave soon. I have to be home by six.”

The guys were still talking trannies. “Hey, we gotta go,” I said. “I’m watching Dee tonight.”

“We’ll walk you to the station,” Derek offered.

“No, you guys hang out. See ya.”

Sal pulled out his PAV receiver. “Hey, Nina, I accidentally deleted my list. What’s your number?”

Before I could reply, Mike blurted it out.

Sal ticked it in, grinning at me the whole time. “I’ll call you later.”

My heart beat faster, but this time out of anger. I started to tell him not to call until I noticed everyone looking at me. Sandy’s I-could-kill-you glare stood out like a beacon.

“What?” I glared right back at her. “Later, guys.” Sandy charged off down the sidewalk.

Derek looked from me to Sal and back again. “Yeah, later, Nina,” he echoed.

By the time I caught up to Sandy, she wasn’t speaking to me. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.

She stopped in the center island on State Street, planted her hands on her hips, and lit into me. “What do you think you’re doing, giving Sal your number? You knew I thought he was cute and wanted to hang out. We could’ve taken the later express. Do you want him for yourself? I didn’t think you wanted a boyfriend.”

It seemed like a million transits whizzed by us while she went on—berating and blaming me. Finally, I grabbed her sleeve. “Sandy, stop!”

She yanked her arm away and stared at me. “Well?”

“Well what?
I
didn’t give Sal my number,
Mike
did. I don’t care whether he’s cute or not, or whether he likes you or not. And you’re right, I don’t want a boyfriend. Between you and Derek ... hellzit . . . one minute you’re my best friend and the next you’re treating me like a traitor. Is some guy we just met more important than the fact that we’ve been best friends practically forever? Huh?”

Sandy dropped her gaze and didn’t answer.

“Friends are supposed to talk stuff over, not jump to crazy conclusions,” I said. “What’s the matter with you anyway? Is this what sixteen is going to do to you? I thought you knew me better.” I marched past her across the street. Then I had to turn around and holler, “Are you coming?”

Because of Sandy’s tirade, we ended up on the later express and barely got back to Cementville on time. We didn’t talk much on the way home. Sandy apologized at least five times, promising that I was more important than any guy. I knew she meant it—at least she meant it the moment she said it.

At that point, I didn’t much care about what would happen when Sandy turned sixteen, or when I turned sixteen. I was more concerned about being late. Ginnie didn’t often ask me to watch Dee. And here I was, letting some guy and sixteen make me break my promise.

“Sorry I’m late.” I tossed my sweater on the sofa. “Where’s Dee?”

“She’s in her room.” Ginnie came out of the bathroom and gave me a quick kiss. Her makeup hardly covered the yellowing remains of a nasty bruise on her cheekbone. I didn’t say anything. We had an unwritten rule: no discussing Ed-inflicted injuries, period.

I was surprised to see papers strewn on the couch; Ginnie was a total neat freak. “What’s this?” I picked up an envelope from the cushion that had Rita scribbled on it. “Who’s Rita?”

“No one special. She’s a friend.” Ginnie took it from me and stuffed it into her purse.

“Are you seeing Ed tonight?”

“No.” She pulled on a pair of retro Galaxy boots and slipped an imitation sheepskin vest over her sweater. “I’ve got a meeting. I shouldn’t be home too late. Gran and Pops okay? Did you have fun?”

“It was all right. Gran and Pops are fine. There was a foray in their building, Johnny Pace was arrested. Supposedly, he had a transmitter in his room. The cops stopped us when we were leaving, checked our IDs. And Sandy and I had a fight.”

“Johnny? Damn.” She sighed. “No problem with the police, was there?”

“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scanned. It freaked me out a little.”

Ginnie threw her arms around me. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.” She shook her head.

“You really need to teach me that breath-control thing. I thought they’d ED me for sure and then . . .”

“You’re finally ready to learn.” She beamed at me. “We’ll start first thing in the morning.” I followed her into her room, where she put some last minute touches on her outfit. “Anything else happen?” she asked.

“Yeah, one of the cops gave me a weird look when I told him my name.”

“Really? That’s just your imagination.” I thought for a moment that I detected a note of concern in her voice, but she changed the subject. “So what happened with Sandy? You want to talk about it?” She checked the clock. “I’ve got a few minutes before I need to leave.”

I did want to talk. But it would take more than a few minutes to sort out everything. “Oh, and I met this guy today, Sal Davis.” I thought better of telling her
how
I met Sal.

“Sal Davis? That name sounds familiar.” She tapped her lips. “Hmm ... not coming to me . . . maybe later. Let me guess about Sandy. She thought this guy was cute, but he liked you instead.”

It always amazed me how Ginnie knew exactly what was going on without even being told. “Yeah, and there’s more, too, about Derek. But it can wait. I don’t want you to be late.”

“You sure?” She put her arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze.

I hugged her back. “I’m sure. I bet Sandy will call later tonight and we’ll work it out. It’s not like anything’s going to change in the next few hours.”

On the way back down the hall, Ginnie called out, “DeeDee, honey, I’m leaving. Mind your sister.”

Dee came racing from her room and threw herself into Ginnie’s arms. My little sister had more energy than ten genrons. “Can Nina make fried toes? Can we watch movies? When will you be home?”

“Yes, yes, and I don’t know.” Ginnie laughed, swinging Dee around in circles.

“Not too late, Mom, I want to show you a dance routine Corrine and I were just working on.” Dee planted a big kiss on Ginnie’s cheek and squirmed loose. “I’ll pick out the vid, Neens.” She dashed across the room to select her favorite from the AV list.

“I love you, DeeDee.” Ginnie turned her attention to me. “And, Nina, remember . . . if anything—”

“Stop,” I said. “Nothing is going to happen. Quit being silly. Now go, or you’ll be late. I love you.”

“I know, sweetie.” She cupped my cheek in her hand and kissed me, then rubbed her lipstick print off. “I love you, too. We’ll talk later.”

“Be careful.” I watched her silhouette disappear into the darkness.

Dee’d picked her favorite series,
Arriane Lightfoot, Moon Academy.
It was a comedy about a girl at boarding school on the moon. I slipped the chip into our FAV. When we moved to Cementville so Ginnie could be near Ed, he’d actually bought us a brand-new Family Audio/Video. I figured it was because he felt bad that he’d broken Ginnie’s arm. She said it was so he could watch Athletics whenever he came over.

That wasn’t all he watched. I’d accidentally clicked on playback once after he’d left. It was disgusting—worse than anything they’d shown us in Sex Ed. Just the thought of those images made me want to run and hide. I was never going to have sex if it was anything like those movies: men forcing themselves on girls, some who were much younger than sixteen. I never told Ginnie what I’d seen. Partly because I was too embarrassed, but mostly I was afraid that she watched that stuff with him. I didn’t want to think about that, or Ed, so I focused on what needed doing in the present.

“You hungry, Dee?”

“Yeah,” she said, without looking away from the screen. “Don’t forget the fried toes.”

In the kitchen, I punched a few buttons on the cook center. Ten minutes later Dee and I were snarfing down seitan burgers with the works and tofu fries, all caught up in Arriane’s adventures. Sometimes I really liked watching kid shows. It was like a vacation from real life.

We were on episode two, Arriane was organizing a talent show for her school, when my PAV beeped.

“Keep watching. It’s probably just Sandy. I’ll be right back.” I went into the kitchen with my plate of food. “Hey.” It wasn’t Sandy, it was Derek.

“Nina, whatcha doing?”

“Watching
Moon Academy
with Dee. What’s up?” It wasn’t at all like him to call and chat.

“I, uh, you know ... it was fun today, the zoo and all.” He cleared his throat. “You and me and--”

“Yeah.” I cut him off before he could go any further. “It’s always fun at the zoo with you guys and Sandy. What’d you do after we left? Did you all go to Sal’s and check out the transports?”

“No.” He sounded disappointed. “Sal said his brother might get mad if he brought over a bunch of people without telling him first. Maybe this Saturday. Are you coming into town? I told him you really like trannies, too. Man, I hope someday I can afford a Sonic or a Janji.”

I laughed out loud. Once Derek got started on personal transits, he could talk for hours. “Sonics are okay, but I really want a Lacodian mini, they’re so cute.”

“Girly trannie.”

“Hey, I’ve gotta get back to Dee. Ginnie’s gone and we’re doing sister stuff. See ya.”