Alive by Chandler Baker Page A

conversation.
    “If you don’t mind me asking, what brings you to Duwamish after the start of senior year? Can’t exactly be the easiest time to switch schools.”
    He bends his head down, wrinkling his forehead. “You sure you’re okay? That looked pretty serious. Can I—?”
    I wave him off. “I’m fine.” And it’s the truth. I actually feel perfectly well. Amazing even. “School?”
    He narrows his eyes and lets his gaze linger on my face another moment before continuing. “Bit of a life change, you could say.”
    I play with my shoelaces. “Is that code for ‘got expelled’?” I ask before I can stop myself.
    “No, it’s not code for ‘got expelled.’” He runs his hands through his hair. That had to be him in the bakery, I realize, but, if so, why did he hide? “Be
honest. Is that what everyone thinks?”
    “I’d say roughly seventy percent.”
    This time he actually laughs. “Super.”
    A seagull swoops in close and pecks at some chips scattered on the ground. I try to focus on that instead of how close I’m sitting to Levi Zin. Just being next to him makes me feel like
spilled grape juice on white carpet.
    “You’re not exactly answering my question,” I point out.
    He looks straight at me, his mouth pinched to the side. “Well, I
have
known you for approximately three minutes, Stella Cross.”
    “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I just—”
    He cracks his knuckles using the side of his knee. “That’s okay. Let’s just say not everything or everyone can last forever.” He picks a pebble off the ground and tosses
it into the bay.
    I nod, biting my lip to keep myself from asking yet another question and then, because my brain has to know the answer to everything, I mentally recategorize Levi from troubled dropout to a kid
grieving the loss of someone close to him. I fight the urge to reach out and give him a hug.
    “So, do you like it so far?”
    He hums at a level that’s almost inaudible—a sexy baritone. The tune is familiar but I can’t place it. “Could be worse. I had friends at my old school. You know, guys I
grew up with since elementary. I don’t exactly love the idea of jumping into that dynamic somewhere else, I guess.”
    “I know the feeling,” I say without thinking.
    Levi cocks his head. “Are you new also?”
    I shake my head quickly. “No, but I had to take some time off—and, I don’t know, it’s hard to get plugged back in.”
    He lets a few moments slide past in silence. “Mono?”
    I let out a breathy laugh. “Something like that.”
    “I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.” I know that he’s teasing, but the intensity of his stare still makes my toes curl.
    “Well, I
have
known you approximately three minutes, Zin,” I reply. The contents of my stomach perform rhythmic gymnastics.
    Something passes over Levi’s face. Sadness? Anger? It’s a flash of an expression that leaves an imprint like the white spots beneath your eyelids the moment after a photo’s
been taken. One moment, that’s it, and then it’s gone. “Do you want to go out Friday night?” he asks.
    It’s a good thing I’m sitting down.
    I find Brynn leaned up against my Jetta with a big wet stain stretching from her collarbone to the top of her bra. I grimace. Three guesses how she got it.
    “Do I look like a thirteen-year-old girl with no job and braces?” she demands, fists rammed into her hips. “I am
not
your babysitter.” She tosses the car keys at
me. “You left them in the stroller pouch. Your little devil is inside. Enjoy.”
    “Wait!” I all but shout at her. The thought of having to keep this inside for even one more moment will kill me. “I have a good excuse. Promise.”
    She halts her revolution and lifts the pierced eyebrow.
    I’m sure my face is bright red, but I feel it turn maroon as I say, “Two words, Brynn: Levi Zin.”
    “I’m listening.”
    I hop onto the trunk of my car and put my head in my hands,