Pulse

by Patrick Carman

  “Raise it,” Wade said as he returned to his starting spot.

  “Let’s take it up four,” Mr. Reichert said, which would put Wade at the world record height if he cleared it. Faith thought they should be recording it and said so, but Mr. Reichert brushed the idea off as he set his side of the bar.

  “Better there’s no evidence on a Tablet just yet. We want to surprise them when the time comes. More dramatic.”

  When the bar was set, Faith moved quickly out of the way. She wanted to see the entire thing for herself this time. Wade took a huge breath as his twin sister had done. He made the same mumbling sound at the bottom of the breath, and then he was on the move. He was like a gazelle, precisely measured in every movement. When he reached the bar, there was an explosion of silent power that vaulted him higher than Faith thought was possible. He cleared the bar with 99 percent of his body until the very edge of his heel nicked the bar and knocked it down.

  “Damn it!” he yelled, pushing himself off the mat without looking in Faith’s direction. “Set it up again.”

  He tried three more times, each time missing by the slightest margin and growing angrier with every attempt.

  “It’s okay, Wade,” Faith said encouragingly. “It’s eight feet, four inches and you’re basically clearing it. It’s incredible!”

  “How about you stick to drawing daisies and let me worry about this. Think you could do that?”

  The comment stung, but Faith was strong willed, always had been. She’d lost a lot of friends over the past few years, and she wasn’t about to let Wade Quinn talk to her that way. He was turning out to be everything she hated about hot guys. She walked out of the gym, but Mr. Reichert followed her. He knew how Wade and Clara could be: coldly focused on becoming the greatest athletes the world had ever seen. It was time to put on the principal hat and make sure the new student wasn’t totally devastated.

  “Don’t take it too hard,” he began as he caught up to Faith in the corridor. “He’s very intense about the training. So is his sister. It sort of comes with the territory. Ever hear of a guy named Tiger Woods? Best golfer in the world like fifty years ago. Amazing. He wouldn’t even sign autographs for little kids most of the time. Just head down, marching from hole to hole, dominating the course. Then he lost his focus, and the whole thing went to hell.”

  Faith felt a little better. Mr. Reichert with the pale, cratered skin and the awful haircut was turning out to be an okay guy.

  “Come back in an hour,” Mr. Reichert said. “I promise he’ll be a different person. He’s frustrated because he knows he can clear it. Don’t be so hard on him.”

  “I never give guys like that a second chance,” Faith said, walking away and thinking about the grade school, hoping she and Liz and Hawk would be going there that night. “Tell him I said so.”

  But Faith had to admit that she was thinking about it. If she could have seen what was happening in the gym while they were having this conversation, it might have changed her mind. Or more likely it would have blown her mind. Wade had put the bar back in place and taken up his starting position again, and this time he didn’t bother with the formality of preparing his mind for the approach. He just went for it.

  He cleared the bar by a foot and a half in a way that looked like he wasn’t even trying. Standing on the mat afterward, Wade knocked the bar off the holders and watched it fall to the floor. There was a long pause and then a voice from the far end of the gym.

  “Be careful.”

  Clara was back, leaning against one of the double doors that led outside to the throwing area. “She’s not worth it.”

  Wade fell back down on the pit and stared at the ceiling. He wasn’t so sure Clara was right about Faith Daniels.

  Maybe she was worth it.

  Chapter 5

  I’m Just Here to See the Monkeys and Eat the Candy

  Whole sections of Old Park Hill had been shut down because the place was about ten times bigger than it needed to be for the insignificant number of students attending class every day. There were long corridors around every corner that were lined with nothing but locked doors and empty lockers, places where people could sneak away and do things high schools weren’t designed for. One of these corridors was of special use to Wade Quinn. He’d made some modifications, mostly out of boredom; but three days after he’d blown it in the gym with Faith, he thought it might be the kind of place she’d like.

  Faith, Liz, and Hawk were standing in one of the few operational hallways. Before Wade walked up uninvited, they’d been talking about the new, cheap jeans that had shipped thanks to Hawk’s Tablet wizardry. All three of them ignored Wade for about ten seconds. Under normal circumstances that would have been plenty of time for Wade to get the message and take off, but unfortunately, the annoying Amy was walking toward them. Amy was a popularity queen who drove Wade half insane with her need for attention; and as she passed by, Wade leaned hard into the circle of Faith, Liz, and Hawk, searching for refuge.

  “Hey, guys. How’s it going?” Wade put a hip into Hawk’s elbow (Hawk was that much shorter) and gained full admittance into the circle. “I need to talk to Faith for a minute.”

  No one moved or spoke.

  “Alone, if you don’t mind,” Wade added, glaring down at Liz like she was gum stuck on his shoe.

  “Wade Quinn, are you avoiding me?”

  Amy had a sugary, high-pitched voice, but the guys thought she was a knockout. Whenever she came around, Hawk started mumbling like a half-wit and shuffled in her direction. Amy had zero patience for dweebs and morons. After a one-syllable comment—Ew—she started backing away like Hawk was a leper reaching out toward her with a zombie-like hand. When Garrett Miller walked by, she locked arms with him and looked back sadly like Wade Quinn, the coolest guy in school, had fallen in with the wrong crowd.

  “What do you want, Wade?” Faith asked indifferently as she leaned closer to Liz. “We’re kind of busy here.”

  Wade started to speak, but the first thing that came into his mind was an insult, and he was trying very hard not to mess this up a second time.

  “There’s something I’d like to show you. It’s in one of the closed wings, very cool. Will you come with me?”

  Faith was melting inside. Wade was wearing a white tee, jeans, and Vans. His dark eyes locked on hers, and she let her gaze drift down to his lips. “Trust me, you’re going to like it. And no one’s going to find out. I go there all the time.”

  “Cool, I’ll go,” Hawk said with his usual flair for the dramatic. “What is it? No, let me guess. You have live snakes down there? Or a monkey. I bet he’s got a monkey!”

  Wade stared at Hawk like he was the dumbest kid he’d ever seen.

  “It’s not a monkey.”

  “Maybe it’s an alligator,” Liz said, egging Hawk on.

  “Alligator? Cool!”

  “It’s not an exotic animal. And besides, you’re not invited.”

  “Oh.”

  Liz put an arm around Hawk, which perked him right up.

  “I say we all go. If you’ve got a monkey down there, I want to see it.”

  “I told you it’s not a monkey! It’s not anything like that.”

  “You got candy down there?” Liz teased. “Is it like Candy Land?”

  “Aw yes!” Hawk laughed. He was pumped.

  Wade looked at Faith and hoped this wasn’t going to keep going in the direction in which it was headed. “You’ve got weird friends, you know that?”

  “So I’ve been told,” she agreed.

  “Then you’ll go with me, just the two of us? I’m telling you, you’re going to love it.”

  “No thanks,” Faith said, and began walking away.

  Wade Quinn was nearly at the end of his patience, but not quite. He really liked Faith, especially because she played hard to get.

  “Okay, your friends can come. In fact, I want them to. You guys wanna go see the monkey? And the candy?”

  Hawk smiled from ear
to ear.

  “Holy shit, there is a monkey!”

  “And candy!” Liz added.

  Faith was laughing when she turned around, and she found it unstoppably charming that Wade was, too. By the time she returned to the group, he was already out of her doghouse.

  Hawk knew better than most that the Quinns were not people you messed around with. He’d tried to warn Faith to steer clear, but it was too late, and his joking around hadn’t pissed off Wade the way he’d hoped it would. She’d flown in too close, and once that happened with Wade, it was usually impossible to break free of his gravitational pull. He and Clara both let go when they wanted to, often at the cruelest moment, and it was never pretty. Hawk had seen them do it to people before, and none of them were still going to school at Old Park Hill. It was why he’d gone along with the idea of a little adventure to begin with, why he’d acted like such a dork. Some people hid behind jokes or sports or good looks, but Hawk played the role of zany geek because it was easy. He was small, with wild hair and a high-pitched voice. Slipping into the head-idiot roll was both simple and effective. And it came to him naturally, because somewhere deep down inside, he was this goofy person; but he was also so much more. His intelligence was off the charts, way beyond what anyone who knew him understood. The mere fact that he’d been able to procure and ship clothing to his female friends for next to nothing was an epic intellectual victory; subverting the Tablet and the State that controlled it had been the equivalent of breaking into Fort Knox. For Hawk, it had been reasonably easy: three days of hard-core hacking and a lot of sugary snacks and it was done. Had the officials in either of the States known what Hawk could do—and how quickly he’d done it—the whole system would have gone on high alert.

  What a lot of people didn’t understand about Hawk was that he paid attention to everything, missed nothing, and had a photographic memory. He was doing just that—paying very close attention—as they left the main building walking two by two.

  “Can’t believe it’s already getting dark,” Liz said. She was walking next to Hawk, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her hoodie, staring at the back of Wade’s head like she was trying to make it explode. “Don’t they have security out here at night?”

  “Are you kidding? We’re lucky we’ve got two teachers during daylight. There’s no one else; don’t worry so much.” Wade put an arm around Faith’s shoulder and leaned in as they walked, an act that irritated Liz even more.

  “I’m not worried. I was just asking.”

  “And I’m telling you, there’s no one.” Wade stopped and turned to face Liz and Hawk. “When was the last time you took a really good look around? This is the last open school in the city. I’ve been moved three times in the last year alone, and you probably have been, too. There are fewer than a hundred of us, fewer every week. Most of them are only at this school because their parents are crazy. You get that, right? It’s the crazies and the cleanup crew. I don’t even know why they bother to lock this place up. There’s no point. No one is here!”

  There was a smoldering moment of silence from Liz, but when she spoke, there was fire in her voice.

  “Then why are you here?”

  She’d had about enough of Wade Quinn and couldn’t believe what a condescending jerk he was, which made it all the more startling when Faith came to his defense.

  “Chill out, Liz. He’s got a plan; it’s just kind of secret is all.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means lay off, okay? Things aren’t always exactly as they seem.”

  Liz moved closer to Faith, took her hand, and pulled her a few steps away from Wade and Hawk. This left Hawk in the towering shadow of a much older, bigger guy.

  “What’s up, bro?”

  Wade cracked a half smile but didn’t answer. He stood there wondering why it was that he couldn’t help but put his foot in his mouth every time he met a girl he actually liked, and hoped that the whispering going on between Liz and Faith wasn’t going to lead to the usual: him losing the respect of a girl he liked before things even got started.

  “Please, Faith, let’s don’t do this. Let’s just go to the grade school. You can draw and I’ll read.”

  “It’s okay, Liz. And you do worry a lot.”

  What Faith really wanted to say was that Liz had gotten awfully clingy lately. And that she’d always been supportive when Liz was chasing after a boy. And why was she being such a total freak right about now? But she didn’t say any of those things.

  “I don’t think he’s good for you. I think he’s dangerous.”

  Faith wanted to scream. Liz had become so needy, with the hand-holding and the moodiness. It was suffocating.

  “You don’t have to come along. I’m fine.”

  “But I’m not. I need you,” Liz pleaded. She was starting to cry, her voice shaking with frustration and panic. “I can’t keep going without you. Not out here.”

  She’d tried to be quiet, but in the end Liz had laid her soul bare in front of two boys. Faith had let it come to this. It was her fault.

  “Go on home,” Faith said. “And take Hawk with you. Let’s just talk later tonight. It’s going to be okay.”

  Liz let go of Faith’s hand, felt the soft fingers sliding away. She backed up until she was standing alone, staring coldly at Wade.

  “If you break her heart, I’ll find a way to ruin your life.”

  “Look, I’m sorry, okay? My mistake.”

  “Do you believe this guy?” Liz asked, looking to Hawk for support. “Now he’s all nice like he wasn’t a total monster five minutes ago.”

  Wade didn’t say anything, but he did look at Hawk, trying to size up where he stood.

  “I’m just here to see the monkeys,” Hawk said. “And eat the candy. But I’m thinking, Third wheel here, not ideal.” He moved toward Liz ever so slightly. “You two go on ahead; we’ll catch you next time.”

  Hawk was too smart to put himself on the wrong side of a complicated situation, but it made him very nervous sending Faith into a locked section of the school with no backup. He felt helpless as Liz began pulling him down the sidewalk.

  “And, news flash,” Liz said bitterly. “Calling our parents crazy just makes you a bigger asshole.”

  “Whatever you say,” Wade answered back. Liz had pretty much leveled him, and he wanted out of the situation as fast as possible. He put an arm around Faith, pulled her tightly to his side, and started walking.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m good. She’s been going through a rough time. It’s been a little exhausting.”

  Faith felt the sting of grief as she threw her best friend under a bus, but the truth was, she really did feel like she was suffocating. She loved Liz more than anyone else she knew, but she also needed some space. She just wanted to cut loose for one night, then everything would be fine. She and Liz would work things out; they always did.

  Old Park Hill had four quadrants connected by long corridors. Only one of them, which also housed the gym, was in use, and even that one had a lot of locked doors. The other three buildings were loosely connected by a series of covered walkways that zigzagged through the grounds outside. It was fall, the days getting shorter; and though it was only four thirty when they entered one of the locked buildings, there was a chill in the air and the sun had moved behind the trees.

  “Are you sure no one will find us out here?” Faith asked. She was thinking of the custodian, an old guy who never talked to anyone as he walked around, stooped over his rolling cart of cleaning supplies. He had struck Faith as slightly unhinged, like he might be hiding a shotgun inside the garbage can he pushed around.

  “Nothing to mop up out here. No one cares about these old buildings. They’re like coffins.”

  Faith didn’t like the sound of that. Wade flashed a key so Faith could see it, and after a final look behind him to make sure no one was watching, he unlocked the door and held it open. Faith had a moment of regret and thoug
ht seriously about going in search of Liz and Hawk. It surprised her how much she was growing to like the three of them together. It didn’t seem right, being here with Wade and the two of them without her.

  “Come on, you’re going to like it. Promise.”

  Wade’s eyes told her that whatever lay hidden inside, it would be at least slightly and possibly very dangerous. He tugged on her hand as he stepped through the doorway, and her resolve melted away. When the door clicked shut behind her she jumped, startled and afraid; and Wade pulled her even closer than before, his strong arm wrapped around her shoulder.

  Like the grade school, there was no power in this building. Soft, golden light came in through the dusty windows and bounced off glossy linoleum floors. There were shadows everywhere. Faith leaned harder into Wade and tucked in under his arm, where it felt warm and safe.

  “I like it here. Cozy.”

  Wade flashed his confident smile, then pulled away until they were holding hands and he was turning sharply down a long, narrow corridor. It was one of those school passageways that seemed to go on forever, running the entire length of the building. Faith imagined it humming with hundreds of students talking about the latest gossip, opening and shutting lockers, going through the normal motions of a day.

  “It’s sad, kind of. Don’t you think?” Faith asked as they quickened their pace up the long hallway. “There used to be so many people in here. Now it’s just empty. It feels lonely.”

  “I don’t know; to me it’s a reminder of how stupid our parents were. They were dead wrong about a billion things. I don’t know why they make us come here at all. I mean, seriously, what’s the point? We get everything we need from the Tablets. World-class education, all the help we need. This place is a reminder of what doesn’t work; that’s all it is.”

  Faith didn’t quite agree, though she saw his point.

  “I think it would have been a lot of fun to walk these halls with hundreds of other people. You’re a glass half-empty kind of person. I’m going to cure you of that.”