“Are you?” Seiji asked, alarmed.
“Well, I don’t steal cars or anything!”
“I should hope not!” Seiji exclaimed.
There could not be any grand theft auto. If Nicholas needed a car, Seiji could get him one.
Nicholas shrugged. “I’ve only done, like, small delinquent things. Tiny bit of shoplifting. Slight vandalism.”
“Nicholas!”
“Just, like, spray-painting walls. It’s artistic, in a way—”
“Nicholas, you deface public property? I cannot believe my ears—”
“One fire, but it was small and accidental—”
“There must be no more fires!”
“And trespassing,” admitted Nicholas. “I may have broken into Coach Joe’s gym one time… or twenty.”
“I thought you said you were fond of the man!”
Seiji wouldn’t have been fond of any trainer who taught him badly, but Nicholas had an affectionate nature. He even liked Seiji, and nobody else did. Seiji wished Nicholas would stop being a criminal with a heart of gold, though. If Nicholas was arrested for committing crimes, it would make international travel for fencing tournaments complicated.
“See, sometimes Coach Joe would get tired in the mornings, or sleep the whole day away with a hangover, you know?” said Nicholas, as if it was normal for adults to be wildly irresponsible around him. “And I wanted to fence. So I’d have to find a way inside the gym.”
Seiji relaxed. “If it’s for fencing then it’s all right.”
“Yeah, exactly,” said Nicholas. “My criminal skills are, like, at your service. If you need to fence Jesse tomorrow night, I’ll sneak you out.”
It made no real difference to Seiji’s circumstances that he and Nicholas were no longer in a fight. Seiji would still have to leave Kings Row if he lost to Jesse again. He was disproportionally pleased about not being in a fight with Nicholas anymore, just the same.
“Thank you, Nicholas.”
Seiji meant everything he said, but he meant that particularly.
Nicholas settled, cross-legged on the bed and grinning, face bright with mischief as night drew in over the Riviera. “Sure. I’m a delinquent, and I’ve heard you’ve got an ice-cold mind for strategy. We’re a team.”
29 HARVARD
Harvard had to be reasonable and keep it together. He chatted with some new fencers, trained with them, and tried to make Coach proud. Several people mentioned the match against Bastien with pitying looks that said it was obvious Harvard had no chance.
That was so intimidating that Harvard gave up on international cooperation and went to sit and eat with his team. Bobby was pining because Dante had gone somewhere. Nicholas seemed in a state of consternation about Seiji’s absence. Harvard wondered if Nicholas and Seiji’d had another fistfight.
Melodie, the French blonde who’d taken such a shine to Eugene, was sitting with them so that she and Eugene could have an intense, passionate discussion about the protein content of their meal and the delicious sacrifices that had to be made to conform with workout plans. Melodie delivered a speech about macro calculations.
“No pain, no gains,” Eugene declared in a wise voice, then made grabby hands across the table. “La bread garlique!”
La bread garlique? Melodie must really like Eugene, because she only gave a small shudder. Nicholas passed the garlic bread with the air of one pleased to have understood a snippet of French.
Melodie turned her attention away from this painful subject and toward Harvard. “So, you and Bastien are going to have a match. I am rooting for Bastien out of personal loyalty and patriotism. Also, Bastien is very skilled, so I have placed a small bet. Maman wishes to buy herself a new plastron.”
“I think you’re gonna win, Captain,” spoke up Nicholas. “I’d bet on you if I had any money. Scholarship kid,” he added in an explanatory fashion to Melodie.
“Thanks, Nicholas,” said Harvard. “Melodie’s right, though. Bastien’s really good. I’m just hoping we have a great match. Wouldn’t want to let my team down, right?”
“You could never,” said Eugene, leaning over the table to give Harvard a fist bump.
When Harvard turned back to the table at large, he found Nicholas looking troubled.
“What’s up, Cox?”
“I was just thinking.…You give really good motivational speeches, Captain,” Nicholas said a little shyly. “Like, you tell us we’re the best, and it seems as though you really mean it.”
“I do really mean it,” said Harvard. “You guys are the best.”
Those were just facts. Harvard went to the greatest school, had the most awesome coach, had the most superlatively excellent team, had the most amazing best friend in the wide world. He’d never doubted any of those things until this week. He only wanted to live up to them and worried that he wouldn’t succeed.
“Better than Exton?” Nicholas prompted, and Harvard felt light was shed on the issue of why Nicholas looked so worried and Seiji wasn’t here at all.
“Way better than Exton,” Harvard told him. “Their team has nothing on mine.”
Nicholas nodded earnestly. “You told me once that you know whether or not someone is a loser when you see how they lose.”
“Did I?” asked Harvard. “I’m so wise. Pay more attention to me when I correct your stance during drills.”
That didn’t make Nicholas laugh. He was still looking worried, for some reason.
“Here’s the problem, Captain. You always say great stuff about all of us. Aiden always has to say you’re the best captain. And anyone can tell he really means it. But since he’s not around… We all think so, too. I think so, too. You shouldn’t count yourself out against this Bastien guy.”
“I’m just being realistic,” said Harvard.
“When I had my first match against Seiji,” said Nicholas in the tones of one sharing a highly personal and thrilling memory, “I totally thought I could win. But I lost real bad. Everyone called me Zero for a while. Seiji was a jerk about it, too. Seemed like the whole world wanted me to feel dumb for being overconfident. I get that it was dumb. But I’m not sorry, and I wasn’t wrong. I mean, I was wrong about that one match, obviously. But one day, I’m going to beat Seiji in a match. Then he’ll beat me in another one. Then I’ll beat him twice in a row. It’s gonna be great. I don’t care how many times I lose. Well… I care, but it doesn’t matter. I know I’ll win a match against him one day.”
“That’s a great attitude,” said Harvard. “You’re always right to believe in yourself.”
“What am I gonna do, give up?” Nicholas asked.
“Not you, Nicholas Cox,” Harvard said, amused and touched in equal measure. “Never you.”
“So, you believe in yourself, too, Captain,” said Nicholas.
“I’ll try,” Harvard told him.
“Good. Remember, my nonexistent money’s on you.” Nicholas winked.
“When do you think Dante is getting back?” Bobby burst out. “Does nobody miss him at all?”