Bryn

“So tell us. We’ve all been dying to know,” Chevette says as I hook an empty chair out with my ankle while balancing my drink. I jerk and spill hot tea over my hand, hissing as I suck on the burn. I smile gratefully when Harper hands me a napkin. It feels strange not having Truthseeker on my waist, but walking around Triumph with a sword would draw far too much attention so I left it wrapped in a jumper beneath my bed.

Chevette sits on my left, her hair a mousy brown, not candy pink or vibrant green. It’s the plainest I’ve ever seen and she hasn’t bothered with any make-up at all this morning, her lips thin and pale.

Harper mops the table with more napkins and pushes them into a gloopy pile in the centre. He looks tired, too. Pale, a scattering of pimples across his jawline. I’ve never seen him with pimples, always smooth, tanned skin. His arm rests on the back of Teo’s chair casually, gently curling a strand of Teo’s hair around his finger.

When I study Teo I realise I’m not perceiving their usual holo-glamours. Teo’s features are sharper, his baby fat long gone, his lips not as pink and his cheekbones sharp. He’s always rocked the cute look and now he’s more handsome than adorable.

Without the holograms, they all look washed out.

What do my friends see when they look at me? I’m not sure if my holo-glamour is still projecting me with clear bright skin, smooth hair– even though I know my braids are made of flyaways and knots despite Juni’s efforts – and perfect body proportions for my height, even though I’ve always been a little on the big hips, flat chested side.

“Brynnie, you’ve been holding out on us!” Teo grumbles, setting his frothy drink on the table with a frustrated huff. He’d said it was iced banana, but it looks like grey foamed water to me.

“It must be good,” Harper points out.

“It’s big.” I glance around to check no one else is close enough to eavesdrop. Privacy is best found in a crowded place, and this little cafe fits the bill. People are lounging with cups of calcium water in assorted mode-activated flavours in tall, colourful glasses, fingers twitching and lips murmuring. My friends hunker forward eagerly, my own face reflected in their modes.

“It’s the biggest thing since Torin Hunt,” I promise.

“Go on then.” Harper shifts from playing with Teo’s hair to stroking his arm in lazy circles. It distracts me for a moment as I untangle the emotions tumbling inside me. Longing stood out the most but, strangely, it isn’t for Harper. I want their connection, their bond with each other. Greyson’s bashful smile flashes across my thoughts, and my face grows warm.

“Bryn?” Harper prompts.

“Right. Remember that slumber party at Teo’s? When we were telling scary stories?”

“You’re not saying the Snaith are real!” Teo gasps, hands flying to his lips in horror. Harper chuckles and rubs Teo’s neck soothingly. Now I’ve noticed, it’s hard to un-notice how into each other they are. Has this been going on for long? I remember them disappearing on Activation Night by the strawberries and Harper treating Teo to a private lunch at Bev’s Diner.

“Don’t be such an Unknown, Teo.” Chevette rolls her eyes. “The Snaith aren’t real.”

“It’s not about the Snaith,” I interrupt, before Teo flings the pile of wet tissue at Chevette. “It’s about the Evictions.”

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If there’s one word that could kill a mood in a heartbeat, that’s it. Harper takes a measured sip of his coffee, his fingers digging a little too hard into Teo’s shoulders. Teo doesn’t seem to notice as he makes a show of checking the time. Chevette hasn’t moved at all, though her back is straighter.

“That’s dangerous. Don’t you think?” Chevette says quietly.

“If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be this big,” I insist. “Listen, my brother was onto something …”

“You don’t have a brother,” Harper hisses. “We’ve been over this.”

I blink. When did I mention Jonas to him? I vaguely remember uncontrollable panic and Harper’s soothing voice.

“I do. He was Evicted.”

“Come on, Harper, I knew this was going to be a waste of time,” Teo says, standing. Of all my friends, I thought he’d be the most likely to hear me out, but instead his lips are twisted and his jaw is clenched.

“Wait, Harper! Teo!” I call. Chevette gathers up her bag. “When did they became official? Harper and Teo, I mean.”

“You’ve always been pretty oblivious, Bryn.” Her smile’s fragile, and suddenly things click into place. How Chevette’s nastiness started when I first admitted I liked Harper. How Teo took the brunt of her mocking, as if she was punishing him for taking something I wanted. How her hair always matched my favourite colour of the week.

“Oh,” I say, cheeks growing warm.

“It was just a crush,” she admits. She smooths her hands across her misty grey tunic, and I wonder what colour her hair is, now that we rarely see each other. “I got over you. But I didn't want to see you get hurt. I still don’t.”

“Then you have to believe me, about the Evictions and...”

“I’m sorry.” Chevette sounds it, too. She leaves me with four half-drunk drinks and the bill.

“Well, roboballs.”

Bryn?

Greyson? Glitch, it’s good to hear his voice. What’s up? I ask, trying to take slow, steady breaths. I close my eyes, squeezing them tight to trap the tears as I listen to Greyson ramble away in my head about things I don’t understand, but glad for the company.

I’m not expecting anyone to be home yet – no one had been when I dropped Truthseeker off earlier – and I’m somewhat distracted by a story Greyson’s muddling his way through so when I open the front door and look up, I shriek. My mothers are standing in the hallway, arms crossed and brows furrowed, like matching goddesses of parental disapproval.

“Where have you been?” Mom asks, unfolding to rest her arms on her hips. “You’ve been missing for over a week!”

Mum dashes forward and I only flinch a little when she sweeps me up into a hug.

“We were so worried!” Mum’s voice is muffled as she presses her face against my neck, her sleek dark bob tickling my nose as I breathe in her scent. She smells like almond milk. I’d always assumed her scent was part of her holo-glamour.

“I’m sorry,” I manage and then a second pair of arms wraps around us both. It’s like sinking into a bath-sized cup of hot chocolate. Warmth settles into my heart and lungs, as if a cat has made itself at home inside my chest. “I didn’t think you’d notice,” I admit and they both pull back, though don’t let go of me entirely.

“Of course we did, you silly thing. You’re our only child.” Mum ruffles up my hair and almost knocks my modes free. “When we messaged your old school friends, they said you were probably sulking over some failed quest and were pulling all-nighters trying to rebuild your status.”

“We checked, though,” my other mother says, readjusting my headset and buffing a smudge off one lens. “You weren’t in any of the Cyberinth Quest Realms so where were you?”

What can I say? I feel off balance, uncertain how to respond to my mothers who are so clearly upset over my disappearance.

“I was working on a new project,” I offer vaguely. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

“Just don’t do it again,” Mum says, and while Mom still looks suspicious, she thankfully drops it. “How about a cake-pod? I’ve your favourite!” Mum drops a kiss on my modes – Mum huffs and cleans that smudge off too – and they tuck me between them as we head for the kitchen.

Hey Grey. I have to interrupt him. He’s been chatting away unnoticed since I arrived home. My mothers are home and they’re giving me cake.

Umm, he sends, but there’s a strong undertone of bemusement and yearning. He never says, but he must be missing his mother pretty badly.

It’s just unexpected. How had having a brother effected the way my mothers treated me? I’d always felt like I’d done something wrong, but now, sitting with them at the kitchen bench, sharing a cake-pod and tea, I bask in the glow of belonging. But a heaviness hovers in the back of my mind, as if I’m tensing to strike out before I’m attacked first.

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