“I went to the Archives after class,” he added. “Pulled a bunch of files and read them on the way home.”
My pulse kicked up. “What did you find?”
“Nothing yet. A lot of the data was lost in the cleaving. I’ll keep looking.”
I tried to sound upbeat. “Did Shaw like the map program?”
“I’m not ready to show him.”
Eliot would be eighty before he was ready—he was a total perfectionist. Usually it made me nuts, but this time he was right.
“Yeah, the software’s glitchy. I meant to tell you yesterday.”
His eyebrows shot up. “What did you do to my map?”
“I was testing it during history, and the display kind of . . . exploded.” I waved my bow around for emphasis.
“Why didn’t you mention it?”
“I rebooted and it looked fine. Besides, it wasn’t like we had a lot of time to chat yesterday.” Between my detention and his training, I’d barely seen him.
“It’s working now,” he said, sweeping his fingers over the screen. “What were you doing when it crashed?”
“Nothing! I was sitting in class, testing the range, and it froze. I took it back to the music room so I could check things out in person, and it started working again.”
He scowled. “I wish you wouldn’t Walk by yourself.”
“Shhhhh.” Before he could scold me—or ask who I’d seen—I added, “There should have been a million pivots coming from the music room, but there was only one. What’s up with that?”
“Only one?” He paced around the room as he worked. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Saw it, heard it, felt it.” Rather than watch him wear a path in the carpet, I started playing again, trying to recreate the melody I’d heard at Grundy’s. “I bet my mom can figure it out.”
“Quit goofing around,” Addie called, coming downstairs. “And don’t bother Mom. She doesn’t have the time to fix your latest gadget, Eliot. No offense.”
“None taken,” he muttered.
“It’s not a gadget,” I said, tucking away both the viola and the memory of Echo Simon. Addie’s easy dismissal of Eliot rankled. “It’s a map. A real-time map. And it’s amazing.”
“Real-time? Let me see.” She plucked the phone out of his hands.
“There are a few bugs I need to work out,” he said.
“Let’s bring it with tonight,” I said. “Test it again.”
“You’ve been Walking with it?” she asked sharply.
“I’m not allowed to, am I?” Which was not exactly a denial, and Addie knew it. She also knew she couldn’t prove I’d done anything wrong. I let her stew and turned to Eliot. “We should take off.”
“Your wish is my command,” he said, easing the phone out of her grip.
“You two aren’t going out tonight.” She raised her eyebrows, a perfect imitation of my mom. “We’re not done training.”
“Don’t you have friends? Or a date? Something to do that doesn’t involve sucking the joy out of my life?”
“For your information, I did have plans tonight. But since I’m not interested in rehashing the adventures of my delinquent baby sister, I decided to pass.” She didn’t look too upset about it.
“That’s the stupidest excuse I’ve ever heard,” I said. “As if you’d even mention me to your friends. What’s the real reason?”
“I don’t need to justify myself to you. Get your coat, Del. We’re going to a basketball game, and you’re going to map it.”
“Are you joking?”
Her mouth was a tight line. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
“You look like you need to get—” Eliot jabbed me in the ribs, and I glared at him. “What? She does.”
“Not helping,” he muttered. He gave Addie an apologetic half smile. “We kind of have plans. It’s Saturday. Movie night.”
“She knows it’s movie night,” I said. “Saturday is always movie night. She’s just being a bitch.”
Addie sniffed. “Nice, Del. Very classy.”
“You can’t stop us,” I said.
“Can’t I?” She brandished her own phone like a sheriff’s badge. “I talked to Mom, and she agreed with me. Ask her yourself—they’ll be home any minute.”
“I’m going to kill her,” I told Eliot through gritted teeth, following Addie to the kitchen. “Smother her with a pillow. Garrote her with a violin string. Maybe a poisonous snake in her bed. Aren’t you glad you’re an only child?”
“It has its advantages,” he admitted.
I was tempted to start in on my mom as soon as my parents walked in the door, but she looked so exhausted—bags under her eyes, hair falling out of its usual neat bun, skin pale with fatigue—I bit my tongue.
“Eliot,” she said warmly. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you?”
“Good. Dad says you’re keeping him busy.” Eliot’s father led another one of the teams Mom worked with.
“Never enough hours in the day,” she said with a weak laugh, and then turned to me. “Out with it, Del. What’s wrong?”
“Addie says I have to go to a basketball game, but it’s movie night!” When she looked unimpressed, I added, “I’ve spent the whole day training and now she wants to hijack our plans.”
“Quit whining,” Addie said. “You two can try out his map gizmo another time.”
“Map gizmo?” Mom asked, sitting down at the table. Monty wandered in and took his usual seat.
Eliot handed over the phone, bashful and proud mingled together. For few minutes, my mom was lost in it, asking him questions and half-listening to the answers. I tried not to feel hurt that a computer program got more attention than me.
“Impressive. Can I get a copy of the software?” asked my dad. “Could be handy out in the field.
“The code needs a few tweaks,” Eliot hedged.
“No time like the present,” my mom said, shooting my dad a look. “Send us a copy, Eliot. Tonight.”
My mom usually encouraged Eliot’s inventions and gadgets, but never with this kind of gravity. If my parents wanted the map, it wasn’t for entertainment purposes.
“Mom, Addie’s not allowed to take over my whole life, is she?”
“Your sister knows better than to abuse her position.” She gave Eliot a sympathetic smile. “It’s a shame you two won’t have as much time together, with Del’s . . . new situation.”
She was right. With Eliot on his regular training schedule and me at the mercy of a power-crazed Addie, we wouldn’t be hanging out the way we normally did. Eliot was one of those parts of my life that was so familiar I barely noticed it, much like the Key World. He was my constant. The prospect of him moving on to apprenticeship without me pinched my heart.
“The three of you can go together,” Mom said. “Addie’s right—sporting events are a great way to practice mapping. And, Eliot, you can test the software in a high-stress situation. Everybody wins.”
Addie smirked at me. “Told you so.”
Monty pushed back from the table, his chair squeaking on the hardwood. He’d been so silent, I’d forgotten he was there. “Sounds like a plan, girls. I’ll get my coat.”
Addie’s jaw dropped, and it was my turn to smirk.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
HALF AN HOUR later the scent of popcorn and nachos filled the air—but instead of the maroon carpet and plush chairs of the movie theater, it was hardwood floors, ancient bleachers, and the staccato squeak of sneakers against the thud of dribbling basketballs. The field house was packed for the first home game, and the four of us were stuck in the nosebleed section.
“Sporting events tend to create really dense concentrations of pivots,” Addie said. “Emotions are running high, which leads to more emphatic decisions and more significant repercussions, and the game itself is a compressed cycle of choices and reactions.”