Nicholas made a face at the bonfire. Nobody lifted their hand, so at least they were all failing as a team. That was a bright side!
Nicholas opened his mouth to point this out. Seiji elbowed him heavily in the ribs. There was something about the nudge that made Nicholas believe if he tried to speak, Seiji would shove him right into the bonfire.
Nicholas decided to be tactfully silent.
“I’m about to suggest an amazing bargain to you all,” Coach announced. “If you succeed at this small task, you don’t have to write your essays.”
Aiden stirred as if he were going to protest but decided not to. Nobody had shoved him, so Aiden must be figuring out tact on his own.
“I wish each one of you to nominate the person you believe to be the best teammate. I want you to be strictly honest,” Coach stipulated.
“Harvard,” said Aiden at once, to exactly nobody’s surprise.
Harvard looked up from his intent contemplation of the fire. “Aiden,” he said quietly, and he and Aiden exchanged a smile. It was only a small smile, but somehow it had more warmth than the bonfire.
Nicholas felt comforted by that smile. He was suddenly certain that whatever had gone wrong between them, it could be fixed. That best friends, as Nicholas had hoped, were forever.
After Harvard and Aiden spoke, there was a long silence, in which there was only the crackle of flames and the rustle of leaves in the night wind.
“Seiji. And Eugene,” Nicholas said at last, since it didn’t seem like anyone was going to talk unless he did. “They’re really cool and great teammates. Always, but especially today.”
Eugene darted around the bonfire to give Nicholas a fist bump. Nicholas was getting to like fist bumps, since it meant they were true bros.
“Nicholas,” Seiji decided. “I appreciate his advice on certain subjects. Eugene is also helpful occasionally, though he shouldn’t give me bad information about social situations, which are not my forte.”
“Heavens,” drawled Aiden. “I had not noticed that about you, Seiji. At all.”
He winked at Seiji, so it didn’t seem to be a malicious joke. A muscle twitched near Seiji’s mouth, which might have been a gesture toward a smile.
Eugene reached out with hope for a fist bump. Seiji waved him away irritably.
“You saw what happened with the weight lifters earlier. Do you think I am in the mood for more physical contact today?”
“Understood, bro,” said Eugene, lowering his fist. “Catch you tomorrow, on another righteous teammate day! I think you’re all the best, bros!”
Instantly his fist shot back up in position. Seiji gave Eugene a betrayed look.
“It’s a reflex, bro,” Eugene assured Seiji. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Seiji made a grouchy sound and moved closer to Nicholas for protection from fist bumps. Aiden seemed judgmental of them all, as if he thought he was so much cooler than they were. Oddly, Coach was smiling, and Harvard looked as though he knew why Coach was smiling. That kind of specialized knowledge was probably why Harvard was captain.
“Did we get the right answer?” Nicholas hoped.
“You did,” said Coach.
“But we nominated different people,” Seiji pointed out.
“You talked about your teammates, and not yourselves. Boys, you are ridiculous, impossible, and in the eyes of all sane people, practically past hope,” said Coach. “But I’m proud of you.”
They hadn’t even done much fencing lately, but that still felt good to hear. Nicholas wasn’t sure any grown-up had ever been proud of him before. Coach raised her can of root beer in a toast. She dimpled in Nicholas’s direction.
“Here’s to the wondrous bond of unity, kid.”
Nicholas returned her grin and raised his can to toast her back.
“You proud of your team, Captain?” asked Coach, winking at Harvard.
“Always,” said Harvard.
The fire burned merrily on, shining bright as a trophy in the dark of the woods. Nicholas made a grab for the big bag of marshmallows, despite Seiji’s attempts to foil him. He fought for possession of the bag while Harvard brought Aiden a drink from the cooler and Eugene protested loudly: “Watch the fire! Bros, I’m concerned you’re gonna actually fall into the huge roaring fire.”
“Would you not describe it as a broaring fire, Eugene?” asked Aiden, and the sound of their laughter was louder in this sheltered grove than the hissing of flames or the surging of the wind.
On a night like this, at a golden moment like this one, Nicholas could almost believe his own and Coach’s dreams might come true.
They might all be winners in the end.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A million thank-yous are in order.
A universe-size thank you to C.S. Pacat for a hundred Skype sessions, emotional calibration, heist plotting, and sorely needed aid with the fencing.
Thank you to Johanna The Mad for so many things, including the art for our gorgeous cover.
Thank you to my parents for recording all those Basil Rathbone sword-fighting scenes for me.
Thank you to Susan Connolly for the cold-steel read, and Holly Black for the climactic emotional turn!
Thank you to Mary-Kate Gaudet, Regan Winter, Lindsay Walter-Greaney, Alexander Kelleher-Nagorski, and the whole team at Little, Brown for creating this book with me. And thank you to Dafna Pleban, Shannon Watters, and Sophie Philips-Roberts, and everyone at BOOM! for welcoming me to the Kings Row universe.
Always endless thanks to my peerless agent, Suzie Townsend, and to Dani Segelbaum and the whole team at New Leaf.
And many, many thanks to the Fence fans, who welcomed me to Kings Row as well. Happy to be here.
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Edel Kelly
SARAH REES BRENNAN is the number one New York Times bestselling YA author of over a dozen books, both solo and cowritten with authors including Kelly Link and Maureen Johnson. She was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal for her first novel. She was born in Ireland by the sea and lives there now in the shadow of a cathedral, where she’s working on—among other things—her series of tie-in novels with the hit Netflix show The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Her most recent standalone novel, In Other Lands, is a tale of love, friendship, and wings, starring the crankiest boy to ever stumble into a magic land, and was a Lodestar Award, Mythopoeic Award, and World Fantasy Award finalist.